Maternity Pay and Leave in Northern Ireland

Who this guide is for

Pregnant employees and new mothers in Northern Ireland who want to know what maternity pay and leave they can get, how to claim them, and their rights while pregnant, on maternity leave and when going back to work.

What this guide does not cover

• Work in England, Wales or Scotland: see the Great Britain guide.
• Paternity leave, shared parental leave and other family leave in Northern Ireland. This guide does not cover these: ask the Labour Relations Agency (LRA).
• Having a baby through surrogacy: use the surrogacy checker. Asking to work flexibly or part time: use the flexible working checker.
• Your leave and pay if your baby is stillborn or dies, and risks at work while pregnant or breastfeeding. This guide does not cover these: ask the LRA.
• Maternity Allowance for the self-employed, which depends on Class 2 National Insurance contributions. This guide does not cover it: check nidirect.
• How much compensation a tribunal can award: use the tribunal checker.

The questions that decide the answer

1. Are you an employee? Statutory Maternity Leave is for employees. If you are a worker, your employer may allow you unpaid leave, and you may still get SMP.
2. When is your baby due, and when did you start this job? These two dates decide the 26-week test for SMP. If either is missing, the answer depends on them.
3. What have you earned on average up to the qualifying week? SMP needs at least £129 a week. Maternity Allowance has its own, different test.
4. Has your job ended, or is it about to? If you are entitled to SMP and you are made redundant or leave after the start of the qualifying week, you still get SMP.

"How much maternity pay will I get?"

SMP is paid for up to 39 weeks. For the first 6 weeks you get 90% of your average gross weekly earnings, with no upper limit.

For the next 33 weeks you get £194.32 a week or 90% of your average gross weekly earnings, whichever is lower. This is the rate for the 2026-27 tax year, the same as in Great Britain.

Your employer works out your SMP and pays it in the same way as your wages. Tax and National Insurance are deducted.

"Do I qualify for SMP?"

You qualify for SMP if all of these apply:

• you have been employed by the same employer continuously for at least 26 weeks into the qualifying week, which is the 15th week before the week your baby is due, including at least one day's employment in the qualifying week;
• your average earnings are at least the lower earnings limit that applies on the Saturday at the end of your qualifying week, which is £129 a week in the 2026-27 tax year;
• you give your employer the right notice and medical evidence of when your baby is due.

The 26-week test is decided by two dates: when your baby is due and when you started this job. It is not decided by how long you have worked there today. The date boxes on the maternity pay checker work out your qualifying week and the latest start date that passes the test.

If you are employed by an agency, any week in which you did some work counts as a full week towards the 26 weeks.

"How do I claim SMP?"

Give your employer at least 28 days' notice of the date you want your SMP to start. Your employer may need this in writing. If 28 days' notice is not possible, tell your employer as soon as you can.

Give your employer medical evidence of when your baby is due, normally the maternity certificate (form MATB1) from your doctor or midwife. You cannot get it until the 20th week before the week your baby is due. Give it to your employer no later than 3 weeks after the date your SMP is due to start. Your employer cannot pay SMP without it.

"My employer says I don't qualify, or is paying me the wrong amount"

If you cannot get SMP, your employer must fill in form SMP1 and give it to you, saying why SMP has not been paid. You use the SMP1 to claim Maternity Allowance.

Ask your employer for their reason if you think their decision is wrong or you are not getting the right amount. If you cannot sort it out with them, contact the HMRC Statutory Payment Dispute Team. HMRC can make a formal decision on whether you are entitled to SMP and how much.

Disputes about SMP are decided by HMRC. Disputes about maternity leave, dismissal or unfair treatment go to the LRA and an industrial tribunal.

"I'm leaving, being made redundant, or my employer is closing"

If you are entitled to SMP and you are made redundant or leave your job after the start of the qualifying week but before the 11th week before the week your baby is due, your SMP starts from the beginning of that 11th week.

If you leave after the start of the 11th week before the week your baby is due, and before your SMP has started, your SMP starts from the day after you left.

"Can I get Maternity Allowance?"

Maternity Allowance in Northern Ireland is paid by the Department for Communities, not by your employer. You may get it for up to 39 weeks if you are employed but cannot get SMP, or if you have recently stopped working. Some self-employed people can also get it.

In the 66 weeks before your baby is due, you must also have been employed or self-employed for at least 26 weeks, and earning (or classed as earning) at least £30 a week over any 13-week period. The weeks do not have to be together.

It does not matter if you had different jobs or periods of unemployment.

If you were employed or have recently stopped working, Maternity Allowance is £194.32 a week or 90% of your average weekly earnings, whichever is less. Unlike SMP, there is no first 6 weeks at 90% of earnings with no upper limit.

