Skip to main content
N I Direct government services

Main navigation

  • Home
  • News
  • Contacts
  • Help
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • RSS

Translation help

Translate this page

Select a language

  • Afrikaans — Afrikaans
  • Albanian — Shqip
  • Amharic — አማርኛ
  • Arabic — العربية
  • Armenian — Հայերեն
  • Assamese — অসমীয়া
  • Aymara — Aymar aru
  • Azerbaijani — Azərbaycan dili
  • Bambara — Bamanankan
  • Basque — Euskara
  • Belarusian — Беларуская
  • Bengali — বাংলা
  • Bhojpuri — भोजपुरी
  • Bosnian — Bosanski
  • Bulgarian — Български
  • Cantonese — 廣州話
  • Catalan — Català
  • Cebuano — Sinugbuanong Binisayâ
  • Chichewa — Chichewa
  • Chinese (Simplified) — 简体中文
  • Chinese (Traditional) — 繁體中文
  • Corsican — Corsu
  • Croatian — Hrvatski
  • Czech — Čeština
  • Danish — Dansk
  • Dhivehi — ދިވެހި
  • Dogri — डोगरी
  • Dutch — Nederlands
  • English — English
  • Esperanto — Esperanto
  • Estonian — Eesti
  • Ewe — Eʋegbe
  • Filipino — Filipino
  • Finnish — Suomi
  • French — Français
  • Frisian — Frysk
  • Galician — Galego
  • Georgian — ქართული
  • German — Deutsch
  • Greek — Ελληνικά
  • Guarani — Avañe’ẽ
  • Gujarati — ગુજરાતી
  • Haitian Creole — Kreyòl ayisyen
  • Hausa — Hausa
  • Hawaiian — ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
  • Hebrew — עברית
  • Hindi — हिन्दी
  • Hmong — Hmoob
  • Hungarian — Magyar
  • Icelandic — Íslenska
  • Igbo — Asụsụ Igbo
  • Ilocano — Ilokano
  • Indonesian — Bahasa Indonesia
  • Irish — Gaeilge
  • Italian — Italiano
  • Japanese — 日本語
  • Javanese — Basa Jawa
  • Kannada — ಕನ್ನಡ
  • Kazakh — Қазақ тілі
  • Khmer — ភាសាខ្មែរ
  • Kinyarwanda — Ikinyarwanda
  • Konkani — कोंकणी
  • Korean — 한국어
  • Krio — Krio
  • Kurdish (Kurmanji) — Kurdî
  • Kurdish (Sorani) — کوردی
  • Kyrgyz — Кыргызча
  • Lao — ລາວ
  • Latin — Latina
  • Latvian — Latviešu
  • Lingala — Lingála
  • Lithuanian — Lietuvių
  • Luganda — Luganda
  • Luxembourgish — Lëtzebuergesch
  • Macedonian — Македонски
  • Maithili — मैथिली
  • Malagasy — Malagasy
  • Malay — Bahasa Melayu
  • Malayalam — മലയാളം
  • Maltese — Malti
  • Maori — Māori
  • Marathi — मराठी
  • Meiteilon (Manipuri) — ꯃꯤꯇꯩ ꯂꯣꯟ
  • Mizo — Mizo ṭawng
  • Mongolian — Монгол хэл
  • Myanmar (Burmese) — မြန်မာစာ
  • Nepali — नेपाली
  • Norwegian — Norsk
  • Odia (Oriya) — ଓଡ଼ିଆ
  • Oromo — Afaan Oromoo
  • Pashto — پښتو
  • Persian — فارسی
  • Polish — Polski
  • Portuguese — Português
  • Punjabi — ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
  • Quechua — Runa Simi
  • Romanian — Română
  • Russian — Русский
  • Samoan — Gagana Samoa
  • Sanskrit — संस्कृतम्
  • Scots Gaelic — Gàidhlig
  • Sepedi — Sepedi
  • Serbian — Српски
  • Sesotho — Sesotho
  • Shona — Shona
  • Sindhi — سنڌي
  • Sinhala — සිංහල
  • Slovak — Slovenčina
  • Slovenian — Slovenščina
  • Somali — Soomaali
  • Spanish — Español
  • Sundanese — Basa Sunda
  • Swahili — Kiswahili
  • Swedish — Svenska
  • Tajik — Тоҷикӣ
  • Tamil — தமிழ்
  • Tatar — Татар теле
  • Telugu — తెలుగు
  • Thai — ไทย
  • Tigrinya — ትግርኛ
  • Tsonga — Xitsonga
  • Turkish — Türkçe
  • Turkmen — Türkmençe
  • Twi — Twi
  • Ukrainian — Українська
  • Urdu — اردو
  • Uyghur — ئۇيغۇرچە
  • Uzbek — Oʻzbekcha
  • Vietnamese — Tiếng Việt
  • Welsh — Cymraeg
  • Xhosa — IsiXhosa
  • Yiddish — ייִדיש
  • Yoruba — Yorùbá
  • Zulu — IsiZulu
  • Breadcrumb

