Civil Service Maternity Pay Calculator
Pick your department, enter your salary and see all 52 weeks of your leave, from full pay to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) to the unpaid weeks. Each of the 13employer presets follows that employer's published policy, with the source and its date shown.
Your department and pay
Department terms change. Each preset comes from the dated page listed under Sources, so check your own policy.
Your actual salary. Part-time: your actual pro rata salary. Full pay a week is salary divided by 52.
Change this if your pay in the 8 weeks ending with your last normal payday on or before the Saturday of the qualifying week was different, for example after a change of hours, or if a pay rise takes effect before your leave ends.
From your department's policy, 0 to 39.
Check your department's policy. No gives SMP only.
Your results
Total maternity pay
Over 52 weeks, before tax
Statutory Maternity Pay
Paid by your employer
Department top-up
More than SMP alone
Unpaid weeks
Of 52 weeks of leave
Your 52 weeks
| Weeks | Paid as | SMP | Department top-up | You receive | Band total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 6 | Full pay including SMP | £450.00 | £50.00 | £500.00about £2,167 a month | £3,000.00 |
| 7 to 26 | Full pay including SMP | £194.32 | £305.68 | £500.00about £2,167 a month | £10,000.00 |
| 27 to 39 | SMP only | £194.32 | £0.00 | £194.32about £842 a month | £2,526.16 |
| 40 to 52 | Unpaid | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| Total before tax | £9,112.56 | £6,413.60 | £15,526.16 | ||
Monthly figures are the weekly amount times 52, divided by 12. Each weekly amount is rounded to the nearest penny, so a payslip can differ by a penny or two.
The SMP weeks use the same rules as the Maternity Pay Calculator, and every figure is before tax.
Department terms checked against each employer's published page or policy on 8 October 2026. Statutory rates checked against GOV.UK on 8 October 2026.
How much is civil service maternity pay?
Most civil servants get 26 weeks (about 6 months) at full pay, then 13 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay and 13 weeks unpaid. The Civil Service is not one scheme: each department publishes its own maternity policy, and some pay full pay for longer. The Civil Service's own guide says SMP is “topped up for the first 26 weeks to full pay (or more than 26 weeks in some departments)”.
| Weeks | What you are paid | Per week on £26,000 (illustrative) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 6 | Full pay: SMP at 90% of your average weekly earnings, plus a top-up | £500.00 |
| 7 to 26 | Full pay: SMP at £194.32, plus a top-up | £500.00 |
| 27 to 39 | SMP only: £194.32, or 90% of your average weekly earnings if lower | £194.32 |
| 40 to 52 | Unpaid | £0.00 |
The department's top-up is occupational maternity pay, and full pay includes your SMP, so the two are never added together. Your leave runs 52 weeks, but pay stops after 39.
Civil Service maternity pay by department
Ten of the 13 employers checked pay 26 weeks at full pay, and three pay longer: DCMS (9 months), DfE (28 weeks) and the Scottish Government (27 weeks). Each row links to the employer's own published page or policy, with its date.
| Employer | Full pay | After full pay | Service condition | Return condition | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabinet Office | 26 weeks | 13 weeks SMP, then 13 weeks unpaid | Not stated on the page checked. Check your department's policy. | Not stated | Working for Cabinet Office (GOV.UK), Updated 26 September 2018 |
| DCMS | 9 months (39 weeks in the calculator) | Unpaid to week 52 | Not stated on the page checked. Check your department's policy. | Not stated | DCMS benefits (Civil Service Careers), Checked 8 October 2026 |
| Defra, APHA or VMD | 26 weeks | 13 weeks SMP, then 13 weeks unpaid | One year's service in Defra or another Civil Service body by the expected week of childbirth. It need not be continuous. | You return for at least one calendar month's effective service. If you do not, the department will ask you to repay the salary paid during your leave, less any SMP. | Defra network maternity leave policy (FOI2025/00955 Annex D), Version 5.0, May 2021 |
| DfE | 28 weeks | 11 weeks SMP, then 13 weeks unpaid | Not stated on the page checked. Check your department's policy. | Not stated | Working for DfE (GOV.UK), Updated 26 July 2018 |
