Maternity pay

[yesterdaysbread]

Hiya, would really appreciate some help figuring out my entitlement to maternity pay.

i am currently employed part time on a fixed term contract. My employment started in August 2024 and contract goes to 28 Feb 2026.

Its early days still but I am expecting a baby, due date 22 May 2026.

as I understand it, the earliest possible day I could take maternity leave would be the first of March 2026 (a day after my contract ends!)

As this date is outside my period of employment does this mean I will not be able to claim SMP?

it is still early, haven’t had a dating scan or anything and haven’t got a MATB form yet obviously. I’m just concerned that I may miss out but feel surely I should be covered?

thanks in advance!

How many weeks will you be on 28th February when your contract ends? I think as long as you are employed at 26 weeks you will still get smp. If your contract ends before this then you won’t.

@Overthebow thanks so much, I will be 26 weeks on 15 Feb, so within my employment, phew!

(so will be 27, nearly 28 weeks by the time my contract ends)

You can get smp if you were employed the day when you are 0 weeks pregnant (2 weeks before conception) and still employed in the qualifying weeks.
If not you can claim maternity allowance if you have been employed in the year or so before pregnancy.

The difference between the two is smp gives you 90% of your earnings for your first 6 weeks before dropping to the default weekly amount and maternity allowance starts at the determined level. Not sure about smp, I was made redundant at 8 weeks pregnant so I've claimed maternity allowance. I applied as soon as I was able I think 26 weeks and the payments started a week or so later

If you have been employed for at least 26 weeks by the time youre 25 weeks pregnant then you should qualify for SMP (i.e. you cant be pregnant when you start work; bear in mind your pregnany is counted from the start of your last period)

Once you qualify you get the SMP even if you leave/your contract ends. If you dont qualify for SMP you can claim Maternity Allowance instead

We had someone in a similar situation and we just terminated her contract at the point she wanted to go on maternity leave and paid her full SMP entitlement in one lump sum.

Thank you so much to all of you who replied, it gave me confidence and also matched what I’ve since read online. However I had a catch up with HR at work today which was a bit puzzling.

Our HR manager said that I won’t qualify for anything from work as I won’t be employed by them at the point of starting mat leave (which was my original worry). She also said that the organisation pays for mat pay not the government. My understanding is that HMRC repays the employer so it shouldn’t cost them.

I’m going to try and make some enquiries to check this all out as I have a feeling she may be mistaken on both counts, but for now does anyone out there have any thoughts, as this has confused me again! TIA

Just to recap, I had my scan and EDD is 18 May 2026. My contract ends on 28 Feb, 15 weeks before my due date is 2 Feb so within my employment. I will be I have been employed continuously for more than 26 weeks at this point, and also make at least the minimum weekly amount to qualify.

HR is wrong. As long as you are still employed in the week that's 15 weeks before the expected week of childbirth then you qualify for SMP, even if you leave the job after that.

SMP can be claimed back by the company too.

This is assuming you are 26 weeks pregnant by the time you've worked there for 25 weeks I.e. you cant be already pregnant when you started your job

https://maternityaction.org.uk/advice/maternity-pay-questions/

@dementedpixie thank you so much. Yes my contract started August 2024 so it’s been over 26 weeks. I will show that link to HR, thanks again

Were HR definitely talking about SMP only?

Also try and keep as much of this in writing, if your work try to terminate your contract early so that they don’t have to pay SMP you’ll want all the proof you can get, although hopefully it won’t come to that.

I can see a poster has already linked to maternity action, pregnant then screwed are also great.