I’m pregnant. Am I entitled to maternity leave?
All pregnant employees are entitled to maternity leave regardless of how long you have been in your job or the amount of hours you work.
If your baby is due on or after 1 April 2007 you will be entitled to take 39 weeks’ maternity leave. If your baby’s expected date of delivery is before this date, you are entitled to 26 weeks.
You can choose when to start your maternity leave. The earliest it can start is 11 weeks before your expected week of childbirth (EWC): find the Sunday before your baby is due (or the due date if it is a Sunday) and count back 11 Sundays from there.
If you have a pregnancy-related illness/absence in the last four weeks of your pregnancy, or if you give birth before you have started your maternity leave, this will automatically trigger the start of your maternity leave.
You can work right up until the date the baby is born unless you are away from work due to a pregnancy-related illness/absence in the last four weeks of your pregnancy.
There is a two-week compulsory maternity leave period after the birth (or four weeks if you work in a factory).
Additional Maternity Leave (AML)
If your baby is due on or after 1 April 2007, if you qualify for paid maternity leave you will also qualify for an additional 13 weeks of unpaid maternity leave following the 39 weeks of paid maternity leave.
If your baby’s expected date of delivery is before 1 April 2007, you will qualify for AML if you have been working for your employer for at least 26 weeks at the beginning of the 14th week before your baby is due.
Further information
Further information on maternity leave is available at www.dti.gov.uk/publications