| DHSC | 26 weeks | 13 weeks SMP, then 13 weeks unpaid | Eligible employees. The condition is not stated on the page checked. | Not stated | Working for DHSC (GOV.UK), Updated 24 September 2026 |
| DWP | 26 weeks | 13 weeks SMP, then 13 weeks unpaid | Subject to eligibility. The condition is not stated on the page checked. | Not stated | Working for DWP (GOV.UK), Updated 18 December 2019 |
| HMRC | 26 weeks at your normal rate of pay | 13 weeks SMP, then 13 weeks unpaid | Depends on your length of continuous service. The threshold is not stated on the page checked. | Not stated | Your little extras and big benefits handbook (HMRC), Updated 8 June 2026 |
| MHCLG | 26 weeks | 13 weeks SMP, then 13 weeks unpaid | At least one year's continuous service in the Civil Service. | Not stated | Staff benefits and perks (MHCLG Digital), Checked 8 October 2026 |
| MOD civil servants | 26 weeks | 13 weeks SMP, then 13 weeks unpaid | Not stated on the page checked. Check your department's policy. | Not stated | Working for MOD (GOV.UK), Updated 17 September 2026 |
| Ministry of Justice | 26 weeks | 13 weeks SMP, then 13 weeks unpaid | Not stated on the page checked. Check your department's policy. | Not stated | Working for MOJ (GOV.UK), Updated 17 September 2026 |
| Northern Ireland Civil Service | 26 weeks at full contractual pay, for an expected week of childbirth on or after 6 April 2025 | 13 weeks SMP, then 13 weeks unpaid | The scheme's qualifying conditions for contractual maternity pay. Applies where the expected week of childbirth is on or after 6 April 2025. | Not stated | NICS Members' Guide 2024 to 2026 (NIPSA), May 2025 |
| Scottish Government | 27 weeks | 12 weeks SMP, then 13 weeks unpaid | You qualify for SMP: 26 weeks' continuous Scottish Government employment ending with the qualifying week. | You sign an undertaking to repay your contractual maternity pay if you do not return, and to complete one month's paid service after your leave. Annual leave does not count. It is waived if you move to another Civil Service department without a break. | Scottish Government maternity policy (FOI 202400432133 annex), Released 21 October 2024 |
| Welsh Government | 26 weeks at full contractual pay, including SMP | 13 weeks SMP, then 13 weeks unpaid | One year's continuous Welsh Government service by the end of the qualifying week. | You return within 52 weeks and complete one month's service. If you do not, you repay the pay above statutory pay. It can be waived. | Welsh Government maternity and adoption leave policy (ATISN 23266), Released 12 February 2025 |
Six rows come from recruitment pages (Cabinet Office, DfE, DHSC, DWP, HMRC and MOD), which give the weeks but not whether full pay includes SMP, the service condition or any repayment rule. Some of these pages are also old. DWP's recruitment page was last updated in December 2019, the Cabinet Office's in September 2018 and DfE's GOV.UK page in July 2018. Check the current policy on your intranet before you rely on them.
Other departments, agencies and arm's-length bodies set their own terms. Pick “Not listed” and enter the full-pay weeks from your own policy. The calculator starts “Not listed” at 26 weeks because the HMG guide for civil servants having a baby says “Most civil servants are eligible for 26 weeks maternity leave/shared parental leave at full pay”. For an employer outside the Civil Service, the Enhanced Maternity Pay Calculator takes any employer's own maternity scheme.
DCMS's page says “9 months' full pay”. The calculator models that as 39weeks, the length of the SMP period. Check DCMS's own policy for the exact weeks.
Employers with no preset
The Home Office, HM Treasury and the Senior Civil Service have no preset in the calculator, because the sources disagree, are out of date or vary by department.
- Home Office: two Home Office benefits pages give different full-pay periods.
- HM Treasury: the only policy found is dated April 2013 and quotes SMP from 2007 to 2008, so it is not used. That PDF still ranks for Civil Service maternity leave searches.
- Senior Civil Service:DCMS's benefits page says “Terms and conditions at SCS grades will vary”.
Worked examples: DWP, DfE, DCMS and the Welsh Government
DWP's terms pay £15,526.16 over 39 paid weeks on a £26,000salary, and DCMS's 9 months of full pay come to £19,500.00, which is £3,973.84 more. Every total is before tax. £26,000 is an illustrative salary, not a published grade rate, used so the departments compare like for like.
