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Work out SMP over the full 39 weeks: 90% of average weekly earnings for the first 6, then the lower of £194.32 and 90% for the rest.
From the MATB1 certificate. Everything else follows from the week the baby is due.
Optional. The earliest possible date is 11 weeks before the week the baby is due.
£0.00
Three quick steps: the due date, when the employee started, then the payslips covering the relevant period. The calculation updates here.
Maternity pay, handled on every payrun
Moonworkers works out the qualifying week, the relevant period and the two SMP rate bands automatically, keeps the 39 weeks on schedule, and files the recovery through your EPS.
Three steps, straight from HMRC's manual method. Everything hangs off the week the baby is due.
Step 1
Find the Sunday to Saturday week the baby is due, then count back 15 weeks. That week decides whether the 26-week employment test is met and where the relevant period ends.
Step 2
Take every payment liable to Class 1 NI between the last normal payday on or before the qualifying week Saturday and the payday at least 8 weeks earlier. The result must reach £129 a week.
Step 3
Six weeks at 90% of average weekly earnings, uncapped, then 33 weeks at £194.32 or 90% if that is lower. Weekly rates are rounded up to the next penny, which is how the official calculator behaves.
For the statutory detail, see our guides to Statutory Maternity Pay, the qualifying week and reclaiming SMP from HMRC.
SMP runs for up to 39 weeks. The first 6 weeks are paid at 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings with no cap. The remaining 33 weeks are paid at £194.32 a week, or 90% of average weekly earnings if that is lower.
The qualifying week is the 15th week, running Sunday to Saturday, before the week the baby is due. It anchors almost everything: the 26-week employment test, the relevant period for average weekly earnings, and the latest date to claim leave.
An employee must have been continuously employed by you for at least 26 weeks by the end of the qualifying week, still be on your payroll in that week, earn at least £129 a week on average in the relevant period, and give you proper notice plus proof of pregnancy, usually a MATB1 certificate.
It ends on the last normal payday on or before the Saturday of the qualifying week, and starts the day after the last normal payday falling at least 8 weeks before that. Weekly paid: divide the earnings by 8. Monthly paid: divide by 2, multiply by 12, divide by 52. Never round the result.
The earliest is the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth. If the baby arrives before the chosen start date, the maternity pay period opens the day after the birth. A pregnancy-related absence in the 4 weeks before the due week also triggers the start automatically.
Where average weekly earnings fall below the £129 Lower Earnings Limit, or the 26-week employment test is not met, you must give the employee form SMP1 within 7 days of deciding. They can then claim Maternity Allowance from Jobcentre Plus instead.
Yes. Most employers reclaim 92% of the SMP they pay. Employers whose total Class 1 National Insurance for the previous tax year was £45,000 or less qualify for Small Employers’ Relief and reclaim 109%. The recovery is claimed through the Employer Payment Summary.
Yes. SMP is earnings, so it goes through payroll with PAYE tax, National Insurance and pension contributions deducted like ordinary wages. Employer pension contributions must continue at the level based on normal pay, not the reduced SMP amount.
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