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Edit SMP Details

Use

You can modify the Statutory Maternity Pay details for the selected employee on this screen. Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is subject to limited exceptions. An employee who satisfies certain conditions is entitled by law to receive statutory maternity pay (SMP) for up to 39 weeks. For the first 6 weeks they get 90% of their average weekly earnings. After that they get the basic rate of SMP, which is currently £172.48 per week or 90% of average weekly earnings which ever is lower.

If your total National Insurance payments are £45,000 a year or less, you'll be able to recover 103 per cent of the SMP you have to pay. This is to compensate you for the employer's NICs you have to pay on the SMP. If your total National Insurance payments are more than £45,000 a year you can recover 92 per cent of the SMP you have to pay.

Maternity Leave

An employee who is expecting a baby has the right to 26 weeks of 'Ordinary Maternity Leave' and 26 weeks 'Additional Maternity Leave' - making one year in total. As long as they give you proper notice they can take this no matter how long they've worked for you, how many hours they work or how much they're paid.

But you only have to pay them SMP if they meet certain conditions. They must have:

• worked for you continuously - full or part-time - for at least 26 weeks up to and into the 15th week before the week the baby's due
• earn at least £116 a week (gross) in an 8-week ‘relevant period’
• given you the right paperwork confirming the pregnancy and sufficient notice of when they would like the SMP payments to start

What can my employee get?

For the first six weeks you must pay your employee SMP at the rate of 90 per cent of their average weekly earnings.

For the next 33 weeks you must pay them the lower of the following:

• £172.48  
• 90 per cent of their average weekly earnings

If your total National Insurance payments are £45,000 a year or less, you'll be able to recover 103 per cent of the SMP you have to pay. This is to compensate you for the employer's NICs you have to pay on the SMP.

If your total National Insurance payments are more than £45,000 a year you can recover 92 per cent of the SMP you have to pay.

You can recover SMP by deducting it from your monthly PAYE (Pay As You Earn) payments.

Length of employment

To get Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) the mother must be employed by you continuously for at least 26 weeks continuing into the 15th week before the week the baby is due. Count part weeks of employment as full weeks.

Maternity Pay Period Work Dates

An employee can work for you during her SMP pay period for up to ten days (Keeping in Touch days) without losing her SMP for the week in which that work is done. If your employee does more than ten days work for you in her SMP pay period you cannot pay SMP to her for any week in which she does such work.

All work should be recorded in the MPP Work Date section in the SMP/SAP/SPP Payment page. For SMP purposes, a week runs from Sunday to Saturday.

Medical Evidence for Pay (Proof of Pregnancy)

Your employee must produce medical evidence of pregnancy to get Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP). You can allow leave without medical evidence. The medical evidence is usually the Maternity Certificate, form MAT B1. But you can accept any document, signed by a doctor or midwife, that includes the date the baby is due. (The MAT B1 is only available from 20 weeks before the week the baby is due).

Stillbirths

If the baby is stillborn before 25th week of pregnancy SMP/SPP is not payable and there is no entitlement to maternity or paternity leave. To apply this rule you should treat the 16th week before the week baby due date as being the 25th week of pregnancy. Talk to your employer.

If the baby is stillborn after the start of the 25th week of your pregnancy, the employee is entitled to the same SMP she would have been given if the baby had been born alive.

Note: Even if the baby survives only for an instant it is a live birth.

Expected Week of Childbirth (EWC)

This is the week in which the child is expected to be born. SMP legislation refers to Expected Week of Confinement. The terms, Childbirth and Confinement are interchangeable.

Qualifying Week (QW)

This is the 15th week before the Expected Week of Childbirth (EWC).

How to claim back SMP

Our service will automatically recover 92% of the SMP you pay and show them on the Employer Payment Record - EPR.

To recover the additional amount as compensation you must first indicate that you are eligible for Small Employers Relief in the payrun Customisation section of the Chart of Setup.

Note: If you make a change to the Small Employers Relief selection, the Employer Payment Record - EPR for the current month and all previous months and future months will then be accordingly updated with the new recovery amounts.

For further guidance on SMP Click here

When to Stop Paying SMP

SMP stops after 39 weeks. However, there are circumstances where it might stop earlier. Click here for more details.

Path

Payrun > Payment Frequency (Weekly/Monthly/2 Weekly/4 Weekly/Quarterly/Annual/Bi-annual) > Other Payments > SMP/SAP/SPP/ShPP/SPBP Payment & Record > View/Edit > Edit

Fields Available

Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory.