On £26,000, full pay is £500.00 a week (£26,000 / 52) and SMP is £450.00 a week in weeks 1 to 6 and £194.32 in weeks 7 to 39.
| Employer (weeks at full pay) | Weeks 1 to 26 | Weeks 27 to 39 | Weeks 40 to 52 | Total before tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DWP (26) | £13,000.00 | £2,526.16 | £0.00 | £15,526.16 |
| Northern Ireland Civil Service (26) | £13,000.00 | £2,526.16 | £0.00 | £15,526.16 |
| Scottish Government (27) | £13,000.00 | £2,831.84 | £0.00 | £15,831.84 |
| DfE (28) | £13,000.00 | £3,137.52 | £0.00 | £16,137.52 |
| DCMS (9 months, 39 in the calculator) | £13,000.00 | £6,500.00 | £0.00 | £19,500.00 |
| Service condition not met: SMP only | £6,586.40 | £2,526.16 | £0.00 | £9,112.56 |
How the DWP total is calculated:
- Weeks 1 to 6: SMP of £450.00 (90% of £500.00) plus a £50.00 top-up makes full pay of £500.00 a week, £3,000.00 in total.
- Weeks 7 to 26: SMP of £194.32 plus a £305.68 top-up makes £500.00 a week, £10,000.00 in total.
- Weeks 27 to 39: statutory pay only, £194.32 a week, £2,526.16 in total.
- Weeks 40 to 52: unpaid, £0.00.
DWP's page does not say whether full pay includes SMP. The calculator assumes it does, because the Civil Service's own guide describes SMP as “topped up ... to full pay”. Of the £15,526.16, £9,112.56 is SMP and £6,413.60is DWP's occupational maternity pay (the top-up). Cabinet Office, Defra, DHSC, HMRC, MHCLG, MOD and the Ministry of Justice give the same total on the same salary, because their weeks follow the same 26, 13 and 13 pattern.
Welsh Government Team Band: an example on published pay
A Welsh Government Team Band employee with a year's service gets £16,177.20 to £17,171.70 over 39 paid weeks, before tax. The Team Band runs from £27,302 to £29,291 on the Welsh Government's published pay bands (page updated 28 November 2025; it states no pay year and no Civil Service grade equivalent). The Welsh Government policy pays 26 weeks at full contractual pay, then 13 weeks of SMP.
| Team Band salary | Full pay a week | Weeks 1 to 26 | Weeks 27 to 39 | Total before tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £27,302 (band minimum) | £525.04 | £13,651.04 | £2,526.16 | £16,177.20 |
| £29,291 (band maximum) | £563.29 | £14,645.54 | £2,526.16 | £17,171.70 |
| £27,302, under 1 year's Welsh Government service: SMP only | £525.04 | £6,721.58 | £2,526.16 | £9,247.74 |
Weekly pay is rounded to the penny, so a monthly payroll can differ by a few pence. The year of service is worth £6,929.46 at the band minimum: the gap between full pay and SMP only.
Eligibility: who qualifies for full pay
Civil Service maternity pay at the full rate needs 1 year's service at MHCLG, Defra and the Welsh Government, and only the 26 weeks that SMP needs at the Scottish Government. The expected week of childbirth is the week your baby is due; the qualifying week is the 15th week before it.
- MHCLG:“at least one year's continuous service in the Civil Service”.
- Defra, APHA and VMD:one year's service in Defra or another Civil Service body by the expected week of childbirth, “not necessarily a single continuous period of employment”.
- Welsh Government:“at least one year's continuous service with the Welsh Government by the end of the ‘Qualifying Week’”.
- Scottish Government:you must meet every SMP condition, including 26 weeks' continuous Scottish Government employment ending with the qualifying week.
- Northern Ireland Civil Service:the scheme's “qualifying conditions for contractual maternity pay”, with an expected week of childbirth on or after 6 April 2025.
- HMRC:pay depends “on the length of your continuous service”, with no threshold on the page checked.
Previous service counts differently. MHCLG and Defra count service anywhere in the Civil Service, while the Welsh and Scottish Government wordings count only service with them. The DWP, DfE, DHSC, MOD, Cabinet Office, Ministry of Justice and DCMS pages checked state no condition.
Statutory Maternity Pay still applies without the occupational condition, provided you qualify under its own two tests. You need 26 weeks with the same employer, continuing into the qualifying week, and average weekly earnings of at least £129. Turn off “Service condition met” and the calculator shows SMP only.
