Statutory maternity pay (SMP): A guide for UK employers

Published Friday 10 July 2026

Table of contents

• What is statutory maternity pay?
• Who qualifies for SMP and what evidence do you need?
• How much is SMP and how do you calculate it?
• How do you pay SMP and report it to HMRC?
• How much SMP can you reclaim?
• What if your employee is not eligible for SMP?
• Simplify statutory payments and payroll with Xero
• FAQs on statutory maternity pay

Key takeaways

• Statutory maternity pay is paid by employers for up to 39 weeks when an employee meets eligibility rules, then reported to HMRC for reclaim through PAYE.
• Calculate SMP using average weekly earnings from a specific eight-week period, applying a higher rate for the first six weeks followed by the statutory weekly rate for the remaining 33 weeks.
• You reclaim most or all SMP through your Employer Payment Summary and offset it against PAYE liabilities, with small employers able to claim an additional 3% or request advance funding if needed.
• Keep complete records including eligibility checks, MATB1 certificates, SMP1 forms if issued, calculations, payment records, and EPS reclaim submissions for at least three years after the tax year they relate to.

What is statutory maternity pay?

Statutory maternity pay is a weekly payment that UK employers make to eligible employees who are pregnant or have recently given birth. You pay SMP for up to 39 weeks, starting from when your employee begins their maternity leave. It's a legal entitlement, and you're responsible for paying it just like regular wages.

SMP is taxable income and subject to National Insurance contributions in the same way as normal pay. The rates change every April, so you'll need to check the current SMP rate for 2026–27 on GOV.UK to ensure you're applying the correct amounts. Even though you pay SMP to your employee, you can reclaim most or all of it from HMRC through your PAYE system.

Statutory maternity pay rules apply regardless of your business size. Whether you employ 1 person or 100, if an employee meets the eligibility criteria, you must pay SMP. This differs from enhanced maternity pay, which is an optional, more generous package some employers choose to offer on top of the statutory minimum.

Statutory maternity pay provides financial support during maternity leave. Your employee remains employed throughout their maternity leave period, and SMP helps bridge the gap between their normal earnings and the time they're away from work caring for their new baby.

Who qualifies for SMP and what evidence do you need?

To qualify for statutory maternity pay, an employee must pass 2 tests: the service test and the earnings test. There's no age limit. If they meet the criteria, they qualify.

Before you can start paying, you'll need medical evidence of the pregnancy using form MATB1, which midwives or doctors issue from 20 weeks before the expected due date. Keep this certificate with your payroll records as proof of eligibility.

Length of employment

To qualify for SMP, they must have been continuously employed by you for at least 26 weeks by the end of the qualifying week, which is the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth. Continuous employment means your employee has worked for you without a break of more than one week between contracts.

A week runs from Sunday to Saturday for SMP purposes. If there has been a gap in employment, check whether it affects the 26-week count before confirming eligibility.

Amount someone has earned

To qualify for SMP, your employee must earn on average at least £129 per week (the Lower Earnings Limit for National Insurance) during the eight-week relevant period before the qualifying week. Check the current Lower Earnings Limit on GOV.UK each April, as it changes with the tax year.

Average weekly earnings are based on gross pay subject to National Insurance, including salary, wages, bonuses, and statutory sick pay paid during that period. If your employee's average falls below the threshold, they may not qualify for SMP but can usually claim Maternity Allowance instead.

Employment status and SMP

SMP eligibility is based on tax employment status, not contract type. If your employee is classed as employed for tax purposes and meets the service and earnings tests, they qualify, regardless of how their contract is structured.

The following worker types can qualify for SMP if they meet the criteria:

• employees on permanent contracts
• employees on fixed-term contracts
• part-time employees
• agency workers (assessed by the agency, not the end client)

Self-employed people don’t qualify for SMP. If someone works for you through their own limited company or as a sole trader, direct them to check eligibility for Maternity Allowance instead.

When SMP starts

SMP can start from the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth at the earliest. Your employee chooses their start date and must give you at least 28 days' notice, though you can agree to accept shorter notice.

