Parental pay: information for employers

Maternity leave and pay

Employees expecting a baby are generally entitled to Statutory Maternity Leave of up to 52 weeks around the birth of the baby. Employees must take at least two weeks after the birth and may also be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP). This replaces the employee’s normal earnings.

There is no length of employment requirement for entitlement to maternity leave, however whether you must pay Statutory Maternity Pay to your employee depends on how long they have worked for you and how much they earn.

To qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay, your employee must have been continuously employed for at least 26 weeks up to the 15th week before the baby is due (normally around the 25th week of pregnancy). This 15th week is known as the ‘qualifying week’.

If your employee has been employed for long enough, you must see whether they have earned enough to be entitled to a payment of Statutory Maternity Pay. The employee’s average weekly earnings for the 8 weeks leading up to the qualifying week must be at least equal to the lower earnings limit (£129 for 2026/27) to qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay in 2026/27.

They will have to provide you with evidence of when the baby is due and give you 28 days' notice of when they want you to start paying their Statutory Maternity Pay (this cannot start any earlier than the 11th week before the week in which the baby is due). Evidence is usually provided by giving you a maternity certificate form MAT B1, which is issued by a doctor or midwife.

If your employee meets the necessary conditions, you are required to pay Statutory Maternity Pay for 39 weeks, even if your employee does not return after the baby is born. If your employee is not entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay, then you must inform them on form SMP1 which you must provide within 7 days of the decision not to make payment.

For the first six weeks of the maternity pay period, Statutory Maternity Pay is 90% of the average weekly earnings. For the remainder of the period, the employee receives the lower of the 90% of average weekly earnings and £194.32 per week (in 2026/27).

Payments of Statutory Maternity Pay count as earnings. You must deduct tax and National Insurance contributions (NIC) from them in the usual way.

You will normally be able to claim back some or all of the Statutory Maternity Pay you pay. We give further guidance on this under the heading Recovery of payments below.

There is detailed guidance on Statutory Maternity Pay on GOV.UK. There is further guidance on unusual circumstances that can affect Statutory Maternity Pay – for example, what to do when paying maternity pay if an employee leaves, becomes sick, dies, or is awarded a pay rise (note annual increases to the National Minimum Wage count as a pay rise and can affect Statutory Maternity Pay).

Please note that employers must also give pregnant employees time off for antenatal care and pay their normal rate for this time off. The father or pregnant woman’s partner has the right to unpaid time off work to go to two antenatal appointments. You can find out more about pregnant employees’ rights, including to do with their health and safety on GOV.UK.

Paternity leave and pay

An employee is generally eligible for Statutory Paternity Leave if their spouse or civil partner is having a baby or adopting a child. From 6 April 2026, Statutory Paternity Leave is a "day one" right, under the Employment Rights Act 2025. This removes the previous requirement for 26 weeks' service. More information about this can be found on the government factsheet.

In addition, if the necessary conditions are met, they will receive Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP).

Whether you must pay them Statutory Paternity Pay depends on how long they have worked for you and how much they earn – essentially the same tests as for Statutory Maternity Pay described above. In addition, the employee must continue to work for the employer until the baby is born. They will also have to provide you with a declaration that they will be responsible for the child’s upbringing and give you notice of when they want you to start paying their Statutory Paternity Pay. Note that the employee entitled to statutory paternity leave and pay does not necessarily have to be male.

Historically, an employee could choose to take either one or two consecutive whole weeks leave within 8 weeks of the baby’s birth (or the child’s placement in the case of adoption). In cases where the expected week of birth or adoption falls on or after 6 April 2024, paternity leave can be split into two blocks of one week at any point in the first year after the birth or adoption of their child. 

The amount of Statutory Paternity Pay payable during this period is the lower of 90% of average weekly earnings and £194.32 for 2026/27.

Where an employee is not entitled to payment of Statutory Paternity Pay, then you have to give them form SPP1.

