UK maternity leave rules: a guide for employers

Checking all boxes in the process of handling maternity leave in the UK requires planning, communication, and reliable tools for tracking absence. The use of absence management software helps organisations stay compliant and maintain continuity across teams.

This guide contains all the key rules and best practices for managing maternity leave in the UK.

Key takeaways

• Employers must follow UK rules on Ordinary and Additional Maternity Leave, statutory pay, and role protection.
• HR teams must track timelines, eligibility, and required documentation to remain compliant.
• Maternity leave can create scheduling gaps and operational challenges without proper planning.
• Workforce continuity relies on accurate forecasting, communication protocols, and coordinated HR–manager workflows.
• Digital tools support compliance by automating calculations, alerts, and documentation.

What are the key maternity leave rules employers must follow in the UK?

Understanding the legal framework of maternity leave in the UK is essential for keeping policies fair, clear, and compliant.

Ordinary and Additional Maternity Leave (OML / AML)

Employees can take up to 52 weeks of maternity leave, split into:

• Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML): first 26 weeks
• Additional Maternity Leave (AML): next 26 weeks

Employees can choose how much leave to take. Taking the full 52 weeks is not mandatory. However, the UK law requires new mothers to take at least 2 weeks after the birth (or 4 weeks if they are factory workers).

Overview of UK maternity leave structure

Eligibility and employee notification timeline

Employees must notify their employer by the end of the 25th week of pregnancy (the “qualifying week”). They must confirm:

• The fact they are pregnant
• The expected week of childbirth
• The start date of their maternity leave

Employers can request this in writing for record-keeping. HR teams should also issue a confirmation letter within 28 days of receiving the employee’s notification, outlining:

• The start date of the maternity leave
• Expected date of the employee’s return to work
• SMP entitlement (if it applies)

When all these requirements are communicated clearly, there should be fewer disputes and better alignment with regulations.

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) and employer obligations

Statutory Maternity Pay is available for eligible employees who:

• Have worked continuously for the employer for a minimum of 26 weeks before the qualifying week
• Earn at least £123 per week on average (2025 threshold)
• Provide medical evidence (MATB1 form)

SMP payment structure:

• First 6 weeks: 90% of average weekly earnings
• Next 33 weeks: SMP rate set yearly by the government or 90% of earnings (whichever is lower)
• Remaining 13 weeks: unpaid

Employers must:

• Process SMP through payroll
• Keep detailed records for HMRC
• Reclaim a large portion through statutory recovery schemes

Incorrect calculations or missed deadlines can lead to non-compliance, payroll errors and potential claims.

Shared Parental Leave interactions

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) allows parents to share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay after maternity leave is curtailed. Employers must be prepared for employees switching from maternity leave to SPL before or after giving birth.

How does maternity leave impact workforce planning and daily operations?

Maternity leave has the potential to create obstacles for the smooth running of operations. These might include disruptions to teams, customer service, or project delivery. If you start planning early, you can avoid staffing gaps more easily.

Scheduling disruptions and resource gaps

A long-term absence can be felt across many work aspects: timelines, care ratios, seasonal or peak staffing requirements. HR teams can prepare by cross-training colleagues, adjusting rotas in advance, or arranging temporary cover. Other relevant measures include redistributing key tasks and using forecasting tools to anticipate busy periods.

Accurate staff planning helps organisations avoid misallocation or overburdening other staff.

Maintaining compliance while ensuring continuity

Employers must balance resource needs with legal obligations. For example:

• Overtime must not breach working time rules.
• Short-term changes to work roles should be fair and not put employees at a disadvantage.
• The returning employee must be protected from discriminatory treatment.

Balancing legal requirements and day-to-day continuity go hand in hand. Both require reliable documentation, communication, and scheduling.

Managing overlapping absences (maternity, sickness, annual leave)

It is common for maternity leave to overlap with:

• Pregnancy-related sickness
• Annual leave taken before maternity starts
• Bank holidays within leave periods
• Shared Parental Leave

To avoid disputes, HR teams have to calculate entitlements correctly. For example, annual leave continues to accrue during maternity leave and must be honoured.

Protecting employee rights during and after leave

Under UK law, employees on maternity leave are entitled to:

• Protection from unfair treatment or discrimination
• The right to return to the same job after the OML period
• Receiving an offer for a similar role after upon return to work (if returning to the same job is not reasonably practicable)
• Protection from being made redundant during the maternity leave

Employers should also take particular care when making decisions like redundancy. They must have an objective reason for it outside of the maternity leave itself.

What challenges do HR teams face when managing long-term maternity leave?

