Plain guides to maternity pay, shared parental leave, and the deadlines that come with them, written for new and expecting parents in the UK.
Every deadline, notification, and decision from finding out you're pregnant through to your return to work: week by week.
Read more →SPL gives you real flexibility that standard maternity and paternity leave can't. Here's how eligibility works, how to set it up, and practical examples of how families actually use it.
Read more →Only 2% of families use SPL. Is it genuinely not worth it, or are people just put off by the complexity? An honest look at the money, the admin, and whether it's right for you.
Read more →No SMP does not mean nothing. The test period stretches back 66 weeks and the earnings test is £30 a week, so far more people qualify than expect to. The three rates explained.
Read more →Your whole maternity pay comes out of one number, calculated from eight specific weeks months before your leave starts. Which weeks count, and what a bonus or a salary sacrifice does to it.
Read more →Two weeks, splittable into separate blocks, taken any time in the first year, and a day one right since April 2026. But the leave and the pay have different conditions attached.
Read more →Up to 12 weeks on top of maternity and paternity leave when a baby needs hospital care. Both parents can claim it, and plenty of employers still have not put it in a policy.
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