{"id":1482,"date":"2023-10-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.simplybusiness.co.uk\/knowledge\/staff\/maternity-policy-template\/"},"modified":"2025-05-22T13:12:49","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T13:12:49","slug":"maternity-policy-template","status":"publish","type":"knowledge","link":"https:\/\/www.simplybusiness.co.uk\/knowledge\/staff\/maternity-policy-template\/","title":{"rendered":"Maternity policy template \u2013 how to create one for your small business"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Small businesses with employees will need to meet legal obligations when it comes to having a maternity leave policy. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This guide explains the benefits of using a maternity policy template and what the law says when it comes to supporting your staff. <\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why should small businesses use a maternity policy template?<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maternity and paternity leave are important legal obligations.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When it comes to maternity leave, through a combination of employer and the state, employees get:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">statutory maternity leave<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">statutory maternity pay<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">time off for antenatal care<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">extra government help (dependent on the circumstances)<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As maternity leave is a legal obligation, small businesses that have employees should have a maternity leave policy.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But drawing up a maternity leave policy can be challenging, especially if you don\u2019t have in-house legal expertise. First, you need to make sure that your policy meets your statutory requirements. As well as that, you might want to offer extra perks.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s because small businesses that have more generous maternity and paternity leave terms can help them attract and retain talent \u2013 useful when competing against larger businesses.<\/p><h2 id=\"statutorymaternitypolicies\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Statutory maternity policies<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Employers have legal requirements when it comes to maternity policies.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First, your maternity leave policy should be easily available to all employees. For example, you could have printed copies available in the office, or a digital copy on your company intranet.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The key responsibilities can be split into <strong>leave<\/strong> and <strong>pay<\/strong>.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For <strong>statutory maternity leave<\/strong>:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">employees who have an employment contract and who give the correct notice are entitled to up to 52 weeks of leave<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">they can start their leave as early as 11 weeks before the week the baby is due (unless they&#8217;re born early)<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">they\u2019re obliged to take at least two weeks after the birth, or four if they\u2019re a factory worker<\/li>\n\n<\/ul><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For <strong>statutory maternity pay<\/strong>:<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">employees may be eligible to be paid for up to 39 weeks<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">for the first six weeks, they must be paid at least 90 per cent of their average pre-tax earnings<\/li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\">for the following weeks, they\u2019re entitled to \u00a3172.48, or, again, 90 per cent of their average pre-tax earnings, whichever is lower<\/li>\n\n<\/ul><h2 id=\"extendedmaternityleavepolicies\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Extended maternity leave policies<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As long as you\u2019re meeting your statutory requirements, you could also go beyond the legal minimum with your maternity policy. For example, you might want to make your maternity leave policy more generous, or increase maternity pay. Remember that you\u2019ll still have to deduct income tax and <a href=\"\/knowledge\/self-assessment\/how-to-pay-national-insurance-when-self-employed\/\" data-type=\"knowledge\" data-id=\"1440\" >National Insurance contributions<\/a> from pay during leave.<\/p>\n<div id=\"nba-body-001\">\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Shared parental leave<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You should also bear in mind that you may need to give paternity leave or shared parental leave (SPL). Employees who are eligible for SPL or shared parental pay may be able to take their leave in blocks, with periods of work in the middle.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s important to remember that you can\u2019t discriminate on the basis of gender with parental leave or pay. For example, offering larger sums in maternity pay than in shared parental pay is likely to be unlawful.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Maternity policy template<\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A customisable maternity leave policy template for small business can help you get started, and you can edit it to find what&#8217;s right for you and your employees.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When communicating maternity leave policies to your employees, remember that all employment rights are protected during the period. These include pay rises, holiday, and return to work practices.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Small employers\u2019 relief <\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most employers can reclaim 92 per cent of an employee&#8217;s statutory parental pay. But if you\u2019re classed as a small employer, then you may be able to reclaim 103 per cent. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this case, the government defines a small employer as a business that paid less than \u00a345,000 in <a href=\"\/knowledge\/self-assessment\/how-to-pay-national-insurance-when-self-employed\/\" data-type=\"knowledge\" data-id=\"1440\" >Class 1 National Insurance<\/a> in the last complete tax year. Reductions like <a href=\"\/knowledge\/business-tax\/what-is-employment-allowance\/\" data-type=\"knowledge\" data-id=\"1164\" >Employment Allowance<\/a> don\u2019t apply to this total. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To claim your small employers\u2019 relief, you\u2019ll need to use your <a href=\"\/knowledge\/tech\/best-payroll-software-for-small-businesses-uk\/\" data-type=\"knowledge\" data-id=\"858\" >payroll software<\/a> to send an Employer Payment Summary (EPS) that includes your payments. If you send the EPS by the 19th of the following tax month, you should receive a reduction in your next Full Payment Statement. <\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Have you got a maternity leave policy for your small business? Let us know in the comments below.<\/strong><\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>More small business guides<\/strong><\/h3><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li class=\"wp-block-list-item\"><a href=\"\/knowledge\/starting-out\/how-to-start-a-business\/\" data-type=\"knowledge\" data-id=\"1099\" >HR toolkit \u2013 what HR tools do growing businesses need?<\/a><\/li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\"><a href=\"\/knowledge\/staff\/bradford-factor-guide-small-businesses\/\" data-type=\"knowledge\" data-id=\"1208\" >The Bradford Factor \u2013 how to keep your business moving<\/a><\/li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\"><a href=\"\/knowledge\/staff\/what-is-a-staff-handbook\/\" data-type=\"knowledge\" data-id=\"1058\" >How to write a staff handbook<\/a><\/li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-block-list-item\"><a href=\"\/business-insurance\/faq\/how-much-employers-liability-insurance-do-i-need\/\">How much employers&#8217; liability insurance do I need?<\/a><\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"nba-upsell-001\" class=\"wp-block-group has-azure-200-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-94e519ba wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\"><h3 id=\"readytosetupyourcover\" class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Ready to set up your cover?<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">As one of the UK&#8217;s biggest <a href=\"\/business-insurance\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"5152\" >business insurance<\/a> providers, we specialise in <a href=\"\/business-insurance\/public-liability-insurance\/\">public liability insurance<\/a> and protect more trades than anybody else. Why not take a look now and build a quick, tailored quote?<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-a89b3969 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/quote.simplybusiness.co.uk\/business\">Start your quote<\/a><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Photo: pressmaster\/stock.adobe.com<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"nba-body-end\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Creating a maternity policy is an important legal obligation for businesses with employees. Here&#8217;s how to get started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sb_hreflang":"","sb_hreflang_url":"","disable_breadcrumbs":false,"sb_breadcrumbs":[],"sb_reviewed_by":"","sb_review_date":"","sb_enable_content_gating":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[336,342,110],"hidden-category":[],"coauthors":[25],"class_list":["post-1482","knowledge","type-knowledge","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-structure","category-staff","category-business-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Maternity policy template \u2013 resource for your small business<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Creating a maternity policy is an important legal obligation for businesses with employees. 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