Payments of Statutory Paternity Pay count as earnings. You must deduct tax and National Insurance contributions from them in the usual way.

You'll normally be able to claim back some or all of the Statutory Paternity Pay you pay. We give further guidance on this under the heading Recovery of payments below.

You can find detailed guidance about Statutory Paternity Pay on GOV.UK.

Adoption leave and pay

When an employee is adopting a child they are generally entitled to Statutory Adoption Leave of up to 52 weeks.

Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) may be claimed by any employees adopting a child aged up to 18. As with Statutory Maternity Pay (see Maternity leave and pay section above), to be eligible for Statutory Adoption Pay, conditions must be met in relation to length of employment and level of earnings.

Only one person in a couple (the “primary adopter”) can obtain Statutory Adoption Pay and leave. The other partner may be eligible for Statutory Paternity Pay and leave (see above).

The employee must give the employer 28 days' notice for payment of Statutory Adoption Pay and must provide the employer with proof of adoption, showing the name and address of the adoption agency, the date the child was matched with the employee and the actual or expected date of placement.

Statutory Adoption Pay is paid at 90% of average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks as per Statutory Maternity Pay, and the lower of the 90% average weekly earnings and £194.32 per week (in 2026/27) thereafter.

It is paid in the same way as normal wages (for example, monthly or weekly). Tax and National Insurance contributions will need to be deducted in the usual way.

You will normally be able to claim back some or all of the Statutory Adoption Pay you pay. We give further guidance on this under the heading Recovery of payments below.

There is detailed guidance on Statutory Adoption Pay on GOV.UK.

Surrogacy

If your employee is having a child through a surrogacy arrangement, they may also be eligible for statutory adoption leave and pay. They will also be entitled to take unpaid time off to attend two antenatal appointments with the surrogate. You can find out more on the Acas website.

Shared parental leave and pay

Shared parental leave (SPL) and shared parental pay (ShPP) help give families more choice over taking leave in the first year.

The rules say that employees on maternity or adoption leave can choose to transfer some of their maternity/adoption leave (and pay) to their partner.

Shared Parental Leave and Shared Parental Pay are created from the remaining weeks of maternity/adoption leave and pay. It means that the remaining balance of leave and parental pay can be split between both parents, if both meet the eligibility criteria and notice requirements. The maximum Shared Parental Leave is 50 weeks’ leave. The maximum Shared Parental Pay is 37 weeks’ pay at £194.32 a week (for 2026/27) or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.

The shared parental regime can be very flexible. 

Qualifying for shared parental leave

To qualify for Shared Parental Leave, a parent must pass the continuity of employment test and have earned an average salary of at least £129 (in 2026/27) for the 8 weeks prior to the 15th week before the expected due date (or matching date if an adoption). The other parent in the family must meet the employment and earnings test.

• Continuity of employment test: the person must have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks at the end of the 15th week before the week in which the child is due (or at the week in which an adopter was notified of having been matched with a child or adoption) and is still employed in the first week that Shared Parental Leave is to be taken.
• Employment and earnings test: the person must have worked for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks leading up to the due date and have earned at least £390 in total in 13 of the 66 weeks (this can be as an employee or self-employed person).

An employee is eligible for Shared Parental Pay if they are eligible for Statutory Adoption Pay or Statutory Maternity Pay. In addition, they are eligible if they qualify for Statutory Paternity Pay and their partner is eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay or Statutory Adoption Pay.

Please note that it is possible that only one parent will qualify for Shared Parental Leave and Shared Parental Pay. For example, a self-employed partner will not be entitled to take Shared Parental Leave and Shared Parental Pay. But they could still pass the employment and earnings test – allowing the partner who gave birth in the family to qualify. The partner who gave birth might then choose to enter the shared parental regime so that they can take leave in a more flexible way than would be possible if they remained on maternity leave. For example, they may want to take three separate periods of Shared Parental Leave, interspersed with periods back at work.

