The Rights You Have and the Ones Nobody Explains Clearly
Most working mums go through pregnancy and maternity leave knowing roughly what they are entitled to. They know there is leave. They know there is some pay. They know they can come back to their job. What far fewer mums know is the detail – the protections that exist on paper but that employers quietly rely on you not knowing about, the rights that have changed significantly in recent years, and the specific situations where knowing your entitlements is the difference between keeping your career and losing it.
This guide covers the full picture. It is written in plain language, without legal jargon, and it is updated to reflect the law as it stands in 2026. It will not replace specialist legal advice in a specific dispute, but it will ensure you walk into every conversation with your employer knowing exactly where you stand.
Your Maternity Leave Entitlement
Every employed woman in the UK is entitled to up to 52 weeks of maternity leave, regardless of how long she has worked for her employer, how many hours she works per week, or what her contract says. This is a legal minimum. Some employers offer more generous terms – enhanced maternity pay, longer leave periods – but the statutory floor applies to everyone.
Maternity leave is divided into two periods. Ordinary Maternity Leave covers the first 26 weeks. Additional Maternity Leave covers weeks 27 to 52. You are entitled to return to the same job after Ordinary Maternity Leave. After Additional Maternity Leave, your employer must offer you the same job or a suitable alternative on terms that are no less favourable.
You must give your employer at least 15 weeks’ notice before your due date that you intend to take maternity leave, and you must give the date you expect your baby to arrive. You do not have to give notice of exactly when you will return – you can change this with eight weeks’ notice.
The first two weeks after your baby is born are compulsory maternity leave. Your employer cannot ask you to return during this period.
Statutory Maternity Pay
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is paid by your employer and then reclaimed from HMRC. To qualify, you must have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks by the 15th week before your due date, and your average weekly earnings must be at or above the Lower Earnings Limit (check gov.uk for the current figure, which is updated each April).
SMP is paid for up to 39 weeks. For the first six weeks, you receive 90 per cent of your average weekly earnings. For the remaining 33 weeks, you receive either the standard weekly rate (£187.18 per week from April 2026, though this is reviewed annually) or 90 per cent of your average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
SMP is taxable and counts as income for benefits purposes. It does not affect your right to statutory sick pay in a later pregnancy, and it does not affect your right to annual leave – you continue to accrue holiday entitlement throughout your maternity leave.
If you do not qualify for SMP – because you are self-employed, because you have not worked for your employer long enough, or because you earn below the Lower Earnings Limit – you may qualify for Maternity Allowance instead, paid directly by the government.
Maternity Allowance
Maternity Allowance is available to women who do not qualify for SMP. You may be eligible if you have been employed or self-employed for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before your due date and your average earnings are above the minimum threshold.
Maternity Allowance is paid by the DWP for up to 39 weeks. The standard rate and eligibility criteria are reviewed annually – check gov.uk or Citizens Advice for the current figures, as these change each financial year.
Self-employed mums often assume they are not entitled to anything. This is not always true. It is worth checking your specific situation before assuming the worst.
Keeping in Touch Days
While on maternity leave, you can work for your employer for up to 10 Keeping in Touch (KIT) days without losing your SMP. These days must be agreed voluntarily by both you and your employer – your employer cannot require you to work KIT days, and you cannot demand them.
KIT days are useful for attending team meetings, training events, or handover sessions, and for keeping a connection with your workplace during a long absence. What you are paid for KIT days depends on your contract – your employer must pay you at least your normal daily rate, but they can pay more.
The SMP you would have received for that week is offset against the pay you receive for KIT days – so you will typically receive your full normal daily rate rather than an additional payment on top of SMP.
Your Rights While on Maternity Leave
During maternity leave, most of your contractual rights continue – except for your right to pay (replaced by SMP). This includes annual leave accrual, pension contributions, and any other non-pay benefits in your contract such as a company car, private healthcare, or gym membership.