The £129 SMP earnings figure does not apply to Maternity Allowance. Maternity Allowance has its own test, set out above.

You can claim once you have been pregnant for 26 weeks. Payments can start 11 weeks before your baby is due. Download and complete a Maternity Allowance claim form (MA1) from nidirect, and send proof of your income, your MATB1 (or a letter from your doctor or midwife), and your SMP1 if your employer refused you SMP.

"How much maternity leave do I get, and how do I take it?"

You are entitled to 52 weeks of Statutory Maternity Leave: 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave and 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave.

You do not have to take all of it, but you must take 2 weeks of compulsory maternity leave after your baby is born, or 4 weeks if you work in a factory.

You must tell your employer at least 15 weeks before the beginning of the week your baby is due that you are pregnant, when the baby is due and when you want your leave to start. If this is not possible, for example because you did not know you were pregnant, tell them as soon as possible.

You can change your start date later if you give at least 28 days' notice. Your employer might ask for notice in writing and for a copy of your MATB1.

Your employer should write to you within 28 days, confirming your leave and the date it will end.

You can start your leave any time from 11 weeks before the beginning of the week your baby is due. It also starts the day after the birth if the baby is early, and automatically if you are off work with a pregnancy-related illness in the 4 weeks before the week your baby is due.

"Can I work during maternity leave?"

You and your employer can agree that you work up to 10 keeping in touch days during your maternity leave without bringing it to an end. Work on any part of a day counts as a full day. Neither of you can insist on these days.

"What are my rights when I go back?"

When you return after Ordinary Maternity Leave (the first 26 weeks), you have a right to the same job on the same terms and conditions as if you had not been away.

The same applies after Additional Maternity Leave, unless your employer shows it is not reasonably practical for you to return to your original job, for example because the job no longer exists. Then your employer must offer you alternative work with the same terms and conditions as if you had not been away.

Your employer will assume you are taking all 52 weeks. To return earlier, you must give at least 8 weeks' notice. If you do not, your employer can insist that you do not return until the 8 weeks have passed.

"I'm at risk of redundancy"

Your employer can make you redundant while you are on maternity leave if they can fairly justify their choice. If your employer makes staff cuts across the company, they cannot make you redundant because you are on, or about to take, maternity leave.

In Northern Ireland, the priority right to a suitable alternative job applies only if you are made redundant while you are on maternity leave. You must then be offered any suitable alternative job in the company, even if other employees might be more suitable. You do not have to apply for it.

If you are made redundant before your maternity leave, or become at risk after you return to work, you do not get priority, but you must be considered for alternative work like other employees. Not offering you a suitable job for a reason related to your maternity leave may be maternity discrimination.

"I've been dismissed or treated badly"

Treating you unfavourably because of your pregnancy or maternity leave is maternity discrimination under Northern Ireland's own sex discrimination law. The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland may be able to help with a discrimination claim.

A dismissal because of pregnancy or maternity leave is automatically unfair. No minimum length of service is needed.

Before most claims you must notify the Labour Relations Agency (LRA). Early conciliation through the LRA is free. You can't go to a tribunal without at least considering it, unless you are exempt.

If you notify the LRA within your time limit, the clock stops for up to 1 calendar month while conciliation takes place, plus up to 14 more days if both sides agree.

"Can I have time off for antenatal appointments?"

If you are an employee, you have the right to paid time off for antenatal care, at your normal rate of pay. If you are an agency worker, you get paid time off for antenatal appointments and classes after 12 weeks in the same job.

Deadlines you must meet

• Maternity leave: tell your employer at least 15 weeks before the beginning of the week your baby is due.
• SMP: at least 28 days' notice of the start date, and your MATB1 no later than 3 weeks after the start date.
• Returning early: at least 8 weeks' notice.
• Most industrial tribunal claims, including unfair dismissal and discrimination, must be made within 3 months less 1 day. The Great Britain change to 6 months does not apply to these claims in Northern Ireland.
• Early conciliation: tell the LRA within your time limit. Check your exact date with the LRA.

Traps

• There is no 1-year rule for SMP. The test is 26 weeks with your employer continuing into the qualifying week.
• The qualifying week is the 15th week before the week the baby is due, not the week of the due date.
• In Northern Ireland, priority for a suitable alternative job applies only while you are on maternity leave. The longer redundancy protection brought in for Great Britain on 6 April 2024 does not apply here.
• Maternity Allowance is claimed from the Department for Communities, not from your employer, and the £129 figure does not apply to it.
• An SMP dispute goes to HMRC, not to a tribunal.
• Great Britain's Equality Act 2010 does not apply in Northern Ireland. Do not use Great Britain rules here.