UK Maternity and Paternity Leave: A Guide for International Employers

The UK gives employees up to 52 weeks of maternity leave and, since April 2026, the right to paternity leave from their first day of work. For companies hiring into the UK through an Employer of Record, these are not distant contingencies; they are statutory obligations that apply from the moment a contract is signed, with financial consequences and HMRC reporting requirements attached.

This guide covers the statutory rates, eligibility tests, notice requirements, and cost recovery rules that matter before your first UK hire. It also explains what your EOR handles and where your responsibilities as the client company begin.

Maternity Leave: Duration, Pay, and Eligibility

Statutory maternity leave in the UK totals 52 weeks, split into 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave and 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave. The right to take leave applies from day one of employment — there is no qualifying service threshold for leave itself. The right to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is a separate question and carries its own eligibility tests.

Leave can start as early as 11 weeks before the expected week of childbirth. The first two weeks after birth are compulsory; the employee cannot return to work during this period, and the employer cannot permit it. For factory workers, the compulsory period extends to four weeks.

H3: Statutory Maternity Pay Rates (2026/27)

SMP is paid for up to 39 weeks. For the first six weeks, the employee receives 90% of their average weekly earnings (AWE), with no upper cap. For the remaining 33 weeks, the rate is the lower of £194.32 per week, the standard rate from 6 April 2026 confirmed by HMRC, or 90% of AWE. Both periods are subject to income tax and National Insurance deductions, processed through the employer’s PAYE payroll.

Average weekly earnings are calculated from the eight-week earnings period ending on the Saturday before the qualifying week, which falls 15 weeks before the expected week of childbirth. If the employer awards a pay rise effective at any point between the start of that calculation period and the end of maternity leave, SMP must be recalculated and any shortfall paid.

SMP Eligibility Tests

To qualify for SMP, an employee must have been continuously employed for at least 26 weeks into the qualifying week, and their average weekly earnings in the eight-week calculation period must be at or above the lower earnings limit of £129 per week for 2026/27. Employees who fail either test do not receive SMP from the employer. They may instead claim Maternity Allowance directly from the Department for Work and Pensions, at up to £184.03 per week for up to 39 weeks.

The employee must also provide a MAT B1 form — a certificate of expected childbirth signed by a doctor or registered midwife, typically issued from around 20 weeks of pregnancy. The employer cannot begin paying SMP without it, and must return it to the employee if they are not eligible, alongside form SMP1.

Keeping In Touch (KIT) Days

An employee on maternity leave can work up to 10 Keeping In Touch days without ending her leave or losing SMP for that week. KIT days require agreement from both parties and are typically used for training, handovers, or team meetings. Pay for KIT days is governed by the employment contract, not statute, so the rate should be stated clearly in the offer letter or written policy.

Paternity Leave: The 2024 and 2026 Rule Changes

UK paternity leave went through two significant changes in quick succession. If your EOR’s contract templates have not been updated since early 2024, they are almost certainly out of date on both counts.

What Changed in April 2024

Before April 2024, statutory paternity leave had to be taken in one block of one or two consecutive weeks, within 56 days of birth. The Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 changed this for babies due on or after 6 April 2024. Leave can now be taken as two separate one-week blocks, at any point within the first 52 weeks after birth or placement for adoption. The employee must give at least 28 days’ notice before each block starts.

What Changed in April 2026

The larger structural change came on 6 April 2026 under the Employment Rights Act 2025. Statutory paternity leave became a day-one right: the previous requirement for 26 weeks’ continuous service before the qualifying week was removed entirely.

An employee can now take paternity leave in their first week of employment, and the employer cannot refuse or delay it if statutory conditions are met.

This change applies across England, Scotland, and Wales. Northern Ireland operates under devolved employment legislation and is not covered.

One distinction that matters for payroll planning: the day-one entitlement covers the right to leave. Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) eligibility still requires average weekly earnings at or above the lower earnings limit in the relevant calculation period. A new hire who qualifies for day-one paternity leave may not qualify for SPP if their earnings in the calculation period fall below £129 per week. The employer must notify them in writing within 28 days using form SPP1 if they are not entitled to pay.