Edit SMP Details

• Select SMP Payment Type: Select the appropriate option to indicate the effect SMP will have on your employee's basic pay. This usually depends on your company's own policy.
• Reduce Full Basic by Statutory Pay Amount: Select this option if it is your policy to offset the employee's gross basic pay by the amount of SMP he or she is eligible to receive. i.e. the employee's gross basic pay will be reduced by the SMP amount. For example: the employee's normal gross basic wage is £500. This week she is eligible to receive £90 SMP so her gross basic wage will be reduced to £410. £410 basic + £90 SMP = £500.
• Add Statutory Pay Amount to Timed Basic Pay: Select this option if you want SMP to be paid in addition to gross Basic pay. For example: if gross Basic pay is £500 and SMP is £90, then the employee will receive £590 gross pay.
• Pay Statutory Amount Only (either SSP/SAP/SPP/SMP/ShPP): Select this option if it is your policy not to pay your employee their basic pay when she is receiving SMP. Only SMP will be paid for the weeks the employees eligible to receive it.
• Baby Due Date (EWC): Enter here the date on which the baby is expected to be born. This will normally be stated in the Maternity Certificate, form MAT B1. You can use the calendar button to enter the date.
• Baby Born Date: Enter here the actual date the baby was born. This is only required if the baby is born before the employee has started her maternity leave (Notified Leave Start Date). The employee needs to give you medical evidence in this case. This is usually Maternity Certificate, form MAT B1. You can use the calendar button to enter the date.
• Still-Born Baby: If the baby is still born select Yes from the drop down list.
• Medical Evidence: State whether you have received medical evidence of the date the baby is due. SMP cannot be paid until you have received medical evidence. This will normally be a maternity certificate, form MAT B1, but you can accept other medical evidence if it shows the date the baby is due (The MAT B1 is only available from 20 weeks before the week the baby is due).
• Notified Leave Start Date: Enter here the date on which the employee intends to start her maternity leave, as notified by her. An employee should tell you at least 21 days before she wants her maternity absence to begin. You can use the calendar button to enter the date.
• Pregnancy Related Illness Start Date: Enter here the date on which an employee is absent from work because of pregnancy related illness or confinement. You can use the calendar button to enter the date.
• Return to Work Date: Enter here the date on which the employee has actually returned to work after her pregnancy. You can use the calendar button to enter the date.
• Maternity Allowance Paid Amount: Enter here any amount of Maternity Allowance that has been paid to the employee as shown on the letter from the Benefits Agency.
• Enter Average Weekly Earnings manually: Select Yes from the drop down list if you wish to manually calculate and enter your employees average weekly earnings.
• Average Weekly Earnings: Enter here the average weekly earning of the employee.
• Manual Calculation: Select Yes from the drop down list if you wish to manually calculate and enter your employees SMP amount.

• SMP Amount for Manual Calculation: If you have selected manual calculation, then enter the amount of SMP you wish to pay to the employee.

If the employee has left your company while under SMP please enter the date and select the reason why she left.

• Date of leaving: If the employee has left your employment please enter here the date of leaving. You can use the calendar button to enter the date.

Note: If your employee stops working for you before the beginning of her Qualifying Week (QW), she is not entitled to SMP. If your employee stops working for you after the beginning of her QW, her entitlement to SMP will depend upon why she ceased work.

• REASON FOR STOP WORKING UNDER SMP: If the employee stops working when she is under SMP, choose any one of the reasons for leaving the employment.
• Stopped work wholly or partly because of pregnancy: For example the employee is incapable of work because of a pregnancy related illness, the baby is born early, or aspects of her work, for example stress, might be putting her pregnancy at risk. If you select this box SMP is paid.
• Voluntarily stopped work wholly unconnected with her pregnancy: If you select this box SMP will not be paid.
• Was dismissed, or otherwise involuntarily stopped work for reasons wholly unconnected with her pregnancy: For SMP purposes 'dismissed' means the employee being made redundant by the employer, the expiry of a fixed term contract, constructive dismissal, and where an employee is entitled to terminate the contract without notice because of the employer's conduct. If you select this box SMP will be paid.
• Contract was otherwise terminated without consent: This will include, for example the employee's contract being frustrated. This is where the contract of employment cannot be performed because of circumstances outside of the employee's or the employer's control, for example long-term absence through accident or illness, or the termination of a contract, which is limited to completing a particular task. If you select this box SMP will be paid.
• Other Reasons: If you select this box SMP will not be paid.

This section is only applicable if you are migrating your data from your current payroll package

• Total number of weeks paid for SMP (Current plus Previous Tax Year Weeks): If you are migrating from another package, please enter the total number of weeks that have been paid for the SMP in previous & current tax year. If you are not migrating, please don't change the figure here, unless you specifically know what you are doing. This field cannot be edited after you update the YTD.
• Total amount of money paid for SMP (Current plus Previous Tax Year Amounts): If you are migrating from another package, please enter the total amount that has been paid for SMP in previous & current tax year. If you are not migrating, please don't change the figure here, unless you specifically know what you are doing. This field cannot be edited after you update the YTD.
• Total amount of money paid for SMP (Current Tax Year Amounts only): If you are migrating from another package, please enter the total amount that has been paid for SMP in this current tax year. If you are not migrating, please don't change the figure here, unless you specifically know what you are doing. This field cannot be edited after you update the YTD.

Associated Tasks

• Back: If you wish to exit this screen without saving the changes, click on this button. You will be taken back to the SSP/SMP/SAP/SPP/ShPP Payment screen.
• Update: If you are sure about all the entries and wish to continue, click on this button. You will be taken back to the View SMP Details screen, where all the changes can be viewed.

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