Only the main points are detailed here. More information on Shared Parental Leave and Shared Parental Pay is on GOV.UK.

The provisions are complex and extensive so you may find that you need to refer to the detailed guide for employers. This can be found on GOV.UK. But remember that the existing rules on parental leave and pay, for example on Statutory Maternity Pay and Statutory Paternity Pay, will remain the ‘default’ position.

Parental bereavement leave and pay

Since April 2020, employees in Great Britain who suffer the loss of a child may be entitled to Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave (either a single block of one or two weeks, or as two separate blocks of one week taken at different times). 

If they have 26 weeks’ service, they may be entitled to Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay as well, paid at the statutory flat weekly rate of £194.32 (or 90% of average earnings, where this is lower). 

You can find an employer guide on GOV.UK.

Since 6 April 2022, this right has also come into effect in Northern Ireland. From 6 April 2026, there is a new miscarriage entitlement and day-one rights for Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay in Northern Ireland. You can read more about this in the February 2026 Employer Bulletin. 

For the rest of the United Kingdom, the government have included a form of bereavement leave (of at least one week’s unpaid leave) to those who have suffered pregnancy loss as part of Employment Rights Act. Further implementing regulations will be required, so these changes are not expected imminently. More information about this can be found on the government factsheet. 

Neonatal care leave and pay

Since 6 April 2025, parents whose babies require neonatal care are entitled to receive paid leave provided certain criteria are met. This gives both parents up to 12 weeks of extra leave and statutory pay to spend vital time with their babies if they are born premature or sick, if they meet the qualifying criteria. 

More details can be found on GOV.UK. Neonatal leave and pay are in addition to other statutory parental leave and pay entitlements.

Recovery of payments

Generally, an employer can claim back from HMRC 92% of the statutory parental payments that are paid in a month. However, where the employer is small (where total annual employer and employee National Insurance contributions payable are less than £45,000), they can recover the full amount, plus 9% (so 109% of payments in total). This has increased from 8.5% in 2025/26 and 3% before that.

The employer recovers the relevant amount by deducting the amount from the payment they are due to make to HMRC in respect of PAYE and National Insurance contributions. You can read more about this on our paying HMRC page.

The amount that the employer wishes to set off against payments due should be reported on an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) by the 19th of the tax month following that to which it relates (or by completing an RT5 for the relevant quarter if paper filing).

You can write to the PAYE Employer Office to ask for a repayment if you can’t set off the payments against the current year’s liabilities. You can’t do this until the start of the next tax year.

See GOV.UK for further information.

If you cannot fund the parental payments up front, you can apply for HMRC to pay you in advance.

Records

An employer has to keep records of the Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay etc. payments made. HMRC provide forms SMP2, SAP2 and SPP2 for this purpose, although the employer can retain the information in another way if they wish.

The employer should also retain the maternity certificates and so on.

Further help

If you are an online filer, your payroll software (including HMRC’s Basic PAYE Tools) will help you calculate any Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay etc. due. (If using HMRC’s Basic PAYE Tools, you should enter the amount to be paid under Statutory Payments, rather than in the usual place.)

If you are a paper filer, GOV.UK provides standalone calculators to help calculate the amount of Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay etc.

If possible, these amounts should be itemised on the payslip as Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay etc. to differentiate it from any other taxable income.

You should note that Statutory Sick Pay cannot be paid at the same time as any of the statutory parental payments.

For a full collection of detailed guidance for employees and employers on Statutory Sick Pay, Statutory Maternity Pay, and the other parental payments, please see GOV.UK. Here you will find a guide on the penalties which may apply if the employer fails to make correct payments.

The rights of parents to the various different types of leave and pay is very complicated and we do not cover all the detail and eventualities here. Acas have lots of information about it on their website and you can also contact the Acas helpline for advice. Information on the different changes to parental leave and pay under the Employment Rights Act 2025 can also be found on the Acas website.