Maternity leave for employers: holiday, SMP reclaim and return

Someone in your team has started maternity leave, or is about to. The cover is arranged and the handover is done. The questions that come next are quieter: what keeps building up while they are away, how much of the pay comes back, what you can change in their absence, and which job has to be waiting when they return.

As checked on 28 October 2026, the rules in this guide are in force in England, Scotland and Wales. The leave and return rights are in the Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999, holiday is in the Working Time Regulations 1998, and the redundancy protection was extended from 6 April 2024. SI 2024/264. The government's implementation timetable, last updated on 22 October 2026, lists enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers for October 2027 and says all future dates may change. Government implementation timetable. Our Employment Rights Act key dates page covers the wider timetable. This guide starts when leave begins. The duties that fall earlier are elsewhere: the risk assessment is on HSE's pages for employers, and paid time off for antenatal care is on GOV.UK's page on pregnant employees' rights. Northern Ireland has its own rules and is not covered here.

Work out the holiday that keeps building up

Acas puts the starting point plainly: an employee will "'accrue' (build up) their holiday entitlement during statutory maternity leave. This includes bank holidays." Acas on holiday and maternity leave.

The law behind it reaches past the statutory minimum. During ordinary and additional maternity leave, the employee keeps the benefit of all the terms and conditions that would have applied if they had not been absent. The only exception is remuneration, which means wages or salary. Regulation 9. So contractual holiday above the statutory 5.6 weeks keeps building too. Someone on 25 days plus bank holidays who is away for a whole holiday year builds up all of that year's days while away.

The law requires you to let statutory leave carry over when maternity leave stopped someone taking it. Where taking statutory leave left a worker unable to take some or all of the year's four weeks, or the extra 1.6 weeks, they are entitled to carry the untaken leave into the following leave year. Regulation 13; Regulation 13A. The 18-month limit in regulation 13 applies to leave carried over after sickness, not to this. Acas adds that refusing to let someone take their holiday because of pregnancy or maternity could be discrimination. Acas on holiday and maternity leave.

The statutory 5.6 weeks cannot be swapped for a payment while someone stays in your employment. Regulation 13; Regulation 13A. For days above that, Acas says you and the employee should agree whether they take the extra days, and possibly carry them over, or receive payment in lieu. Acas on holiday and maternity leave. Irregular-hours and part-year workers build up leave during statutory leave by a separate calculation, at 12.07% of their average weekly hours before the leave began, and carry untaken leave forward under their own rule. Regulation 15C; Regulation 15D.

If you are thinking of reducing contractual holiday while someone is away, the test in regulation 9 is not the policy on the day their leave started. It is the terms that would have applied if they had not been absent. A cut aimed at the person on leave, or timed for their absence, is another matter. Treating someone unfavourably because they are exercising the right to maternity leave is discrimination. Equality Act 2010, section 18. Subjecting them to a detriment because they took it is also unlawful. Regulation 19.

A change you are making for everyone follows the usual rules for changing a contract, which our guide to changing an employee's contract sets out. The government's timetable of 22 October 2026 now lists the fire and rehire protections for March 2027, later than that guide's January 2027, and says dates may change. Government implementation timetable. A practical approach is to consult the person on leave at the same time as everyone else, and to check that the way you bring the change in does not leave them worse off for being away. A window to use the old entitlement that they cannot use while on leave is the obvious example. Seek appropriate advice before changing the terms of anyone who is on maternity leave.

Agree when the leave ends and how you keep in touch

It is not possible to take two types of leave at the same time, Acas says, but someone can take holiday before or after maternity leave. Taking holiday before using the full 52 weeks "will automatically end their statutory maternity leave". In Acas's example, Gill takes 39 weeks of maternity leave and then two weeks of paid holiday, and cannot take the remaining 13 weeks afterwards. Acas on holiday and maternity leave.

That makes the end date the thing to pin down. Once you know when leave starts, you must confirm the start and end dates in writing within 28 days, and an employee who wants to return on a different date gives 8 weeks' notice. GOV.UK on maternity notice periods; Regulation 11. Acas suggests agreeing, while leave is being planned, how much holiday will build up, whether it is taken before or after the leave, and how much will carry over. Acas on holiday and maternity leave. A practical approach is to put that in the same letter as the dates. If someone later asks to use holiday to come back sooner, confirm in writing the day maternity leave ends, the day holiday starts, and that the rest of the maternity leave is given up.