SMP starts automatically, overriding your employee's chosen date, in two situations:

• the baby is born early, in which case SMP starts the day after the birth
• your employee is absent from work for a pregnancy-related illness in the four weeks before the due date, in which case SMP starts the day after the first day of absence

If either trigger applies, adjust your payroll immediately. You cannot delay the SMP start date once a trigger has occurred.

If your employee has more than one job, each employer assesses eligibility separately based on their own employment and earnings with that specific employer. An employee might qualify for SMP from one employer but not another, or they might receive SMP from multiple employers simultaneously if they meet the criteria for each role.

For employees who don't qualify for SMP, direct them to claim Maternity Allowance from the government instead. You must issue form SMP1 within seven days of making your decision, clearly stating the reason they don't qualify. This form allows them to claim alternative financial support while on maternity leave.

How much is SMP and how do you calculate it?

How much statutory maternity pay you receive depends on two rates applied over different periods. For the first six weeks, SMP is paid at 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings (AWE). For the remaining 33 weeks, it's paid at the lower of either 90% of AWE or the standard weekly rate set by the government each tax year.

To calculate AWE, you need to identify the relevant period – the eight weeks (or two months if paid monthly) ending with the last payday on or before the Saturday of the qualifying week. Add up all gross earnings subject to National Insurance during this period, including salary, wages, bonuses, commission, and statutory sick pay, but excluding expenses, benefits in kind, and payments made after employment ends. For weekly-paid employees, divide the total by 8. For monthly-paid employees, divide by 2, multiply by 12, then divide by 52 to get a weekly figure.

Current SMP rates

For the 2026–27 tax year, the standard weekly SMP rate is £194.32, or 90% of your employee's average weekly earnings if that figure is lower. This rate applies from 6 April 2026.

For the first six weeks of SMP, you pay 90% of average weekly earnings regardless of the standard rate. The standard rate applies only from week seven onwards, and only if it’s lower than 90% of average weekly earnings.

Check the current rate on GOV.UK each April before processing SMP payments for a new maternity leave period. If your employee's 90% AWE is lower than the standard rate, pay 90% of their AWE for weeks 7–39 instead of the flat rate.

Steps to calculate AWE and SMP correctly

Follow this sequence to ensure accurate calculation and payment:

1. Identify the qualifying week by counting back 15 weeks from the expected week of childbirth.
2. Locate the last normal payday on or before the Saturday of the qualifying week.
3. Count back eight weekly pay periods or two monthly pay periods to establish the relevant period.
4. Total all gross NIC-able earnings paid during the relevant period.
5. Divide the total by eight (weekly) or two (monthly) to calculate average weekly earnings.
6. Apply 90% of AWE for the first six weeks of SMP.
7. Apply the lower of 90% of AWE or the standard weekly rate for weeks 7 to 39.
8. Recalculate if a pay rise is awarded during the relevant period or between the relevant period and the baby's birth (Alabaster ruling).

The Alabaster ruling requires you to recalculate AWE if your employee receives a pay rise between the start of the relevant period and the end of their maternity leave. Increase all earnings in the relevant period by the same percentage as the pay rise, recalculate AWE, and apply the new rate from the start of SMP or from when the pay rise took effect, whichever gives the higher amount. This ensures employees benefit from pay increases even while on maternity leave.

For employees with variable or irregular earnings, the calculation can be more complex. Include all payments that would normally attract National Insurance, such as overtime, shift allowances, and performance bonuses paid during the relevant period. If your employee is paid weekly but has some weeks with no pay, still count those weeks when calculating the average. For monthly-paid staff, use calendar months rather than four-week periods.

How do you pay SMP and report it to HMRC?

You run SMP through your normal payroll process on the same dates you'd normally pay your employee. Treat SMP as taxable income, deduct income tax and National Insurance contributions as you would for regular wages, and include it on the employee's payslip with a clear description. This means that you always pay SMP initially, even though you can reclaim it from HMRC afterwards.