How "full pay" is worked out
Full pay means your salary, not the 8-week earnings average that Statutory Maternity Pay uses. The policies use their own words for it. Defra says “full salary”, the Northern Ireland Civil Service “full contractual rate of pay”, the Welsh Government “full contractual pay”, HMRC “normal rate of pay” and the Scottish Government “usual full pay”.
SMP comes from your average weekly earnings: gross pay averaged over the 8 weeks ending with the last normal payday on or before the Saturday of the qualifying week. A change of hours therefore moves the two calculations differently. Check which date's salary your department uses for full pay; the policies checked name salary, not an earnings window.
Full pay includes your SMP. The Welsh Government's policy says its full contractual pay “will be inclusive of Statutory Maternity” pay, and the Scottish Government's says its contractual maternity pay “tops up your Statutory Maternity Pay”. On £26,000 the department pays £450.00 of SMP and a £50.00 top-up in weeks 1 to 6, not £500.00 plus £450.00.
The calculator has two pay inputs for this reason: your salary for the full-pay weeks, and your average weekly earnings for the SMP weeks. They start equal. Change the second one when your pay in the 8-week window was different.
Do you have to go back to work?
Three of the policies checked make you repay the top-up if you do not go back to work for at least 1 month: Defra, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government. SMP is never part of the repayment.
- Defra: work at least 1 calendar month after maternity leave, or repay the salary paid during leave, less SMP. Annual leave counts towards the month (section 7.7), and the department can waive repayment for good reasons (section 7.8).
- Scottish Government:you sign an undertaking to repay the contractual maternity pay if you do not return, and to work the equivalent of 1 month's paid service after leave. Annual leave does not count towards that month. The rule does not apply when you move to another Civil Service department without a break in service.
- Welsh Government:you keep the pay above statutory pay when you state you intend to return within 52 weeks and then complete 1 month's service. Annual leave due on your return date can count towards that month, and a Deputy Director can waive repayment.
The repayment is £6,413.60 under Defra's rule on £26,000 with 26 full-pay weeks, and £6,929.46under the Welsh Government's rule at the Team Band minimum. The other policies checked state no return condition, so read your own before leaving rather than returning. The calculator shows the repayable amount on the Defra, Scottish Government and Welsh Government presets. Other schemes' rules are compared in Do You Have to Pay Back Maternity Pay?.
Civil Service maternity leave: 52 weeks, 39 paid
Civil Service maternity leave lasts up to 52 weeks, and 39 of those weeks are paid in every policy checked. Most employers pay 26 weeks at full pay and 13 at statutory pay. DfE splits the 39 weeks into 28 and 11, the Scottish Government into 27 and 12, and DCMS pays all 39 at full pay. Weeks 40 to 52 are unpaid because SMP lasts 39 weeks.
Keeping in touch days apply to maternity leave in the Civil Service as they do to any employee: up to 10 days of work without ending it or losing SMP for those weeks. The Scottish Government tops a keeping in touch day up to full pay when you are on SMP or no pay, and the Welsh Government pays the hours worked, inclusive of SMP. This calculator does not work out dates; the Maternity Pay Qualifying Week Calculator does.
Pension and other terms during leave
Your pension scheme membership continues through maternity leave, paid or unpaid. The Equality Act 2010 explanatory notes say a woman on maternity leave “will be entitled to continuing membership of the scheme throughout the period of maternity leave whether or not she is paid”. GOV.UK says pension contributions usually stop in unpaid weeks unless your contract says otherwise.
For the Civil Service schemes, the Civil Service Pension Scheme's guide to changing working patterns says: “All paid maternity, paternity and adoption leave and any unpaid ordinary maternity and paternity leave counts towards your pension. Any unpaid additional maternity or adoption leave does not count towards your pension.” Ordinary maternity leave is the first 26 weeks and additional maternity leave the last 26, so in every policy on this page the unpaid weeks 40 to 52 do not count.
The Equality Act covers England, Scotland and Wales; Northern Ireland has parallel law, not checked for this page. Your other terms and conditions continue during leave, apart from pay, under regulation 9 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999. Ask HR how your department handles annual leave that builds up while you are away.
Questions civil servants ask
The five questions below come from Google's "People also ask" results and Civil Service forum threads, read on 8 October 2026.
How much maternity pay does a DWP employee get?