Maternity leave is not only a legal process. It’s also a matter of planning, documentation, and monitoring.

Tracking absence periods and key dates

Key dates HR must track include:

• Notification deadline (end of week 25)
• SMP (Statutory Maternity Pay) qualifying week
• Expected week of childbirth
• Leave start date
• SMP start and end dates
• AML transition date
• Anticipated return-to-work date

Manual tracking can increase the risk of errors. Meanwhile, HR can make great use of automated alerts when they need to manage key dates and keep up with deadlines.

Calculating entitlements and managing documentation

HR Documentation must include:

• MATB1 medical certificate
• SMP calculations and payroll records
• Confirmation letters
• Risk assessments for pregnant employees
• Written communication regarding return plans

Often, the causes for disputes lie in entitlement calculation mistakes or missing paperwork.

Coordinating temporary replacement or internal redistribution of tasks

There are a few strategies that help with planning and managing the increased workload.

HR could either start looking to recruit temporary cover or divide responsibilities within the team. In addition, they could adjust shift patterns to cover gaps internally or outsource certain tasks.

Task redistribution must be done thoughtfully to avoid overburdening employees. Mid-sized organisations often rely on employee scheduling software to avoid breaching working time rules.

Planning the employee’s return and maintaining role protection

Return-to-work complexities are also part of the HR process. Key tasks include:

• Confirming return date
• Planning any training to refresh skills
• Assessing flexible working requests
• Managing phased-return arrangements

Communication well before the end of leave helps create a smooth transition back to the workforce.

How can HR anticipate maternity leave and minimise operational disruption?

UK employers can be proactive in their planning to achieve compliance and stability throughout their workforce.

Building accurate leave forecasts

Forecasting is a core HR responsibility, but it becomes especially important when preparing for maternity leave. By analysing attendance trends and workforce data, HR teams can anticipate seasonal pressures, identify skill gaps, flag roles that may require temporary cover, and plan budgets for SMP and replacement staff.

Well-maintained attendance data improves the reliability of these predictions.

Implementing structured communication protocols

Clear communication avoids misunderstandings. HR can support good practice, fairness and transparency through documents and procedures like:

• A maternity leave policy accessible to all
• A standardised employee notification process
• Manager–HR checklists for each stage
• Scheduled check-ins before and after leave

Creating continuity plans for critical roles

Continuity plans often include:

• Documenting key processes
• Preparing temporary handover notes
• Training internal staff to step in
• Clarifying authority levels and decision rights

These measures strengthen resilience within and across teams.

Coordinating managers, payroll and HR

All departments should stay aligned. This way, payroll errors, incorrect shift allocation, miscommunication about return dates and compliance gaps, are less likely to happen. An HRIS system can integrate absence records with payroll information and planning tools. Thus, everyone works from the same accurate data.

How does Kelio support employers in managing maternity leave and long-term absences?

Kelio’s digital tools help organisations manage maternity leave with confidence through a variety of automatisation and alerts.

Automated absence tracking and alerts for key dates

• Automated calculation of maternity leave periods
• Notifications for SMP deadlines and documentation
• Alerts for upcoming return dates

Real-time visibility on staffing and availability

HR teams and managers can view schedules, cover gaps and anticipate shortages with live workforce data.

Integrated planning tools to prepare replacements

Visual scheduling dashboards help planning temporary cover or internal adjustments more efficiently.

Absence and leave data synchronised with payroll

When data is synchronised across systems, it removes much of the burden of constantly tracking deadlines and shifting priorities for HRs. It reduces the risk of SMP miscalculations, late payments, and compliance issues.

Secure documentation and manager–HR workflows

Kelio supports safe storage of maternity documentation and structured workflows that ensure consistency across teams.

What best practices should employers adopt for a smooth return-to-work process?

Supporting employees throughout their reintegration after maternity leave increases retention and improves wellbeing.

Preparing reintegration phases

This can include:

• Light onboarding or refresher training
• Updated policy briefings
• Meetings to realign expectations and priorities

Managing flexible arrangements and phased return

Employees may request:

• New working hours
• Hybrid or remote patterns
• Phased returns where hours gradually increase

It is the employer's obligation to give reasonable consideration to all flexible working requests, following ACAS guidance.

Ensuring role protection and legal compliance

Role changes must not disadvantage the employee. Decisions should always be objective, documented, and non-discriminatory. Clear records help demonstrate compliance.

How Kelio helps HR teams manage all types of absences efficiently

Kelio is an all-rounded solution that provides:

• Centralised absence management
• Leave balance calculations
• Manager–employee workflows
• Workforce visibility and planning tools

Get a demo of Kelio’s absence and workforce planning tools.