21.02.21-The calculation of an employee’s statutory maternity pay (SMP) entitlement is usually based on their average weekly earnings during the calculation period. This period is the eight weeks leading up to the 14th week before their expected week of childbirth. HMRC have amended the rules on the calculation of SMP for employees who have been furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. For periods of maternity leave beginning on or after 25 April 2020, if an employee was furloughed and on reduced wages during any part of the calculation period, their SMP should be calculated using the pay they would have earned had they not been furloughed, rather than the actual earnings in that period, which may have been reduced by the furloughed element of the wages.
Statutory Maternity Pay during the Pandemic