Report SMP to HMRC through Real Time Information (RTI) by including it on your Full Payment Submission (FPS) each time you run payroll. The FPS tells HMRC how much SMP you've paid, along with the tax and National Insurance deducted. You must submit an FPS on or before the payment date, just as you do for normal pay runs.

Steps to run SMP in payroll

To run SMP efficiently, follow these steps each pay period:

1. Confirm the employee's eligibility and retain the MATB1 certificate and written notice
2. Set the SMP start date in your payroll system based on the employee's chosen date or early start triggers
3. Apply the calculated higher rate (90% of AWE) for weeks 1–6 of the SMP period
4. Switch to the standard rate or 90% of AWE (whichever is lower) for weeks 7–39
5. Include SMP on the employee's payslip alongside any other payments such as Keeping in Touch (KIT) day pay
6. Submit the Full Payment Submission (FPS) to HMRC on or before each payment date
7. Submit the Employer Payment Summary (EPS) to reclaim SMP from HMRC
8. Track the number of SMP weeks paid and remaining to ensure the 39-week entitlement is correctly managed

During the SMP period, your employee can work up to 10 Keeping in Touch days without losing their SMP entitlement. Pay for KIT days is separate from SMP and should be processed as normal wages. You can also pay contractual benefits, bonuses, or enhanced maternity pay on top of SMP, but these additional amounts aren't reclaimable from HMRC.

If your employee decides not to return to work after maternity leave, continue paying SMP until the end of the 39-week period or until they resign, whichever comes first. You cannot stop SMP early just because the employee has resigned, as it's a statutory entitlement based on the pregnancy and childbirth, regardless of whether they plan to return.

What records to keep

Keep the following records for at least three years after the end of the tax year in which the maternity leave ends:

• the MATB1 certificate provided by your employee
• written notice of the SMP start date
• your average weekly earnings calculation and working
• all payslips showing SMP payments made
• Full Payment Submission (FPS) records submitted to HMRC
• Employer Payment Summary (EPS) reclaim submissions
• form SMP1 if issued, with the reason for non-eligibility

HMRC can request these records during a compliance check. Keeping them complete and organised means you can respond quickly and accurately.

Track payment dates carefully, especially if your employee's maternity leave spans two tax years. SMP paid in one tax year is reclaimed through that year's PAYE, so you may need to split your reclaim across two tax years if the 39-week period straddles April. Your payroll software should handle this automatically, but it's worth double-checking the split to avoid under- or over-claiming.

For detailed guidance on managing payroll compliance and employee payments, explore the Xero payroll compliance guide and learn more about paying employees.

How much SMP can you reclaim?

You reclaim SMP by submitting an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) to HMRC, usually before or at the same time as your regular FPS. The EPS tells HMRC how much statutory payment you've made in the tax month, and HMRC reduces the amount of PAYE and National Insurance you owe by the same amount. This means you offset your SMP payments against your PAYE liabilities rather than receiving a separate refund.

Most employers can reclaim 92% of the SMP they've paid. However, if you're a small employer – meaning your total Class 1 National Insurance liability in the previous tax year was £45,000 or less – you can reclaim 109% of the SMP paid. This additional 9% is designed to help cover the administrative costs of running statutory payments.

If the amount you can reclaim is more than the PAYE and National Insurance you owe in a month, HMRC will carry the balance forward to the next month or send you a refund. You can also request advance funding if you don't have enough cash flow to pay SMP upfront, though this is less common now that most employers offset through PAYE. To request funding, contact HMRC and explain your situation, providing evidence of your expected SMP payments.

Submit your EPS by the 19th of the following tax month (or 22nd if paying electronically). For example, if you pay SMP on 28 February, submit your EPS by 19 March. If you don't submit an EPS, HMRC won't know you've paid SMP and won't reduce your PAYE bill, so you'll end up paying more tax than necessary. Your payroll software should prompt you to submit an EPS whenever you've made a statutory payment.

