How much can you get?

SMP amounts to:

• six weeks’ pay at 90% of your average earnings (gross pay averaged over the eight weeks up to the 15th week before the baby is due) — this is called higher rate SMP; and

• a further 33 weeks’ pay at a flat rate of £148.68 a week or 90% of your average weekly earnings, whichever is the lower — this is known as standard rate SMP.

You start receiving SMP when your maternity leave begins and continue to receive it for 39 weeks, unless you decide to go back to work before the end of your SML. You will get SMP whether or not you intend to return to work, and you can continue to get it if you go abroad during your maternity leave. For the purposes of calculating SMP, your normal weekly earnings must include any pay rise awarded during the maternity leave period.