Maternity leave and pay

Last reviewed on 20 April 2022
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 44548

Download our summary of the rules about maternity pay and leave for teachers and support staff. Adapt our 2 template letters, one for employees giving notice of maternity leave to their employer and the other for employers confirming maternity pay and leave details to an employee.

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Contents

  1. Download our summary of entitlements, eligibility and notice periods
  2. Use our template letters for employers and employees
  3. Employees decide maternity leave dates
  4. Asking employees to repay maternity pay
  5. Employers can reclaim statutory maternity pay
  6. Maternity leave doesn't affect continuous service

Download our summary of entitlements, eligibility and notice periods

The rules around maternity pay and leave are complicated. To help you, we've created a downloadable document summarising:

  • Statutory maternity leave
  • Statutory maternity pay
  • Maternity allowance 
  • Occupational maternity pay based on the scheme outlined in the Burgundy Book (the Conditions of Service for School Teachers in England and Wales). This applies to: 
    • Teachers in most maintained schools (excluding a small number of voluntary aided and foundation schools)
    • Teachers in academies (where their employment transferred to an academy at the point of conversion, or where your academy chooses to follow these terms)
    • Teachers in other schools who choose to follow these terms - check your contracts and policies to find out 

For each scheme, we explain: 

  • Who's eligible
  • How much money they get and when 
  • The notice periods for employees and employers

KeyDoc: summary of maternity leave and pay entitlements for teachers

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