Enhanced Maternity Pay: What It Is and How It Works with SMP
Enhanced maternity pay is the pay your employer adds to Statutory Maternity Pay under your contract or maternity policy. Public sector schemes call it occupational maternity pay. It either includes SMP or is paid on top of it.
What is enhanced maternity pay?
Enhanced maternity pay is any maternity pay from your employer above Statutory Maternity Pay. SMP is the statutory layer: 90% of your average weekly earnings for 6 weeks, then £194.32 a week or 90% of your earnings, whichever is lower, for 33 weeks. That is 39 paid weeks inside 52 weeks of leave. An enhanced scheme raises what some of those weeks pay.
Its other names are contractual maternity pay and company maternity pay. Your scheme is set out in your contract or your employer's maternity policy, which is where the number of weeks, the rate and the conditions come from. Average weekly earnings, the figure SMP is based on, is your gross pay averaged over the 8 weeks up to the qualifying week.
To see what your own scheme pays in each week, copy its blocks of weeks into the Enhanced Maternity Pay Calculator.
What is occupational maternity pay?
Occupational maternity pay (OMP) is enhanced maternity pay under its public sector name. The NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, the Burgundy Book for teachers in England and Wales and the SNCT handbook for teachers in Scotland all use it. OMP is not SMP: SMP is the statutory payment, and OMP is what the scheme adds. Where a scheme says it pays full pay "offset" against SMP, your employer pays the difference between SMP and your normal pay, so the two together make full pay.
Is enhanced maternity pay on top of SMP or included in it?
Two words in your policy decide the answer: whether a block of weeks includes SMP, or is paid plus SMP.
Full pay including SMP means your employer tops SMP up to your normal pay. On £600 a week, week 1 pays £540.00 of SMP and £60.00 from your employer. From week 7, SMP drops to £194.32, so your employer pays £405.68. You receive £600.00 either way.
Half pay plus SMP means your employer pays half your normal pay and SMP is added on top. Half pay including SMP is a different, smaller promise: the employer only makes SMP up to half pay. The three cards show one week from week 7 on £600 a week, an illustrative figure.
Full pay including SMP
Week 7, £600 a week
- SMP
- £194.32
- Employer pays
- £405.68
- You receive
- £600.00
Half pay plus SMP
Week 7, £600 a week
- SMP
- £194.32
- Employer pays
- £300.00
- You receive
- £494.32
Half pay including SMP
Week 7, £600 a week
- SMP
- £194.32
- Employer pays
- £105.68
- You receive
- £300.00
Half pay plus SMP is capped at full pay
The NHS, Burgundy Book and Green Book schemes all limit half pay plus SMP to your normal full pay. The cap only bites on lower pay: half pay plus the £194.32 SMP rate is more than full pay when your normal pay is below £388.64 a week. On £300 a week, half pay plus SMP would be £344.32, so the cap holds it at £300.00.
How the main enhanced maternity pay schemes are shaped
Full pay in these schemes includes SMP. Each figure is a number of weeks, taken from the scheme document listed under Sources.
| Scheme | Full pay | Then | SMP only | Unpaid | Work it out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NHS Agenda for ChangeAll four nations, Section 15 | 8 | 18 at half pay plus SMP | 13 | 13 | NHS Maternity Pay Calculator |
| Teachers, England and WalesBurgundy Book | 4 | 2 at 90% of pay, 12 at half pay plus SMP | 21 | 13 | Teacher Maternity Pay Calculator |
| Teachers, ScotlandSNCT | 13 | None | 26 | 13 | Teacher Maternity Pay Calculator |
| Civil Service, most departmentsFor example DWP, MOJ, MOD | 26 | None | 13 | 13 | Civil Service Maternity Pay Calculator |
| Police officers, England and WalesPolice Regulations 2003, Annex L | 26 | None | 13 | 13 | Police Maternity Pay Calculator |
| Police staff, England and WalesPolice Staff Council handbook | 26 | None | 13 | 13 | Police Maternity Pay Calculator |
| Fire and rescue, EnglandGrey Book | 26 | None | 13 | 13 | Enhanced Maternity Pay Calculator |
| Local governmentNJC Green Book, England, Wales and Northern Ireland | 0 | 6 at 90% of pay, 12 at half pay plus SMP | 21 | 13 | Council Maternity Pay Calculator |
Police officers can choose half pay in weeks 22 to 31 instead of full pay in weeks 22 to 26. Police staff can extend the last 5 weeks of full pay to 10 weeks at half pay. The Grey Book pays 6 weeks and then 20 weeks of full pay, both offset against SMP.
