SPM20210 - Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) - Who is covered by the SMP Scheme
Conditions for entitlement to SMP
To receive SMP for babies due on or after 6 April 2003, a woman must:
- have been continuously employed by the same employer for at least 26 weeks' continuing into QW which is the 15th week before EWC.
- have ceased work for her employer
- have AWE in the relevant period of not less than the LEL for NICs which applies at the end of the QW. Earnings upon which Class 1B NICs are payable must be included if they are needed for the earnings to reach the LEL
- still be pregnant at the 11t h week before the week the baby is due or she has had her baby by that time
- have provided medical evidence of the date the baby is due or born within three weeks of the start of the MPP. In exceptional circumstances this can be extended to the end of the 13t h week of her MPP
- have given the employer 28 days' notice of when she expects them to start paying her SMP but the employer can accept late notice if there is a good reason for the delay
- have stopped working for her employer after the start of the QW, the 15t h week before the week in which the baby is due, or would have worked for that employer until into the QW, had her baby not been born earlier
- have an employer in the UK and her earnings attract a liability for Class 1 NICs, see SPM20205.
If an employee satisfies the conditions above she qualifies for SMP even if she does not intend to return to work for the liable employer after her baby is born.
For rules for women with an EWC before 6 April 2003 see SPM20215.
