What's covered in this guide?:
What is SMP (Statutory Maternity Pay)?
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is a UK government-mandated payment that employers must provide to eligible employees who are off work due to pregnancy and childbirth. It ensures a minimum level of income during maternity leave.
Key Features of SMP:
Paid by employers (not the government)
Weeks 1–6: 90% of average weekly earnings (AWE)
Weeks 7–39: 90% of AWE or £194.32/week, whichever is lower
Treated as regular earnings – subject to tax and National Insurance
SMP Eligibility Criteria
Employees are eligible if they:
Have been continuously employed for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth
Earn at least £129/week (on average) — this is the National Insurance Lower Earnings Limit for the 2026-27 tax year, separate from other statutory earnings thresholds
Provide at least 28 days' notice
📝 Note: The 26-week continuous employment and £129/week earnings checks are automatically validated by Workforce. The 28-day notice requirement is UK statutory policy, but Workforce doesn't currently enforce it as a system gate, it's on the employer/employee to follow.
Enable SMP in Workforce Payroll
The Statutory Maternity Pay leave type is included by default.
To activate it:
Go to Payroll > Settings > Leave Types
Click + New to create a leave type
On Step 1: Statutory Pay, select "Maternity" from the Statutory pay type dropdown
On Step 2: Leave Type Details, enter the Name, Payroll account, and any pay-rate multiplier
Save the leave type
📝 Note: SMP applies to all staff by default once created, there is no separate "who this applies to" step for statutory leave types.
Important: Do not use a manually created maternity leave type. The statutory logic only works if the leave type's Statutory pay type is set to "Maternity" from the start.
How SMP Works in Workforce Payroll
Workforce automatically handles SMP by:
Calculating average weekly earnings based on historical pay (for both salary and hourly staff)
Applying correct weekly rates (90% AWE, then 90% AWE or £194.32, whichever is lower, from week 7)
Pro-rating payments based on the number of days in the leave request
Example: If an employee works 5 days a week and only takes leave on 2 days, they'll receive 2/5ths of the weekly SMP amount.
Accruing holiday leave while on SMP
You can choose to let holiday leave types keep accruing while an employee is on SMP.
To turn this on:
Go to Payroll > Payroll Settings > Leave Types and open the holiday leave type you want to configure.
Under Balance Configuration, choose Leave balance accrues.
Tick Accrues during statutory leave.
This setting is off by default, and it isn't available for leave types that deduct from a starting balance.
📝 Note: "Accrues during statutory leave" is a general setting shared across all statutory leave types (SSP, SMP, and others), it isn't SMP-specific, but applying it to your holiday leave type will cause that balance to keep accruing during an employee's SMP absence.
Once it's turned on, approving an SMP leave request accrues that holiday type at its usual accrual rate, based on the approved hours on the request. Accrued hours appear in the employee's live balance as soon as the request is approved.
Note: How accrual works depends on how your maternity leave type is set up:
Built-in SMP leave type (Statutory pay type set to "Maternity"): Accrual is off by default and must be turned on using the "Accrues during statutory leave" setting above.
Custom maternity leave type (manually created, no statutory pay type): If the leave type is configured as paid, annual leave will accrue automatically through the standard paid-leave accrual rules — no additional setting is required. If it is unpaid, no accrual will occur."
Create SMP Leave Requests
To ensure correct payment:
Go to Leave Requests
Create a new leave request using the Statutory Maternity leave type
Approve the leave
Navigate to the employee’s Timesheets
Export the timesheet to Payroll
Once exported, SMP will automatically appear in the payroll run for the relevant weeks.
⚠️ Important: Approving the leave request alone does not add SMP to a pay run, exporting the timesheet is a required step. Once exported, SMP will automatically appear in the payroll run for the relevant weeks.
How SMP Is Paid in Workforce Payroll
SMP appears as a line item in payroll
Paid on the employee’s regular payday
Subject to PAYE and NIC
Payment stops when:
The leave period ends
39 weeks of SMP has been paid
The employee becomes ineligible (e.g. resigns or takes another type of statutory leave)