Six months of full pay is a scheme feature, not a right
Statutory Maternity Pay alone never pays full pay after the first 6weeks. 26 weeks of full pay, about 6 months, comes from your employer's scheme. Most Civil Service departments, police officers and staff in England and Wales and fire and rescue staff in England have it. The NHS pays 8 weeks of full pay and teachers in England and Wales 4. To compare more schemes side by side, see maternity pay by employer scheme.
The scheme rules for teachers in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are set out in Teachers' maternity pay.
Who qualifies for enhanced maternity pay?
Each scheme sets its own service test, separate from the SMP test of 26 weeks' continuous employment into the qualifying week.
| Scheme | Service you need |
|---|---|
| NHS Agenda for Change | 12 months' continuous NHS service at the beginning of the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth. |
| Teachers, England and Wales (Burgundy Book) | One year's continuous service as a teacher with one or more local authorities at the beginning of the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth. |
| Teachers, Scotland (SNCT) | 26 weeks' continuous service at the beginning of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth. |
| Teachers, Northern Ireland | 52 weeks' continuous service as a teacher with one or more employing authorities at the beginning of the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth. |
| Local government (Green Book) | One year's continuous local government service at the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth. |
| Police officers, England and Wales | 63 weeks' continuous service in that or any other police force at the beginning of the week the baby is due. |
| Civil Service, MHCLG | At least one year's continuous service in the Civil Service. |
| Civil Service, Defra | One year's service in Defra or another Civil Service body by the expected week of childbirth. It need not be continuous. |
If you do not meet your scheme's test, you still get SMP when you meet the SMP conditions. Saying you will not go back can also change the pay: an NHS employee who does not intend to return receives pay equal to SMP, and under the Green Book you get SMP only after the first 6 weeks.
Return conditions and paying it back
Most schemes pay enhanced maternity pay on the understanding that you go back to work for a set time: 3 months in the NHS, councils and fire and rescue, 13 weeks for teachers, one month for police staff and Defra. If you do not, your employer can reclaim some or all of the enhanced part. SMP is never repayable. The scheme-by-scheme rules and worked figures are in do you have to pay back maternity pay.
Questions about enhanced maternity pay
How much is enhanced maternity pay?
It depends entirely on your scheme. A scheme of 26 weeks' full pay including SMP pays your normal pay for 26 weeks, then SMP to week 39. The NHS pays full pay for 8 weeks and half pay plus SMP for 18. The scheme table above shows the main shapes, and each calculator works out the pounds for your pay.
Is enhanced maternity pay taxed?
Yes. Occupational top-ups are earnings for Income Tax and National Insurance, and SMP is taxable too, so both go through PAYE like your normal pay. Every figure on this site is before tax.
Does enhanced pay reduce my SMP?
No.Your SMP is worked out from your average weekly earnings whatever your scheme pays. What changes is the employer's share: in a block that includes SMP, your employer pays only the difference between SMP and the scheme rate. For SMP on its own, use the Maternity Pay Calculator.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027: the £194.32 SMP rate and the 90% weeks.
- GOV.UK, Statutory Maternity Pay and Leave: employer guide: 39 paid weeks.
- NHS Employers, NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook, Section 15 (Version 63, published 1 October 2026).
- Conditions of Service for School Teachers in England and Wales (Burgundy Book), Section 5 (Revised edition, June 2023).
- SNCT Handbook, Part 2, Section 7 (Family Leave) (Section published 22 May 2026).
- TNC 2021/1 Teachers' Maternity Leave Scheme (TNC 2021/1, page updated 1 July 2021).
- Working for DWP (GOV.UK) (Updated 18 December 2019).
- Staff benefits and perks (MHCLG Digital) (Checked 8 October 2026).
- Defra network maternity leave policy (FOI2025/00955 Annex D) (Version 5.0, May 2021).
- NJC Green Book, Part 2, paragraph 11 (Maternity Scheme) (1 May 2024 edition, copy hosted by Surrey County UNISON).
- Home Office, Police Regulations 2003, Annex L (in force 4 January 2021).
- Police Staff Council, England and Wales handbook (February 2026 update).
- NJC for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services, Circular NJC 5/24, maternity pay (3 July 2024).
- Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, section 62 and Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, section 3: employer top-ups are earnings.
Checked 8 October 2026. How the figures are checked is set out in Methodology and sources.