NHS maternity pay calculator

The four stages

If you qualify for the NHS scheme, your 52 weeks off are paid like this. Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is not an extra on top of the first stage, it is counted inside it, which is why the NHS describes the first eight weeks as full pay less SMP.

What it looks like in real money

On £30,000 your average week is £576.92. For eight weeks you get that in full. From week 9 you get half of it, £288.46, plus £194.32 of SMP, so £482.78 a week, which is still well under your normal pay. From week 27 it drops to £194.32 a week. Over the 39 paid weeks that comes to about £15,831.61, against £9,527.94 on statutory pay alone, so the scheme is worth around £6,303.67 more.

On £46,000 the average week is £884.62. Half pay plus SMP lands at £636.63 a week and the 39 weeks come to about £21,062.38, against £11,189.48 statutory, a gain of £9,872.90. Higher earners gain more because the half-pay stage is a share of a bigger wage, while SMP is a flat figure.

The cliff is week 27. Pay falls from roughly half of your wage to £194.32 in one step, so plan the household budget around that week rather than around the first few months, which will feel comfortable.

Who qualifies

The NHS scheme has its own tests, separate from the statutory ones. The handbook asks for 12 months of continuous service with one or more NHS employers at the start of the 11th week before your expected week of childbirth. Service can come from different NHS employers, which is why moving trust does not usually reset the clock, though breaks in service can matter.

You also need to tell your employer in writing by the end of the 15th week before the baby is due, say you intend to come back to work in the NHS for at least three months after your leave, and give a MATB1 certificate from your midwife or GP. Count back from your due date to find your two key weeks: the 15th week before is your deadline for telling work, and the 11th week before is when your service is measured and the earliest your leave can start.

If you do not meet the NHS test, you may still get statutory pay. That needs 26 weeks with your employer by the 15th week before the due date and average pay at or above £129 a week. Choose the statutory option in the calculator to see that version.

Coming back, and what happens if you do not

The scheme is tied to returning. Trust policies generally say that if you do not come back for the three months, you may have to repay the occupational pay you received above SMP. Check how your own trust treats this before you decide, because policies are written locally. Annual leave builds up during maternity leave, and many people use it to extend their return date, so it is worth running the NHS annual leave calculator for the leave you will have saved up.

Tax and what lands in your account

These figures are before tax. Your pay is taxed through payroll as normal, and NHS Pension contributions usually carry on while you are being paid. Check how your trust deals with pension on the unpaid weeks, as contributions are based on what you are actually paid. To see how a lower weekly income affects your bank balance, put the figure into the NHS pay calculator.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland follow the same scheme under their own handbooks, though NHS Scotland has its own policy documents, so read your board’s version for local detail.