Maternity leave and pay in the NHS

Maternity pay is something I have found quite confusing, especially in the NHS. With a spate of new pregnancies in my friendship group, I thought it'd be something I'd revisit. I find it easier to think of it as weeks in the pregnancy so you will notice the fractions, which mean the week of the pregnancy (10th week of pregnancy is equal to 10/40) - hope that makes sense. Also bare in mind this is the standard NHS / BMA maternity leave, if you are employed by a GP surgery then depending on your contract, it may differ from what is down below. 

Maternity Leave

All women who are employed (for any amount of time) are eligible for 1 year of maternity leave made up of Ordinary Maternity Leave for 26 weeks and Additional Maternity Leave for 26 weeks after that. You do not need to take all 52 weeks, but you do need to take 2 weeks straight after the birth. You need to tell your employer when you plan to take it at least 15 weeks prior (25/40) to the estimated due date (EDD) and they have to confirm the start and end dates of your maternity leave. Usually the earliest you can take the leave is 11 weeks before the estimated due date (29/40). Whilst on leave, you are eligible for pay rises and accruing of annual leave (which you can use once you come back from maternity leave). You do not need to use all 52 weeks and you can decide to come back earlier but need to give your employer 8 weeks notice. Importantly, you will not be penalised regarding your NHS pension during your time off and will be seen to have contributed as if you had not gone on Maternity leave. 

Maternity Pay

To be able to receive NHS maternity pay, you need to have been employed for 12 months continuously with one or more NHS employers at the beginning of the 11th week before the EDD (29/40) and notified your intention to return to work for at least 3 months after. In the NHS, maternity pay is made up of Occupational Pay (OP) and Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP). Listed below are the requirements for both.

NHS occupational maternity pay (OMP)

Eligibility: Employees must have 12 months’ continuous service with the NHS by the eleventh week before the expected week of childbirth (EWC) and intend to return to work in the NHS for a minimum of 3 months. 

• Occupational pay will be made up of:

Statutory maternity pay (SMP)

Eligibility: To qualify for statutory maternity pay an employee has to have 26 weeks continuous service with the one (current) employer by the beginning of the fifteenth week before the expected week of childbirth (EWC). Flat rate SMP is currently £151.97/week and usually increases with inflation annually.

• Statutory pay will be made up of:

Statutory maternity pay (SMP) and NHS occupational maternity pay (OMP)

        If an employee qualifies for both SMP and NHS OMP this will be made up of: 

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It may sounds like if you qualify for OMP that you'll qualify for SMP. However OMP states continuous employment with the NHS whereas SMP is employment with one employer (hospital). So it is possible you could move hospitals during the period of eligibility and not be eligible for SMP (and qualify for Maternity Allowance instead).

Your pay is calculated on your gross average weekly earnings (before tax) over an 8 week period - your 18th week of pregnancy (18/40) to 25th week of pregnancy (25/40) inclusive. So to maximise your maternity pay, it may be best to maximise your wage in those weeks (unsocial hours, banding, overtime, etc). 

In a very simplified example, if you've been in the NHS for over 1 year prior to your pregnancy and your weekly gross wage was £1000/week for weeks 18 to 25 of your pregnancy; for weeks 1-8 post-partum you should receive £1000/week gross, weeks 9 to 26 you should receive £651.97/week gross (50% of your normal wage + SMP), weeks 27 to 39 you would receive £151.97/week and the final 13 weeks (40 to 52) you would receive nothing. You can work out more detailed calculation with this very useful website here. Another useful website is the NHS Employer's website. 

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