    1. Home
    2. Employment, training and careers
    3. Work and families
    4. Pregnancy and maternity rights in the workplace

    Statutory Maternity Leave

    For employees, Statutory Maternity Leave is 52 weeks. If you're entitled to Statutory Maternity Leave, you must give your employer written notice that you want to take it. You need to start your Statutory Maternity Leave by a certain date and agree this with your employer.

    Personalised help on Statutory Maternity Leave entitlements

    You can get personalised help on what you may qualify for by using the online maternity rights tool. The tool gives a personalised statement of the Statutory Maternity Leave and Pay you might get.

    • Calculate your leave and pay when you have a child 

    Company maternity leave and pay schemes

    Your employer may have a maternity leave scheme which could be more generous than the statutory scheme. Check your employment contract or staff handbook or ask your employer. Your employer can't offer you less than your legal rights.

    • SMP - how it is worked out

    Entitlement to Statutory Maternity Leave

    As an employee, you have the right to:

    • 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave
    • 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave

    This gives 52 weeks of Statutory Maternity Leave.

    To qualify for Statutory Maternity Leave, you must be an employee. If you're an employee and give your employer the right notice, you can take Statutory Maternity Leave no matter:

    • how long you have been with your employer
    • how many hours you work
    • how much you are paid

    Surrogacy arrangements

    In surrogacy arrangements, the surrogate birth mother may be entitled to maternity leave, depending on the usual entitlement conditions.

    Intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement may be eligible for adoption leave and pay, paternity leave and pay, and shared parental leave and pay. 

    These rights are only available if the intended parents are eligible to apply for a Parental Order and do this within six months of the child's birth.

    • Adoption leave
    • Paternity leave
    • Statutory pay forms
    • Shared Parental Leave and Pay

    You aren't entitled to Statutory Maternity Leave

    If you don't qualify for Statutory Maternity Leave, speak to your employer. They may offer you enhanced maternity rights. 

    If you're a worker, your employer may allow you to take unpaid leave. You could take paid holiday, unpaid leave or parental leave. You may still be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay. 

    • Expecting or bringing up children

    Telling your employer you will be taking Statutory Maternity Leave

    You must tell your employer you want to take Statutory Maternity Leave at least 15 weeks before the beginning of the week your baby is due. If this is not possible (for example because you didn't know you were pregnant), tell them as soon as possible.

    You need to say:

    • you're pregnant
    • when the baby is due
    • when you want to start your maternity leave (you can change the date later, if you give at least 28 days' notice)

    Your employer might ask for notice in writing. They may also ask for a copy of MAT B1 form. This is the maternity certificate, which says when the baby's due.

    Maternity certificate

    Your doctor or midwife will give you a copy of the MAT B1 form after you have been pregnant for 21 weeks. They cannot give this to you any earlier.

    After informing your employer that you want to take Statutory Maternity Leave, they should write to you within 28 days. They should confirm your Statutory Maternity Leave and give you the date your Statutory Maternity Leave will end.

    Starting your Statutory Maternity Leave

    You can start your Statutory Maternity Leave any time from 11 weeks before the beginning of the week when your baby's due.

    Leave will also start:

    • the day after the birth of the baby if the baby is early
    • automatically if you’re off work for a pregnancy-related illness in the four weeks before the week (Sunday to Saturday) that your baby is due

    Compulsory maternity leave

    You don't have to take all your Statutory Maternity Leave. But you must take two weeks (or four weeks if you work in a factory) of compulsory maternity leave after your baby is born.

    If your baby is stillborn

    You can take your Statutory Maternity Leave if your child is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy or born alive at any point of the pregnancy.

    • Miscarriage and stillbirth

    Shared Parental Leave and Pay

    When your baby is born and during their first year, you and your partner might be entitled to shared rights to leave and pay.