Keeping-in-touch days are separate. An employee may do up to 10 days' work during statutory maternity leave without ending it, and any work on a day counts as a whole day. Neither side can insist: the regulation gives you no right to require work and the employee no right to do it. No work under this rule is allowed in the two weeks after the birth. Regulation 12A. Statutory maternity pay continues for those days. Statutory Maternity Pay (General) Regulations 1986, regulation 9A. Acas says to agree the pay in advance, that normal pay for the day is the easiest option, and that pay must not fall below the minimum wage. Acas on what happens during maternity leave.

Reasonable contact, such as a call to discuss the return, does not end the leave and is not a keeping-in-touch day. Regulation 12A. Some contact is owed. Acas says the employer must tell the employee about important changes that might affect them, including job opportunities, training, redundancies and any reorganisation, and that failing to could be pregnancy and maternity discrimination. Acas on what happens during maternity leave.

Reclaim the statutory pay and budget for the holiday

Statutory maternity pay can run for up to 39 weeks: 90% of average weekly earnings for the first six weeks, then £194.32 a week or 90% of earnings if that is lower, as GOV.UK gave it on 28 October 2026. GOV.UK maternity employer guide. You can usually reclaim 92% of it. The figure is 109% if you qualify for Small Employers' Relief, which applies if you paid £45,000 or less in Class 1 National Insurance in the last complete tax year before the qualifying week, ignoring reductions such as the Employment Allowance. The qualifying week is the fifteenth week before the week the baby is due. You reclaim through the Employer Payment Summary to HMRC. GOV.UK on reclaiming statutory pay.

Paying more than the statutory rate does not raise what comes back. GOV.UK says that even then you can usually only reclaim 92% of the statutory amount. GOV.UK maternity employer guide. If you cannot afford the payments, you can apply online for HMRC to pay you in advance, up to four weeks before you want the first advance payment. GOV.UK on advance payments.

Holiday is a different matter. GOV.UK's list of what can be reclaimed covers statutory maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, parental bereavement and neonatal care pay. Holiday pay is not on it, and the page does not mention it. GOV.UK on reclaiming statutory pay. The holiday built up during leave is paid by the business when it is taken. If cover is still in post when the returner takes it, budget for both.

The law requires you to keep statutory maternity pay records for three years after the end of the tax year in which the maternity pay period ends: the first day of absence, each week's payment, any week not paid and why, and the MATB1 or other medical evidence of the due date. You must not keep a birth certificate given as evidence of the birth, only a record of the date of birth. Statutory Maternity Pay (General) Regulations 1986, regulation 26; GOV.UK on maternity records. Holiday records showing that the statutory entitlement was given are kept for six years. Regulation 16B. A practical approach is one dated note per person holding the leave dates, the keeping-in-touch days worked and the holiday carried over.

The MATB1 is health information, which the ICO treats as special category data. The ICO names maintaining maternity pay records as a purpose under the employment law condition, says relying on it means having an appropriate policy document, and asks employers to apply "need to know", suggesting health information is kept separate from the rest of a personnel file. ICO on workers' health information. The ICO says this guidance is under review following the Data (Use and Access) Act and may change. Acas adds that employers must keep information shared during maternity leave confidential, and tell others only if the employee makes clear they can. Acas on what happens during maternity leave.

Have the right job ready for the return

The job a returner is entitled to depends on how much leave they took. After ordinary maternity leave only, the first 26 weeks taken as an isolated period, they are entitled to return to the job they did before. After additional maternity leave, it is the same job or, if that is not reasonably practicable for the employer, another job that is suitable for them and appropriate in the circumstances. Regulation 18. Either way they come back with their seniority and pension rights, on terms no less favourable than if they had not been absent. Regulation 18A.

Acas describes the exception as a genuine reason why return to the same job is not possible, and says the right applies even if someone else is covering the job well. An alternative must have the same or similar pay, benefits, holiday, location and seniority. Acas on returning to work after maternity leave. Acas also says an employer must not dismiss an employee on maternity leave and replace them with the maternity cover. Acas on what happens during maternity leave.