The reclaim process is straightforward when your payroll and records are accurate. Calculate the total SMP paid in the tax month, multiply by 92% (or 109% if you're a small employer), and report this figure on your EPS. HMRC will automatically reduce your PAYE and National Insurance bill by this amount when you make your payment. If you've overpaid PAYE in previous months, HMRC may adjust your account to reflect the SMP reclaim, so always check your PAYE statement to confirm the correct balance.

For more information on payroll processes and managing employee payments, visit the Xero guide on payroll accounting software.

What if your employee is not eligible for SMP?

If your employee doesn't qualify for statutory maternity pay, you must issue form SMP1 within 7 days of deciding they're not eligible. The form must clearly state the reason they don't qualify – for example, they haven't worked for you long enough, their earnings are below the Lower Earnings Limit, or they didn't provide the required notice or evidence. Provide the completed SMP1 to your employee and keep a copy with your payroll records.

Direct your employee to claim Maternity Allowance from the government instead. Maternity Allowance is paid by Jobcentre Plus (or the equivalent agency in Northern Ireland) rather than by you as the employer. It provides financial support for up to 39 weeks, though the amount and eligibility criteria differ from SMP. Your employee will need the SMP1 form as part of their Maternity Allowance application, so issuing it promptly is essential.

Even if an employee doesn't qualify for SMP, they still have the right to maternity leave if they meet the leave eligibility criteria (which are separate from SMP eligibility). Maternity leave rights depend on employment status and notice given, not on earnings or length of service. Make sure you understand the difference between SMP entitlement and maternity leave entitlement to avoid confusion and potential disputes.

Keep clear records of why an employee didn't qualify for SMP, including copies of any correspondence, the SMP1 form, and evidence such as payslips or employment start dates. If HMRC queries your decision or the employee disputes it, you'll need to show you applied the eligibility tests correctly and issued SMP1 within the required timeframe.

To learn more about running payroll smoothly and managing employee payments, check out this guide on how to run payroll.

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FAQs on statutory maternity pay

This section answers common questions about statutory maternity pay to help you understand eligibility, payment, taxation, and reclaim processes, and to clarify your responsibilities as a UK employer.

How is SMP calculated?

You calculate statutory maternity pay using average weekly earnings from the eight weeks before the qualifying week. Apply 90% of that average for the first six weeks, then pay the lower of 90% of the average or the statutory weekly rate for the remaining 33 weeks.

Who is eligible for statutory maternity pay?

To qualify, your employee must have worked for you continuously for at least 26 weeks by the end of the qualifying week, earn at least the Lower Earnings Limit for National Insurance on average, and provide the MATB1 certificate and at least 28 days' notice of their intended start date.

Is statutory maternity pay taxable?

Yes, statutory maternity pay is taxable income and subject to income tax and National Insurance contributions in the same way as normal wages. You deduct tax and National Insurance from SMP payments through PAYE and report these deductions to HMRC on your Full Payment Submission. The employee's tax code determines how much income tax to deduct, and the standard National Insurance rates apply unless the employee's earnings fall below the NI threshold during maternity leave.

What are Keeping in Touch days and do they affect SMP?

Keeping in Touch (KIT) days allow an employee to work up to 10 days during maternity leave without losing their SMP entitlement or ending their maternity leave period. KIT days are optional and must be agreed between you and your employee. Pay for KIT days is separate from SMP and should be processed as normal wages, subject to tax and National Insurance. KIT days don't extend the maternity leave period or the 39 weeks of SMP, and any work beyond 10 days may end the maternity leave and SMP entitlement early.

What is the difference between SMP and Maternity Allowance?

Statutory maternity pay (SMP) is paid by employers to eligible employees who meet service and earnings tests, while Maternity Allowance is paid by the government (Jobcentre Plus) to pregnant women and new mothers who don't qualify for SMP. Common reasons for claiming Maternity Allowance instead of SMP include being self-employed, not earning enough to qualify for SMP, or not having worked for the same employer long enough. Maternity Allowance is also available for up to 39 weeks, but the amount and eligibility criteria differ. If an employee doesn't qualify for SMP, you must issue form SMP1 so they can apply for Maternity Allowance instead.