Maternity Pay for Employers: Paying SMP and Reclaiming It
You pay Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) through payroll to every employee who qualifies, then reclaim 92% of it from HMRC, or 109% if your Class 1 National Insurance for the previous tax year was £45,000 or less. The SMP Recovery Calculator works out the reclaim and your net cost.
To see what one employee is owed week by week, use the Maternity Pay Calculator's employer view. Every figure on this page is for the 2026 to 2027 tax year and is before tax.
How does SMP work for employers?
SMP works in four steps for an employer: check the employee qualifies, pay SMP through payroll for up to 39 weeks, reclaim most of it from HMRC through your Employer Payment Summary (EPS), and keep the records for 3 years. You pay first, through payroll, and the reclaim comes off the PAYE you owe HMRC.
What you pay
Up to 39 weeks
- Weeks 1 to 6
- 90% of AWE, no cap
- Weeks 7 to 39
- £194.32 or 90%, lower wins
AWE means average weekly earnings, explained below.
What you reclaim
2026 to 2027
- Standard
- 92%
- Small employer
- 109%
Small means Class 1 NI of £45,000 or less in the last complete tax year before the qualifying week.
On each £1,000 of SMP
Reclaim and net cost
- Reclaim at 92%
- £920.00
- You bear
- £80.00
- Reclaim at 109%
- £1,090.00
- You gain
- £90.00
Employer National Insurance on SMP is a separate cost, covered below.
What you must pay and when
You must pay Statutory Maternity Pay to an employee who passes two tests. First, she has worked for you continuously for at least 26 weeks continuing into the qualifying week, which is the 15th week (Sunday to Saturday) before the week the baby is due. Second, her average weekly earnings are at least the lower earnings limit: £129 a week when the qualifying week ends in the 2026 to 2027 tax year.
Average weekly earnings (AWE) are the gross earnings paid in the relevant period: the 8 weeks ending with the last normal payday on or before the Saturday of the qualifying week. They include everything on which Class 1 National Insurance is due, so overtime, bonuses and commission paid in that window count. HMRC says not to round the figure to whole pence (HMRC manual calculation guide).
| SMP weeks | Weekly rate | Cap |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 6 | 90% of average weekly earnings | None |
| 7 to 39 | £194.32 or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower | £194.32 |
| 40 to 52 | No SMP: the rest of the 52 weeks of leave is unpaid unless your policy pays more | Not applicable |
The £194.32 rate is a ceiling, not a floor. An employee earning less than £215.91 a week is paid 90% of her earnings for all 39 weeks, because 90% is the lower figure. The 2026 to 2027 rate applies from 5 April 2026, one day before every other statutory rate changed on 6 April 2026. It rose from £187.18 (HMRC rates and thresholds 2026 to 2027).
When SMP starts
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| Notice | The employee gives you at least 28 days' notice, in writing if you ask, and proof of pregnancy. |
| Proof of pregnancy | A MATB1 certificate or a letter from her doctor or midwife, within 21 days of the SMP start date, or as soon as possible if the baby is born early. |
| Earliest start | Usually 11 weeks before the expected week of childbirth. |
| Automatic start | A pregnancy-related absence in the 4 weeks before the due week (Sunday to Saturday) starts leave and SMP the day after the first complete day of absence. |
| Early birth | Leave and SMP start the day after the birth. |
| Stillbirth | SMP and leave are still due if the baby is stillborn after the start of the 24th week of pregnancy. |
SMP weeks run from the first day of the maternity pay period, whatever weekday that is. A pay period that starts on a Wednesday has SMP weeks running Wednesday to Tuesday. To pay part of a week, pay one seventh of the weekly rate for each day due (HMRC, Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, s.166).
Do employers have to pay for maternity leave?
Yes, for SMP: an employee who meets the conditions is entitled to it, and you pay it. Maternity leave runs 52 weeks but SMP covers only 39, so weeks 40 to 52 carry no pay unless your contract or maternity policy pays more. Most of the SMP you pay comes back from HMRC.
Can an employer refuse to pay SMP?
No, not to an employee who qualifies. If you cannot afford it, you can ask HMRC to pay you in advance. If you become insolvent while SMP is being paid, HMRC pays it instead (GOV.UK: get financial help with statutory pay).
Changes that alter what you pay
A pay rise during the relevant period or the leave
A pay rise that takes effect at any time from the start of the relevant period to the end of maternity leave means you work out AWE again as if the rise had applied from the start of the relevant period, then pay the extra SMP. On AWE of £600 a week, a rise worth £50 a week lifts weeks 1 to 6 from £540.00 to £585.00, so you owe £270.00 more. The later weeks stay at the £194.32 cap (HMRC: employee circumstances that affect payment).
Keeping in touch days
An employee can work for you for up to 10 days during maternity leave without ending the leave or losing SMP for those weeks. Any work on a day, even an hour, uses a whole day. Beyond 10 days she loses a week of SMP for each week or part week worked, and the pay period is not extended. No work is allowed in the 2 weeks of compulsory leave after the birth, or 4 weeks for factory workers.
If the employee leaves
SMP continues if she qualified, whatever the reason she left and even if she is not coming back. You cannot ask her to repay it. Whether she repays enhanced pay above SMP depends on your maternity policy.
Agency and supply workers
Whoever deducts PAYE tax and Class 1 National Insurance from the worker's earnings, or would if they were high enough, pays SMP. For people who work as and when you need them, a week without work does not break the 26-week test if they were on paid leave or you had no work to offer. If they turned work down, you check the reason (HMRC: how employment types affect SMP).