Annual leave continues to accrue throughout your entire maternity leave, including Additional Maternity Leave. This means that by the time you return from 52 weeks of leave, you may have accumulated close to a full year’s holiday entitlement. You are entitled to take this leave – your employer cannot simply cancel it because you were on maternity leave.
Your employer must continue making pension contributions during your Ordinary Maternity Leave (the first 26 weeks) at the same rate as if you were working normally. During Additional Maternity Leave, employer contributions continue only if you are receiving contractual pay – many employers stop contributions when you are receiving SMP only or no pay. Check your specific policy.
Redundancy Protection
The protections against redundancy during and after maternity leave have been significantly strengthened. Under regulations that came into force in April 2024, the protected period during which you have priority for suitable alternative vacancies in a redundancy situation now begins the moment you notify your employer of your pregnancy and extends to 18 months after the birth of your baby.
This means that if your employer is making redundancies during your pregnancy, your maternity leave, or in the 18 months after your baby is born, you have a legal right to be offered any suitable alternative vacancy before other employees. Your employer cannot simply include you in a redundancy pool on the same basis as everyone else during this protected period.
Being made redundant during this protected period is not automatically unfair dismissal, but your employer must be able to show a genuine redundancy situation exists and that you were offered any suitable alternative roles first. If this did not happen, you may have a claim for automatic unfair dismissal – which has no qualifying period of employment.
Keep records. If you receive a redundancy notice during pregnancy or maternity leave, take advice before accepting anything.
Flexible Working – The Day One Right
Before April 2024, employees had to wait 26 weeks before making a flexible working request. This changed. You now have the right to request flexible working from your first day of employment.
You can make up to two flexible working requests in any 12-month period. Flexible working can mean reduced hours, compressed hours (the same total hours in fewer days), remote or hybrid working, a change in start or finish times, or job sharing.
Your employer must consider your request and give you a decision within two months. They can refuse on one of eight statutory grounds – including cost, inability to reorganise work, and impact on quality or performance – but they must explain which ground applies. If you believe the refusal was handled incorrectly, you can raise a grievance or appeal.
A refusal is not the end of the conversation. Many working mums who push back on a poorly reasoned refusal find their employer’s position changes with more information, a counter-proposal, or a trial period request.
If Your Employer Is Not Respecting Your Rights
Keep written records of everything – emails, letters, notes of verbal conversations with dates and content. If you are concerned your employer is not following the law, your options include raising a formal grievance, contacting ACAS (which offers free, impartial advice and a free early conciliation service), and in some circumstances, bringing a claim in the Employment Tribunal.
Maternity discrimination claims in the Employment Tribunal have no qualifying period of employment – you can bring a claim from your first day in a job. Claims must generally be brought within three months of the act you are complaining about, though there are some exceptions.
The charity Maternity Action offers specialist advice specifically for pregnant women and new mothers facing workplace problems. Their helpline is a useful first port of call if you are unsure whether what is happening to you is legal.
What You Cannot Control
You cannot force an employer to be genuinely supportive rather than merely legally compliant. Some employers will meet the letter of the law while making the experience as difficult as possible. This is demoralising, and it is real.
What you can control is your knowledge of exactly where the line is. An employer who understands that you know your rights will frequently behave differently from one who assumes you do not. The mum who asks for a flexible working arrangement by referencing the statutory framework, in writing, is in a materially different position from the mum who asks informally and hopes for the best.
Knowing your rights is not adversarial. It is the foundation of a productive professional relationship where both parties understand the terms.
Further Support
If returning to work or a career change means you need to gain or refresh a qualification, FunctifyLearning.co.uk offers Level 2 English and Maths as a faster, more flexible alternative to a full GCSE or college year – designed for adults and those aged 14 and above who need the qualification without the traditional timetable.
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This guide is reviewed and updated regularly to reflect current UK employment law. Last reviewed: April 2026. This guide is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice on a specific situation, contact ACAS or a qualified employment solicitor.