Statutory Maternity Leave



Employees have the right to 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave and 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave, making one year in total. The combined 52 weeks is known as Statutory Maternity Leave.



If you are an employee and you give your employer the correct notice, you can take the full 52 weeks of Statutory Maternity Leave. It does not matter:



• how long you have been with your employer; 



• how many hours you work; or 



• how much you are paid.



To qualify you need to notify your employer, by the 15th week before the baby is due, of:


• the fact that you are pregnant;



• the expected week of childbirth, providing a doctor’s or midwife’s certificate if requested. This is form MAT1B and can only be provided by your doctor or midwife (usually 20 weeks before your due date); and



• the date you intend to begin your maternity leave. 


If this is not possible (for example, because you didn’t realise you were pregnant) tell the employer as soon as possible. You can change your mind about the date later, but you have to give your employer at least eight weeks’ notice of a change to your return to work date.



Your maternity leave can begin any time after the 11th week before your expected week of childbirth. 


If you want to return to work early and take less than the full 52 weeks of maternity leave entitlement, you must give your employer eight weeks’ notice of that early return date. 



It is a legal requirement for women to take compulsory maternity leave of two weeks after a baby is born. For factory workers, the period of compulsory maternity leave is four weeks.