    To read  more about Shared Parental Leave and Pay, go to:

    • Shared Parental Leave and Pay

    Having problems taking maternity leave

    If you have a problem taking your Statutory Maternity leave, talk to your employer. If this doesn't work, you may need to complain using your employer’s grievance procedure.

    • How to resolve a problem at work

    More useful links

    • Parental leave and flexible working
    • Maternity, paternity and adoption
    Share this page Share on Facebook (external link opens in a new window / tab) Share on X (external link opens in a new window / tab) Share by email (external link opens in a new window / tab)

    Pregnancy and maternity rights in the workplace

    • Entitlements during Statutory Maternity Leave
    • Statutory Maternity Leave
    • Statutory Maternity Leave: returning to work
    • Working when pregnant

    Help improve this page - send your feedback

    What do you want to do?
    Report a problem
    Which problem did you find on this page? (Tick all that apply)

    Messages

    You will not receive a reply. We will consider your feedback to help improve the site.

    Don't include any personal or financial information, for example National Insurance, credit card numbers, or phone numbers.

    What is your question about?

    What to do next

    Comments or queries about angling can be emailed to anglingcorrespondence@daera-ni.gov.uk 

    If you have a comment or query about benefits, you will need to contact the government department or agency which handles that benefit.  Contacts for common benefits are listed below.

    Carer's Allowance

    Call 0800 587 0912
    Email 
    dcs.incomingpostteamdhc2@nissa.gsi.gov.uk

    Discretionary support / Short-term benefit advance

    Call 0800 587 2750 
    Email 
    customerservice.unit@communities-ni.gov.uk

    Disability Living Allowance

    Call 0800 587 0912 
    Email dcs.incomingpostteamdhc2@nissa.gsi.gov.uk

    Employment and Support Allowance

    Call 0800 587 1377

    Jobseeker’s Allowance

    Contact your local Jobs & Benefits office

    Personal Independence Payment

    Call 0800 587 0932

    If your query is about another benefit, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

    Comments or queries about the Blue Badge scheme can be emailed to bluebadges@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk or you can also call 0300 200 7818.

    For queries or advice about careers, contact the Careers Service.

    For queries or advice about Child Maintenance, contact the Child Maintenance Service.

    For queries or advice about claiming compensation due to a road problem, contact DFI Roads claim unit.

    If you can’t find the information you’re looking for in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) section, then for queries about:

    • Restrictions or regulations — contact the Department of Health
    • Travel advice (including self-isolation) — contact the Department of Health
    • Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations — contact the Department of Health or Public Health Agency

    If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

    For queries about your identity check, email nida@nidirect.gov.uk and for queries about your certificate, email covidcertni@hscni.net.

    For queries or advice about criminal record checks, email ani@accessni.gov.uk

    Application and payment queries can be emailed to ema_ni@slc.co.uk

    For queries or advice about employment rights, contact the Labour Relations Agency.

    For queries or advice about birth, death, marriage and civil partnership certificates and research, contact the General Register Office Northern Ireland (GRONI) by email gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk

    For queries about your GRONI account, email gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk.

    For queries about the High Street Spend Local Scheme,  email HSSS.mail@economy-ni.gov.uk.

    For queries about:

    • Car tax, vehicle registration and SORN
      contact the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Swansea
       
    • Driver licensing and tests, MOT and vehicle testing
      contact the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA), Northern Ireland

    If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

    For queries about your identity check, email nida@nidirect.gov.uk.

     

    For queries or advice about passports, contact HM Passport Office.

    For queries or advice about Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), including parking tickets and bus lane PCNs, email dcu@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk

    For queries or advice about pensions, contact the Northern Ireland Pension Centre.

    If you wish to report a problem with a road or street you can do so online in this section.

    If you wish to check on a problem or fault you have already reported, contact DfI Roads.

    For queries or advice about historical, social or cultural records relating to Northern Ireland, use the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) enquiry service.

    For queries or advice about rates, email LPSCustomerTeam@lpsni.gov.uk

    For queries or advice about  60+ and Senior Citizen SmartPasses (which can be used to get concessionary travel on public transport), contact Smartpass - Translink.

    If you have a question about a government service or policy, you should contact the relevant government organisation directly.  We don't have access to information about you.

    Related sites

    • gov.uk
    • nibusinessinfo.co.uk

    Links to supporting information

    • Accessibility statement
    • Crown copyright
    • Terms and conditions
    • Privacy
    • Cookies
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • RSS