Deciding When To Return To Work After Maternity Leave

Written by

Cara Bradley

5 min read

Updated: 14 February 2025

If you’re reading this blog, the chances are that you’re either planning for your upcoming maternity leave or you’re already on it. Congratulations! We hope your motherhood journey is going as smoothly as possible, and if your baby is already here, we hope you’re enjoying every precious second with your new arrival. What an exciting time for you!

Deciding when to go back to work after the birth of your baby is one of the most important things for a new mum to consider.
Firstly, you should remember that there’s no right or wrong amount of time to take off work while on maternity leave; everyone’s situations are completely different, and you must do what suits you and your family.
Opting to go back to work after a number of weeks does not make you selfish and, on the other end of the scale, you’re perfectly entitled to make use of your full maternity leave (and beyond) if you choose to.

Our guide provides the answers to some frequently asked maternity leave questions, such as:

• How long can I take for maternity leave?
• What’s the earliest I can go back to work after maternity leave?
• How much will I get paid while on maternity leave?

We hope the information shared in our guide will help you when thinking about when to return to work after maternity leave.

What’s the maximum maternity leave in the UK?

In the UK, the maximum amount of time that eligible employees can take for Statutory Maternity Leave is 52 weeks, although, as we’ll talk about in more detail further down the page, you could top this up with your annual leave.
Statutory Maternity Leave is split into two parts:

• Ordinary Maternity Leave: the first 26 weeks; and
• Additional Maternity Leave: the latter 26 weeks.

You can start your maternity leave up to 11 weeks before the week of your expected due date.

What’s the minimum amount of time you can take for maternity leave?

You must take at least two weeks maternity leave after your baby is born or four weeks if you’re a factory worker.

Am I eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)?

If you’re an employed worker, you’ll be eligible for maternity pay if you:

• Have been continuously working for your employer for 26 weeks prior to your qualifying week; and
• Earned a minimum of £123 a week for 8 weeks prior to your qualifying week. Please note that this will increase to £125 a week from April 2025.

Your qualifying week is the 15th week before your baby is due and you’ll need to let your employer know that you’re pregnant by this time.

How much will I be paid while on maternity leave?

If eligible, you can receive Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) for up to 39 weeks.
Usually, you’ll be paid 90% of your average weekly earnings after deductions for the first 6 weeks of your maternity leave. For the remaining 33 weeks, you’ll typically receive whichever is lower of either £184.03 or 90% of your average weekly earnings.
If your employer has their own maternity scheme in place, you may be offered more than the statutory amount.

You can use the SMP calculator on the Gov.uk website to help you work out how much money you could be entitled to while on maternity leave. You’ll need to provide your baby’s due date and details of your salary.

How long can I take for maternity leave if I’m self-employed?

As a self-employed worker, you are not entitled to Statutory Maternity Leave, although you can still take time off, and you may be able to claim Maternity Allowance for up to 39 weeks.
You could claim Maternity Allowance if you have been self-employed for at least 26 weeks out of the 66 weeks prior to the predicted birth week of your baby. Please note that the 26 weeks of self-employed work are not required to have been continual for you to qualify. You could also be eligible if you’ve paid a minimum of 13 weeks’ worth of Class 2 National Insurance in the 66 weeks before your baby’s expected week of birth. Please visit Maternity Action for further information.

Can I extend my maternity leave?

You can choose to extend your Statutory Maternity Leave by topping it up with any available holiday entitlement. Remember, you’ll continue to accrue holidays while on maternity leave.

If your holidays are taken straight off the back of your maternity leave, the first day that you’re taking of your holiday allowance will be classed as your first day back at work. For example, let’s say your maternity leave officially ended on February 12, but you topped it up with holiday hours for a week, beginning February 13. Your first day back at work after maternity leave would be recorded as February 12.

If you’ve been unable to take your holidays due to maternity leave, your employer should allow you to carry up to 5.6 weeks over to the new holiday year.

Things to consider when thinking about when to return to work after maternity leave

• Set some time aside to go through your finances. We understand that this may feel like a tedious task, especially during a time when you’re likely to be busy making memories with your new baby, but understanding your financial situation could help you decide on a suitable plan of action in regard to returning to work.


• Explore all the options available to you. If you’re unsure whether you’d like to return to work on your previous contract, could you reduce your hours, request flexible working, or go part-time? Of course, the availability of these options will be at the discretion of your individual employer, and you should reach out to them for further information.


• Know your rights. Your employer must allow you to return to work after your maternity leave. If you’ve been on maternity leave for 26 weeks or less, you are entitled to return to the same job role, with the same or better pay and conditions. If you’ve been on maternity leave for more than 26 weeks, you should be able to return to your previous job role, or a new role, providing that your employer has good reason for this. Your employer cannot attempt to offer you a different role if your original role still exists or would still exist if you hadn’t taken maternity leave, the new role has worse conditions or pay than your previous position or is something you’re not able to do.
  It's also worth noting that if you’re on maternity leave, you’re protected from redundancy for 18 months from the date you tell your employer that you’re pregnant. While this is hopefully not something you’ll need to worry about, you may wish to familiarise yourself with your redundancy rights while on maternity leave.

What do YOU want to do?

It can be easy to fall into a trap of comparing ourselves to other mothers. For example, you might be ready to head back to work after three months but then start to question yourself and your decision after hearing that other mothers you know are taking the full 52 weeks. As we previously mentioned, you must remember that your situation is completely unique to you. As long as the decision you’re making feels right for you and your baby, you shouldn’t feel as though you need to justify yourself to anybody.
Whatever you decide to do, we wish you a very happy onward journey with your family.

The information contained in this article is meant as a general guide and does not constitute nor should be taken as advice. 
February 2025.