SPP Rate and Notice Requirements

SPP is paid at £194.32 per week (2026/27) or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, for up to two weeks. It is subject to income tax and National Insurance in the same way as SMP.

For babies due from 26 July 2026 onwards, standard notice rules apply: the employee must inform the employer before the end of the qualifying week, the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, and give at least 28 days’ notice before each one-week block.

For babies due between 6 April and 25 July 2026, a transitional arrangement applies: newly eligible employees under the day-one change need give only 28 days’ total notice, rather than the usual 15-week lead notice, to allow parents to act on the new entitlement immediately. Full details are set out in the Consequential Amendments Regulations 2026.

Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave

From April 2026, a bereaved father or partner whose child’s mother or primary adopter dies within the first year of the child’s life is entitled to up to 52 weeks of paternity leave. This right applies from day one of employment and is governed by the Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024.

It is distinct from the standard two-week statutory paternity leave entitlement and carries its own notice and evidence rules.

Shared Parental Leave

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) allows eligible parents to share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) following the birth or adoption of a child. The first two weeks after birth remain compulsory maternity leave and cannot be converted into SPL.

SPL is triggered when the mother curtails her maternity leave early. The remaining weeks convert into a shared pot that either parent can take, in blocks, simultaneously or separately, at any point within the first year of the child’s life. ShPP is paid at the same flat rate as SMP: £194.32 per week for 2026/27, or 90% of AWE if that is lower.

From April 2026, the previous restriction on taking statutory paternity leave after shared parental leave has been removed under the Employment Rights Act 2025. A parent can now take their two weeks of paternity leave even after they have already used a period of SPL, which was not possible before.

Eligibility and Notice for SPL

Both parents must meet their own eligibility conditions. The mother or primary adopter must be entitled to either statutory maternity leave or Maternity Allowance, and must curtail that entitlement.

The partner must have been employed by any employer for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before the expected week of childbirth, and must earn above the lower earnings limit. Notice requirements for SPL are detailed: the curtailment notice, the opt-in notice, and the leave booking notice each have their own timing rules, set out in the Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014.

For international employers using an EOR, SPL adds complexity because the pay entitlement runs off the mother’s record with her legal employer, which is the EOR. The client company needs to communicate promptly when an employee signals they intend to use SPL so the EOR can begin the curtailment and opt-in process correctly.

How SMP and SPP Costs Work for UK Employers

SMP and SPP are not employer costs in the conventional sense; they are statutory liabilities that the employer advances through payroll and then reclaims from HMRC. The mechanics matter because the employer funds the payments upfront before recovery, which affects cash flow on smaller payrolls.

Most employers can reclaim 92% of SMP paid, meaning they bear 8% of the total SMP bill as a net cost. Employers whose total Class 1 National Insurance liability for the previous tax year, both employer and employee contributions combined, was £45,000 or less qualify for Small Employers’ Relief.

Under Small Employers’ Relief, the employer recovers 103% of SMP paid: the full amount plus an additional 3% to offset administration costs. The same recovery rates apply to SPP, ShPP, and Statutory Adoption Pay.

Recovery happens through the employer’s PAYE account. The SMP amount due to HMRC in any given tax month is reduced by the statutory payments made in that same period. If statutory payments exceed the PAYE liability, the employer can apply for an advance payment from HMRC.

What the EOR Handles

When you hire through an EOR, the EOR is the statutory employer for SMP and SPP purposes. It assesses eligibility, calculates the payment, runs it through PAYE, and files the recovery claim with HMRC. The EOR also responds to the employee if they do not qualify, issuing forms SMP1 or SPP1 within the required 28-day window.

What the client company must do is communicate promptly. If an employee informs you directly that they are pregnant or expecting paternity leave, that notification needs to reach the EOR immediately; eligibility assessment and payroll scheduling both have fixed statutory deadlines that are counted from the date of notification. Delays on the client side can put the EOR in breach of response timelines.

