Maternity leave and pay

Benefits during maternity leave

Whether or not certain benefits continue throughout maternity leave depends on the contract of employment.

Accrual of annual leave

An employee continues to accrue both their full statutory annual leave entitlement of 5.6 weeks and any additional contractual entitlement throughout both ordinary maternity leave (OML) and additional maternity leave (AML).

An employee may not take annual leave during maternity leave. You should instead allow the employee to take any untaken annual leave before and/or after her maternity leave.

Note that you cannot pay an employee in lieu of any untaken statutory annual leave unless the contract is terminated.

Note that an employee's maternity leave begins automatically if she gives birth during a period of annual leave - see the page in this guide on when maternity leave can begin.

For more information on annual leave entitlements, see our guide on how to know how much holiday to give your staff.

Contributions to an occupational pension scheme (OPS)

During OML (whether or not the employee is receiving statutory and/or enhanced maternity pay) and any period of paid AML, you should calculate the employer's contribution to an OPS as if the employee is working normally and receiving the normal remuneration for doing so.

During any period that your employee is on additional maternity leave but not receiving any maternity pay - eg during the last 13 weeks of AML - you do not have to make any employer contributions to an OPS unless the contract of employment provides otherwise.

If the OPS rules require employee contributions to continue during maternity leave, her contributions should be based on the amount of statutory and/or enhanced maternity pay she is receiving.

Employee contributions will therefore stop during any period of unpaid maternity leave - eg during the last 13 weeks of AML - but the OPS rules may allow her to still make voluntary contributions.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• The right to maternity leave
• Notification and confirmation of maternity leave
• When maternity leave can begin
• Terms and conditions during maternity leave
• Benefits during maternity leave
• Contact and work during maternity leave
• A change to the planned return date from maternity leave
• Returning to work from maternity leave
• Maternity leave and protection against detriment or dismissal
• Maternity pay
• Here's how we managed contact and work during an employee's maternity leave

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