How do I add maternity pay?

Summary

The following article explains how to enter and keep track of an employee's statutory maternity pay.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are unsure whether to pay Statutory Maternity Pay, please refer to the information you will have been provided with by HMRC explaining the rules governing statutory pay or visit the HMRC web site here.

Entering the Maternity Pay record

To allow the Payroll system to calculate SMP where applicable, the SMP/SAP/SPP flag on Page 3: Statutory Payments of the employee record, should be set to 'Yes', and obviously, the employee should be set up as female.

When the system starts to pay Maternity Pay, you will have to zero out the Hours Worked/Basic Salary to ensure they only receive their Maternity Pay and any other additions/deductions from their pay.

Go to " Systems Payroll Run Payroll Period"

Enter <Y> against the employee's pay frequency or click the [Down arrow] and select [Yes] then click the [OK] button to go into the payroll.
Choose the relevant employee and click <Ctrl+F8> to take you through SMP/SAP/SPP Entry.
Choose [Maternity].

PLEASE NOTE: If you only get [Paternity] or [Adoption] buttons appear you have male staff member highlighted rather than a female.

This will take you to a screen that includes the following editable prompts:

Date Baby Due
Qualifying Week
Average Weekly Earnings
Date Baby Born :
Maternity Leave Begins
Medical Evidence?
Pregnancy Related Illness?

The lower part of the screen is headed "SMP Entitlement (Based on initial rates)". This shows a display (i.e. it is not editable) of information and totals based on the information added at the top of the screen and shows headings as follows:

Maternity Pay Period
Earnings Related Rate
Standard Rate
Totals
Keeping in Touch Days
SMP Diary

Date Baby Due

Enter the date the baby is due. (EWC stands for Expected Week of Confinement). The employee must have worked for you for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the baby is due. If the Payroll system warns you the employee has "NOT been employed for 26 Weeks" then it has calculated the number of weeks since the employee started and has worked out that they have not worked for you for long enough to qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay.

Qualifying Week

This will be calculated for you by the system. This date is 15 weeks before the date the baby is due. When you enter the average weekly earnings, this date will be used as a point of reference.

Average Weekly Earnings

Enter the employee's average weekly wage based on their pay over the 8 weeks prior to the Qualifying Week.

Date Baby Born

ONLY enter this date if the baby is born BEFORE the employee was intending to start Maternity Leave.

Maternity Leave Begins

The Maternity Pay Period will usually begin on the first Sunday on or after this date, unless Maternity Leave is starting earlier than expected because the employee has given birth early or has suffered a pregnancy related illness. This should be the first FULL day of absence from work.

Medical Evidence?

To qualify for SMP, the employee must provide Medical Evidence of the EWC (Expected Week of Confinement).

<Y> - Yes, if Medical evidence has been provided
<N> - No, if no Medical evidence has been provided.

Pregnancy Related Illness?

Did the employee have to start Maternity Leave early due to a pregnancy related illness (within four weeks before the Expected Week of Confinement)?

<Y> - Yes, Maternity Leave had to start, BEFORE the employee was intending to, due to a pregnancy related illness.
<N> - No, the employee started Maternity Leave at the intended time.

Completing the Maternity Pay Entry

When you have entered all the relevant details for the Maternity Pay record, you will see the SMP Entitlement section will display the Maternity Pay Period and the amounts to be paid over this period.

Press <Esc> and <Enter> to accept the record.

Checking Previous Maternity Pay Entries

When a record has been created you may view a weekly diary which shows the amount of Maternity Pay paid per week. You may also stop pay for a period e.g. if the employee works during a maternity leave period other than the Keeping in Touch days, they are not entitled to SMP for that period.

Pressing <F2> will bring up an SMP Diary, that shows the following fields:

Week
End of MPP
Status
KIT
SMP Paid
Total
Notes

Week

This column lists the number of weeks of Maternity Pay.

End of MPP

This displays the weekly end date. Maternity pay cannot be paid in advance.

Status

This column allows you to designate a week to be unpaid/excluded from Maternity Pay, if it has not already been paid.

<> - Leave the field blank to allow Maternity Pay to be paid for the SMP Period.
<W> - If the Employee has worked for one or more days in the week, they will not be eligible for Maternity Pay. Entering 'W' will tell the system the employee is not to be paid SMP for that week. If you wish to record a note e.g. worked 2 days, press <Enter> to jump to the Notes field.
<E> - If the Employee is excluded from a Maternity Pay Period, entering 'E' will prevent them from being paid any SMP in the specified period. Press <Enter> to jump to the Notes field if you wish to record a note for why you have excluded them for that week.

'P' - If this letter is shown, the Maternity pay for the period has actually been paid, and the relevant pay period has been closed.

KIT

This column allows you to log the Keeping in Touch days that have been used.

SMP Paid

This column shows the amount of Maternity Pay which has been paid in each Maternity Pay period, where that period has been closed.

Total

This column shows a running total of SMP paid to the employee.

Notes

If the period has not been closed, you can enter any notes here that would indicate why you have withheld SMP.

Press <Esc> to exit the SMP Diary.