Statutory rights to pay while on leave

Employees on statutory maternity, adoption, shared parental or paternity leave may qualify for statutory payments. These statutory payments replace the contractual right to wages during the leave and are paid via the normal wage packet.

The current (2016-17) weekly rate of pay is £139.58 or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is the lower. To qualify, the employee’s average earnings must equal or exceed the Lower Earnings Limit (£112 a week, or £486 a month, in 2016-17). These sums are minimum payments, and in a unionised workplace, improvements are likely to have been negotiated (see Chapter 7).

Employers claw back most of the cost of these statutory payments, through deductions from their national insurance bill (92%, or 104% for small employers). They do not represent a cost to the employer.