Maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption leave and pay: UK employment law

Employees are entitled to a range of rights in relation to children. CIPD members can log in below to get information on:

• Statutory Maternity Leave (SML) and Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), also known as Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) and Ordinary Maternity Pay (OMP), and Additional Maternity Leave (AML) and Additional Maternity Pay (AMP).
• The right for time off for antenatal care during pregnancy. 
• The rights, and practicalities, of Statutory Paternity Leave (SPL) and Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP), Neonatal Care Leave (NCL) and Neonatal Care Pay (NCP), Shared Parental Leave (ShPL) and Shared Parental Pay (ShPP), Statutory Adoption Leave (SAL) and Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP), plus rights in surrogacy arrangements.
• The rules around keeping-in-touch (KIT) and (Shared Parental Leave in Touch (SPLIT) days. 
• Parents’ rights once they return to work following a period of leave. 
• Other rights, such as rights in sad cases of miscarriage and bereavement.  
• Redundancy protections in certain parental leave periods.  
• How carer’s leave works in relation to children.
• The right for parents to take 18 weeks of unpaid time off until their child turns 18 years old. 

Please note there is a dedicated law page for information on pregnancy and maternity discrimination and separate legal information on health and safety for pregnant and breastfeeding women. 

Overall, the rights highlighted apply in Great Britain (GB). Separate provisions are used in Northern Ireland, some of which mirror GB legislation, others which do not.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 has changed some parental rights. Keep up to date with the latest on these changes in the Employment Rights Act 2025 tracker.