Salary sacrifice
If a salary sacrifice arrangement reduces an employee's AWE below the £129 lower earnings limit, you do not have to pay SMP (HMRC: salary sacrifice and PAYE).
Employer National Insurance on SMP
SMP is earnings. It is taxable, and National Insurance is payable on it (HMRC Employment Income Manual EIM76360). You pay it in the same way as wages, weekly or monthly, with tax and National Insurance deducted through PAYE.
Employer National Insurance for 2026 to 2027 is 15% on earnings above the secondary threshold of £96 a week. For a weekly-paid employee on the £194.32 rate that is about £14.75 a week: 15% of the £98.32 above the threshold. Your payroll software works out the exact figure for each pay period.
The employee pays no National Insurance in the £194.32 weeks, because the rate sits below the £242 primary threshold. Those weeks still count towards her contribution record.
Why small employers get 109%. The law gives a small employer the SMP it paid plus an additional amount (SI 1994/1882, regulation 4). On your EPS the extra 9% is reported as National Insurance compensation, separately from the SMP itself.
Reclaiming SMP from HMRC
You reclaim 92% of the SMP you pay, or 109%under Small Employers' Relief. The test is your total Class 1 National Insurance, employee and employer contributions together, in the last complete tax year before the employee's qualifying week: £45,000 or less gets 109%. Ignore reductions such as Employment Allowance when you add it up.
The small-employer percentage changes from year to year, so check the year before you rely on a figure:
| Tax year | Standard | Small employer |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 to 2025 | 92% | 103% |
| 2025 to 2026 | 92% | 108.5% |
| 2026 to 2027 | 92% | 109% |
You reclaim only the statutory amount. If you pay more than SMP under your own maternity policy, the extra is your cost. The SMP Recovery Calculator shows the reclaim and net cost for one employee.
How the reclaim reaches you
| Step | Rule |
|---|---|
| Work it out | Your payroll software calculates the amount you can reclaim. |
| Report it | Include it in an Employer Payment Summary (EPS). Send the EPS by the 19th of the following tax month for HMRC to reduce what you owe. A tax month starts on the 6th. |
| Pay the balance | Pay HMRC the reduced amount by the 22nd, or the 19th if you pay by post. |
| Reclaim more than you owe | If you cannot set the reclaim off against the year's PAYE and National Insurance, write to the PAYE Employer Office for a repayment. You can do this only from the start of the next tax year. |
The EPS has two boxes for SMP: “SMP reclaimed this tax year” and “SMP National Insurance contribution compensation recovered this tax year”. The second is for the Small Employers' Relief top-up only (HMRC: payroll information to report, GOV.UK: EPS).
If you cannot afford to pay SMP
Apply to HMRC for an advance, up to 4 weeks before the first payment; an earlier application may be returned. Incorrect information in the application can bring a penalty of up to £3,000 per employee for each tax year. HMRC recovers the advance from your EPS reclaims: in its own example, an employer owing £2,500 in PAYE who reclaims £3,000 has its advance reduced by £500 (GOV.UK: financial help with statutory pay).
When an employee does not qualify
If an employee does not meet the conditions for SMP, give her form SMP1 to explain why (GOV.UK: maternity pay eligibility). She may be able to get Maternity Allowance instead, which she claims from Jobcentre Plus (a Jobs and Benefits office in Northern Ireland), not from you.
Records you must keep
Keep SMP records for 3 years from the end of the tax year they relate to. Form SMP2 or your own records will do. Keep:
- proof of pregnancy, usually a doctor's note or a MATB1 certificate (a photocopy is fine)
- the date SMP began
- your SMP payments, with dates
- the SMP you have reclaimed
- any weeks you did not pay, and why
Source: GOV.UK employer guide to SMP.
Payroll procedure
This page covers what you owe and what you get back. For the payroll steps themselves, use GOV.UK's Statutory Maternity Pay employer guide and HMRC's EPS guidance.
Questions employers ask about maternity pay
Can I claim back SMP as an employer?
Yes. In 2026 to 2027 you reclaim 92% of the SMP you pay, or 109% if your Class 1 National Insurance for the previous tax year was £45,000 or less. You claim it on your EPS.
How much is SMP from April 2026?
From 5 April 2026, SMP is 90% of average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks, then £194.32 a week or 90%, whichever is lower, for 33 weeks. The lower earnings limit is £129 a week.
Can I reclaim enhanced maternity pay?
No. The reclaim applies to the statutory amount only, even when you pay more than SMP.
Does SMP stop if an employee resigns during leave?
No. If she qualified, you still pay her SMP, whatever the reason she left, and you cannot ask her to repay it.
Sources and checks
- HMRC: rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 (SMP rates, lower earnings limit, recovery percentages)
- HMRC: rates and thresholds 2025 to 2026 and 2024 to 2025 (earlier small-employer rates)
- GOV.UK: Statutory Maternity Pay and Leave, employer guide
- HMRC: work out your employee's SMP (relevant period, average weekly earnings, SMP weeks)
- HMRC: employee circumstances that affect payment (pay rises, keeping in touch days, leaving)
- HMRC: how different employment types affect SMP
- GOV.UK: how to claim maternity pay and eligibility
- GOV.UK: get financial help with statutory pay
- GOV.UK: reporting to HMRC, EPS and payroll information to report
- SI 1994/1882, regulation 4 and SSCBA 1992, s.166
- HMRC EIM76360 and HMRC: salary sacrifice and PAYE
Checked 8 October 2026. See the methodology for how figures on this site are checked.