Roles drift during a year away, often with no intention behind it. A practical check, a month before the return date, is to set the job you plan to offer beside the job held immediately before leave began: duties, title, reporting line, pay, hours and place of work. The regulation measures from that point. Regulation 18. If the work still exists under another name, treat it as the same job. If it has been spread across colleagues or has genuinely gone, take advice before the return meeting: where the reason is redundancy, regulation 18 gives way to the redundancy rules in regulation 10. Regulation 18; Regulation 10.

A returner who wants different hours can make a statutory flexible working request. Acas on returning to work after maternity leave. Our guide to handling a flexible working request within two months sets out the process once one arrives. A change of hours you impose is different: it alters their terms, and Acas gives reducing someone's hours without good reason as an example of detriment. Acas on maternity protections.

The law requires suitable facilities for a nursing mother to rest. Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, regulation 25. Once an employee tells you in writing that they are breastfeeding, the individual risk assessment steps for new mothers apply to them. Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 16; regulation 18. Acas calls it good practice for the area to have somewhere to lie down, to be hygienic and private for expressing milk, not a toilet, and to have somewhere to store milk, such as a fridge. Acas on returning to work after maternity leave. Neither regulation 25 nor HSE's page sets paid breaks for expressing. HSE on rest and breastfeeding at work. Acas notes that discrimination related to breastfeeding could be sex discrimination, so seek advice before withdrawing breaks you have agreed. Acas on pregnancy and maternity discrimination.

Check redundancy plans against the protected period

If redundancy means it is not practicable to keep someone on their existing contract, the law gives them a priority right to any suitable available vacancy. That right applies during pregnancy once you have been told, throughout statutory maternity leave, and for an additional protected period afterwards. Regulation 10. The additional period ends 18 months from the first day of the expected week of childbirth, or 18 months from the birth where the employee told you the date before the leave ended or, if that was not reasonably practicable, as soon as reasonably practicable afterwards. You can ask for that notice in writing. Regulation 10. The extension applies where statutory maternity leave ended on or after 6 April 2024. SI 2024/264.

The vacancy must be offered before the employment ends, with you, a successor or an associated employer. The work must be suitable and appropriate for them, on terms not substantially less favourable. Regulation 10. Acas says the priority holds even if other employees are also suitable. Where you are reducing existing roles, the protected employee goes through the same selection as everyone else, and the roles kept are not vacancies, though a new role created by combining two could be. Acas on redundancy protection for pregnancy and new parents. A redundancy dismissal that does not follow regulation 10 is automatically unfair. Regulation 20.

A practical approach is to note each person's protected period end date on the redundancy file before any selection starts. Our guide to making one or two roles redundant covers consultation, selection and notice.

Two items on the government's timetable reach this area: bereavement leave, including pregnancy loss, listed for April 2027, and enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers, listed for October 2027. Both are scheduled in the government's timetable, which says dates may change, and it gives no detail of what the protections will add. Government implementation timetable. There is nothing to change for them yet. Whoever handles payroll owns the dated note and the reclaim, and whoever manages the returner owns the job comparison. The Acas helpline is the free first call on a specific case.

Common questions

Does holiday accrue during maternity leave in the UK?

Yes. Acas says an employee builds up holiday during statutory maternity leave, including bank holidays. Acas on holiday and maternity leave. Contractual holiday above the statutory minimum builds up too, because all terms except wages or salary continue during the leave. Regulation 9. Statutory leave the employee could not take because of maternity leave carries into the next leave year. Regulation 13.

How much maternity pay can an employer claim back?

Usually 92% of statutory maternity pay, or 109% if you paid £45,000 or less in Class 1 National Insurance in the last complete tax year before the qualifying week, ignoring the Employment Allowance. You reclaim through the Employer Payment Summary. GOV.UK on reclaiming statutory pay. Holiday pay is not among the payments GOV.UK lists as reclaimable.

Does an employee have the right to the same job after maternity leave?

After ordinary maternity leave alone, yes. After additional maternity leave, it is the same job or, if that is not reasonably practicable for the employer, a suitable and appropriate alternative, on terms no less favourable. Regulation 18; Regulation 18A. Acas says the right applies even if the cover is doing the job well. Acas on returning to work after maternity leave.

Are keeping in touch days paid?

Pay is agreed between you and the employee. Acas says agree it in advance, normal pay for the day is the easiest option, and it must not fall below the minimum wage. Acas on what happens during maternity leave. Up to 10 days can be worked without ending the leave, and statutory maternity pay continues for them. Regulation 12A; SMP regulation 9A.