A DWP employee gets up to 26 weeks at full pay, then 13 weeks of statutory pay and 13 weeks unpaid, according to DWP's recruitment page. On an illustrative £26,000 salary that comes to £15,526.16 before tax. The page was last updated in December 2019 and does not state the service condition, so check the current policy on the DWP intranet.
Is Civil Service maternity pay going up to 9 months?
No Civil Service-wide change to 9 months appears in the sources checked, but DCMS already advertises 9 months' full pay, DfE pays 28 weeks and the Scottish Government 27. The central guide allows “more than 26 weeks in some departments”, so each department changes its own policy. Two Home Office pages disagree on its full-pay period, so check the date on your own policy.
What is the SMP rate after the full-pay weeks?
SMP is £194.32 a week from 5 April 2026, or 90% of your average weekly earnings if that is lower. It was £187.18 a week before 5 April 2026. Ninety per cent of earnings is less than £194.32 below £215.91 a week (about £216), so lower earners get the lower figure: the 90% trap.
Who pays Civil Service maternity pay?
Your department pays both parts as your employer: the Statutory Maternity Pay and the top-up to full pay. That includes the 90% SMP rate in weeks 1 to 6. Employers reclaim 92% of the SMP they pay from HMRC, or 109% in 2026 to 2027when their Class 1 National Insurance in the last complete tax year before the employee's qualifying week was £45,000 or less. The SMP Recovery Calculator works out that reclaim from the employer's side.
Is Civil Service maternity pay taxed?
Yes: Income Tax and National Insurance apply to both the SMP and the department's top-up. HMRC treats SMP as taxable, with National Insurance payable, and the top-up is ordinary earnings. Both arrive through payroll in the same way as your salary, with tax and National Insurance deducted. Every figure on this page and in the calculator is before tax.
Sources and checks
Department terms: each employer's page or policy, checked on 8 October 2026. The date shown is the page's own update date, where it has one.
- Cabinet Office: Working for Cabinet Office (GOV.UK), Updated 26 September 2018. Checked 8 October 2026.
- DCMS: DCMS benefits (Civil Service Careers), Checked 8 October 2026. Checked 8 October 2026.
- Defra, APHA or VMD: Defra network maternity leave policy (FOI2025/00955 Annex D), Version 5.0, May 2021. Checked 8 October 2026.
- DfE: Working for DfE (GOV.UK), Updated 26 July 2018. Checked 8 October 2026.
- DHSC: Working for DHSC (GOV.UK), Updated 24 September 2026. Checked 8 October 2026.
- DWP: Working for DWP (GOV.UK), Updated 18 December 2019. Checked 8 October 2026.
- HMRC: Your little extras and big benefits handbook (HMRC), Updated 8 June 2026. Checked 8 October 2026.
- MHCLG: Staff benefits and perks (MHCLG Digital), Checked 8 October 2026. Checked 8 October 2026.
- MOD civil servants: Working for MOD (GOV.UK), Updated 17 September 2026. Checked 8 October 2026.
- Ministry of Justice: Working for MOJ (GOV.UK), Updated 17 September 2026. Checked 8 October 2026.
- Northern Ireland Civil Service: NICS Members' Guide 2024 to 2026 (NIPSA), May 2025. Checked 8 October 2026.
- Scottish Government: Scottish Government maternity policy (FOI 202400432133 annex), Released 21 October 2024. Checked 8 October 2026.
- Welsh Government: Welsh Government maternity and adoption leave policy (ATISN 23266), Released 12 February 2025. Checked 8 October 2026.
- Civil Service-wide terms: Shared Parental Leave: Having a Baby (Civil Service employee policy) and the HMG guide for civil servants having a baby, 2026 version. Checked 8 October 2026.
- Welsh Government pay bands: Welsh Government civil service pay and benefits, updated 28 November 2025. Checked 8 October 2026.
Statutory Maternity Pay: £194.32, 90%, 39 paid weeks, 52 weeks of leave, the £129 lower earnings limit and 10 keeping in touch days. Sources: GOV.UK Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 and maternity pay and leave, checked on 8 October 2026.
Tax and pension rules: HMRC's Employment Income Manual (EIM76360), the Equality Act 2010 explanatory notes, GOV.UK's employee rights when on leave and the Civil Service Pension Scheme's guide to changing working patterns.
Weekly amounts are rounded to the nearest penny, so a payslip can differ by a penny or two. The full source list is on the Methodology and sources page. This is an estimate, not financial or employment advice.