The next step

http search2 hmrc gov uk kbroker hmrc forms viewform jsp formid 1182

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http www hmrc gov uk helpsheets 2004 e15 pdf

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She’s resigned, so do you still pay her SMP?

Statutory Maternity Pay rules

A pregnant employee should tell you when she expects to stop working to go on maternity leave by the Saturday of the 15th week before the “expected week of childbirth” (EWC). This is known as the “qualifying week” (QW). When she does, it also triggers notice that you will be liable to her for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) in the future (assuming that she qualifies for it).

Giving notice of resignation

But suppose that, rather than going on maternity leave whilst still employed by you, she opts to resign before it’s due to start? Does this event allow you to forget all about the SMP payments which were due to be made to her? Or do you still have a continuing obligation to pay it, even though she’ll no longer be your employee?

What’s going to happen?

Well, your liability depends on two things:

• at what point the notice to terminate her employment will take effect; and
• what she’s going to be doing afterwards, e.g. will she be working for another employer immediately?

The cut-off point?

Generally, if her employment terminates at any point during, or after, the beginning of the 11th week before the EWC, but before her maternity pay period (MPP) has started - in other words, the baby has not yet been born - your liability to pay SMP is automatically triggered on the day after her employment ends. It lasts for 39 weeks.

How do you pay it?

Here, you have two options. You can either pay her: (1) SMP at regular weekly intervals and issue her P45 once it finishes; or (2) the 39 weeks’ SMP as a lump sum at the start of her MPP.

Risk. The problem with the second option is that she may then decide to go and work for a new employer before her entitlement to SMP ends. If so, you might have to try to recover some, or all, of the payment already made to her.

Going to a new employer

Where she plans to start working for a new or second employer at any time during her MPP but prior to the baby being born, you still have an ongoing obligation to pay SMP.

Liability ends. However, it will stop completely if she starts working for an employer that didn’t employ her during the QW. In this situation, you should cease paying her SMP from the start of the week she begins working for that employer. You should also give her HMRC Form “SMP1: Why I cannot pay you SMP” (see The next step).

Tip 1. An employee has a legal duty to notify you if she starts working for someone else after the baby is born; it’s not up to you to find this out.

Tip 2. HMRC has published statutory tables which employers can use to calculate SMP liability and the period it covers. They are contained in its Employer Helpbook E15.

For a link to HMRC’s Form SMP1 (PS 13.03.06A) and a link to the “Employer Helpbook E15” (PS 13.03.06B), visit http://personnel.indicator.co.uk.