Maternity Pay in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has its own law for SMP, Part XII of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992, but nidirect sets out the same rates and tests as GOV.UK. To qualify you need both:

• 26 weeks of continuous employment with your employer into the qualifying week, the 15th week before the week your baby is due
• average weekly earnings of at least £129, the lower earnings limit for 2026 to 2027

Your employer averages your gross pay over at least 8 weeks, up to the last payday before the end of your qualifying week. Sick pay, overtime, bonuses and holiday pay count if they are paid in that period. SMP is paid like your wages, with income tax and National Insurance taken off, and you do not have to pay it back if you do not return to work. The Maternity Pay Qualifying Week Calculator finds your qualifying week, and the Maternity Pay Calculator works out your SMP week by week. The full rules are in the Statutory Maternity Pay guide.

Employers in Northern Ireland reclaim SMP from HMRC, the same as in GB: usually 92%, or 109% with Small Employers' Relief. The SMP Recovery Calculator shows the reclaim and the net cost.

It is usually paid if you cannot get SMP: you are employed but do not qualify, you are self-employed, or you have recently stopped working. In the 66 weeks before your baby is due you must have been employed or self-employed for at least 26 weeks, and earned at least £30 a week in any 13 weeks. That is the same test as GB, and the Maternity Allowance Test Period Calculator finds your 66 weeks.

• Self-employed: between £27 and £194.32 a week for 39 weeks, depending on your Class 2 National Insurance record
• Unpaid work in a spouse's or civil partner's business: £27 a week for up to 14 weeks

You can claim once you have been pregnant for 26 weeks, and payments can start 11 weeks before your baby is due. Send the MA1 with proof of income, your MATB1 and, if your employer refused SMP, your SMP1. nidirect gives an average decision time of 35 working days, and payment is every 2 or 4 weeks. If you get Universal Credit, it is reduced by the amount of your Maternity Allowance. The Maternity Allowance guide explains the rules in more depth.

It works through Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay, which the Department for the Economy extended to miscarriage. The miscarriage must have happened, or been discovered, on or after 6 April 2026. It covers a spontaneous miscarriage, a loss after a specified medical or surgical intervention (such as an ectopic or molar pregnancy), the loss of one twin while the pregnancy continues, and IVF pregnancies that end in miscarriage.

• Who:the woman, her partner, or someone who would have been the child's parent, including intended parents through surrogacy
• Evidence: a declaration to your employer. No medical evidence and no details of the miscarriage
• When: within 56 weeks, as one 2-week block, two separate weeks, or just one week
• Notice: in the first 8 weeks, before you would normally start work on the first day of the leave. From week 9 to 56, at least 1 week
• Pay: you must be employed on the day of the miscarriage (or the day it is discovered) and earn on average £129 a week over 8 weeks. Ask for the pay in writing within 28 days of the first day of the week you claim for

Great Britain has no equivalent yet.GB Parental Bereavement Pay covers a child's death and stillbirth after 24 weeks, not miscarriage. On 22 September 2026 the UK government announced up to 2 weeks of unpaidpregnancy loss leave across Great Britain from April 2027 (announced, not yet law). The Department for the Economy describes Northern Ireland as “the only region on these islands” with paid leave after miscarriage.

The Teachers' Maternity Leave Scheme (TNC 2021/1) needs 52 weeks' continuous service as a teacher with one or more employing authorities at the start of the 11th week before your due week. After the 18 weeks you get 21 weeks of SMP, then no pay. You must return for at least 13 weeks. If you do not, the employing authority can ask you to refund pay after the first 6 weeks, but never your SMP. Compare it with England, Wales and Scotland in Teachers' maternity pay, or run your numbers in the Teacher Maternity Pay Calculator.

Health and Social Care (HSC) staffare employed on terms in line with the NHS Agenda for Change terms, according to the Western Trust. The Northern Trust sets out 8 weeks of full pay, 18 weeks of half pay plus SMP, 13 weeks of SMP only and up to 13 weeks unpaid. It asks for one year's service at the start of the 11th week before your due week, and 26 weeks with the Trust at the 15th week. The NHS Maternity Pay Calculator follows the same 8 and 18 week schedule.

• Labour Relations Agency (LRA): free, confidential and impartial advice on employment issues, and can explain early conciliation before an Industrial Tribunal claim
• Equality Commission for Northern Ireland: its Discrimination Advice Officers give free and confidential guidance. Sex discrimination includes pregnancy and maternity
• HMRC: if your employer refuses SMP or pays the wrong amount and you cannot sort it out, contact the HMRC employee enquiry line
• Department for Communities: Maternity Allowance claims, and the Sure Start Maternity Grant through the Social Fund

If your job is at risk while you are pregnant or on leave, see Redundancy on maternity leave.