Employer Obligations and Documentation

Statutory maternity and paternity leave triggers a series of documentation and response obligations with fixed deadlines. Missing them exposes the employer, or the EOR acting in that capacity, to underpayment claims and potential employment tribunal risk.

Maternity Documentation

The employee must give at least 28 days’ notice of the date she intends to start maternity leave, and must provide the MAT B1 form from her midwife or GP. The employer must then respond within 28 days confirming the expected return date.

If the employee later wants to change her return date, she must give eight weeks’ notice. Enhanced maternity pay offered by contract must be set out clearly and applied consistently; failure to do so creates discrimination exposure under the Equality Act 2010.

A particularly important compliance point: SMP eligibility crystallises on the qualifying date, the end of the qualifying week, based on the employee’s earnings and service at that point. It is not affected by events that happen afterwards, including resignation, dismissal, or a decision not to return to work.

An employee who qualifies for SMP on the qualifying date is entitled to it even if she leaves the business before or during maternity leave.

Paternity Documentation

For paternity leave, the employee must provide notice of their intention to take leave before the end of the qualifying week, and give at least 28 days’ notice before each one-week block.

They must also confirm in writing that they are the father of the child or the partner of the birth parent, and that they are taking leave to care for the child or support the mother. The standard form for this is SC3, available from GOV.UK.

If the employee is not entitled to SPP, the employer must issue form SPP1 within 28 days of the pay request. If the employee is not requesting pay but is taking leave, the employer should still confirm the leave dates in writing.

Discrimination Risk

Maternity and pregnancy discrimination claims under the Equality Act 2010 do not require a comparator and carry uncapped compensation. Any detrimental treatment linked to pregnancy, maternity leave, or a request related to parental leave can give rise to a claim.

This includes redundancy decisions, failure to offer a suitable alternative role during a redundancy process, demotion on return, or changes to terms and conditions.

For international employers managing UK employees remotely, consistent documentation of decisions affecting employees on or returning from parental leave is the primary protection.

Parental Leave Compliance When Hiring Through a UK EOR

When a company hires in the UK through an Employer of Record, the EOR is the statutory employer for all parental leave purposes. That means the EOR assesses SMP and SPP eligibility, runs the calculations, administers the payroll, files HMRC recovery claims, and issues statutory notices to the employee.

What the client company is responsible for is workforce planning, timely communication, and ensuring the EOR agreement itself reflects current UK law.

What to Check in Your EOR Contract

Following the April 2026 day-one rights changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025, any EOR contract or UK employment template that still references a 26-week qualifying period for paternity leave or unpaid parental leave is out of date.

Check that your EOR has updated its standard UK contract language. This matters particularly for new hires: under the old rules, an employer had a service-based buffer before parental leave entitlements kicked in. That buffer no longer exists for paternity leave, meaning parental leave planning starts from the day of hire.

The Day-One Risk for International Employers

For companies that hire opportunistically in the UK, a single senior hire, a small remote team, the day-one paternity right introduces a planning consideration that did not exist before April 2026.

An employee who starts work and immediately qualifies for paternity leave (because their partner is already pregnant, for example) can take up to two weeks of leave almost straight away. The EOR is legally obligated to grant it. Coverage planning for that hire therefore, cannot assume any qualifying period has to pass first.

The same logic applies to unpaid parental leave, which also became a day-one right from April 2026 under section 15 of the Employment Rights Act 2025. Employees can now take up to 18 weeks of unpaid parental leave per child from the first day of employment, subject to the existing rules on how much can be taken in any one year (typically four weeks per child per year unless the employer agrees more).

EOR Payroll Readiness

Ask your EOR provider directly whether their UK payroll configuration has been updated to remove service-threshold checks for paternity leave and parental leave. This is not a given; several EOR platforms configure statutory pay triggers based on employment duration, and those configurations needed updating by April 2026.

If the system still blocks an SPP calculation for an employee with fewer than 26 weeks’ service, the EOR will be in breach of its statutory obligations as the legal employer. Acas and GOV.UK provide the current statutory framework that EOR payroll systems must reflect.

Frequently Asked Questions