It is important to know that employees are entitled to, at minimum, the following statutory payments, where applicable:
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) – this can be paid by the employer for up to 28 weeks and will begin after 3 working days. If the employee is off work for more than 7 days in a row (including non-working days) a ‘fit note’ must be provided. The employee must earn an average of at least £123 per week to be eligible. More information on SSP can be found here.
Maternity Pay and leave (SMP) – SMP is made up of 52 weeks and the earliest an employee can leave is 11 weeks prior to the expected due date. SMP is paid for up to 39 weeks and the employee will receive 90% of their average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks then £172.48 or 90% of their average weekly earnings, whichever is lower for the remaining 33 weeks. The employee only qualifies if they usually earn an average of £123 per week or more. If the employee earns less than this amount you must provide them with an SMP1 so that they can claim Maternity Allowance. Antenatal appointments should be allowed, paid. More information on SMP can be found here.
Paternity Leave – your employee will be entitled to up to 2 weeks paid paternity leave. The employee must give the employer 28 days’ notice if they want to change their start date of paternity leave, but I recommend this is at the employer’s discretion as we all know babies can often make an appearance when they are ready! More information on paternity leave can be found here.
Adoption pay and leave – Adoption leave is much the same as maternity leave. If you are eligible for adoption leave you can also get paid time off work to attend 5 adoption appointments after you have been matched with a child. More information on Adoption leave can be found here.
Shared Parental Leave and Pay (ShPP) – This is a fairly new statutory payment which allows both parents to share the maternity allowance previously only issued to the mother. The employee can share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay. It must be shared in the first year after the child is born or placed with the family and it can be taken in blocks or all in one go. Both parents can take this leave together or stagger the leave and pay. It is important for the employee to remember that by sharing their maternity or adoption leave, they are sacrificing their maternity leave allowance. They cannot have the full allowance of maternity and then shared parental leave. More information on Shared Parental Pay can be found here.
Parental Bereavement Pay and Leave – Your employee is entitled to take time off work if their child dies before they turn 18, or if they have a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy. This is two weeks. More information on Parental Bereavement Pay and Leave can be found here.
All of these statutory payments can be claimed back via your Employer Payment Summary (EPS) submission.
Most employers put their own policies in place for all of the above, in which case these can be honoured so long as they exceed or match the statutory requirements. If you do not believe your current policies exceed or match the above requirements, please update your contracts.
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If you are unsure on any of the above and you are a payroll member with SALC, please feel free to contact me.