Family leave: maternity, paternity, shared parental, and adoption
Maternity, paternity, shared parental, and adoption leave each come with their own rules on how much time off you get, how much you’re paid, and what notice you have to give. They’re easy to confuse, and the rules changed again in 2026: paternity leave is now a day-one right, though paternity pay still isn’t.
Below you’ll find a guide for each leave type, decided cases showing how the rules actually play out, and tools to help you work out your pay and notify your employer.
Where to start
Plain-English explainers, each one a focused answer to a specific question.
Adoption leave and pay: your entitlement explained
Adoption leave and pay largely mirror maternity leave, but the notice rules and starting point are different. This guide sets out what you're entitled to and when the clock starts.
Read the guide → 02Maternity leave and pay: your entitlement explained
Working out maternity leave and pay can feel like decoding a different language while you're already stretched thin. This guide sets out the entitlement rules in plain terms.
Read the guide → 03Paternity leave and pay: what changed in 2024 and 2026
Paternity leave and pay changed twice in quick succession, in 2024 and 2026, and it's easy to lose track of which rules apply to you. This guide sets out what changed.
Read the guide → 04Shared parental leave and pay: sharing the balance
Shared parental leave has real flexibility built in, but the eligibility rules and notice periods trip a lot of parents up. This guide breaks down how the sharing mechanic works.
Read the guide → 05What time off you’re entitled to after a bereavement, and what’s down to your employer
If someone close to you has died, work is probably the last thing on your mind. This sets out plainly what you're entitled to in time off, and what's down to your employer's own policy.
Read the guide →Work out your next step
Generate something you can act on, not just read.
Family leave pay calculator
Work out your Statutory Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, or Shared Parental Pay week by week, based on your average weekly earnings.
Open tool →Notify my employer: family leave letter generator
Generate the notice letter you need to give your employer for maternity, paternity, adoption, or shared parental leave.
Open tool →SMP or Maternity Allowance?
Answer a few quick questions to see whether you likely qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay from your employer, or Maternity Allowance from the DWP instead. Free, and nothing is stored.
Open tool →What the tribunals have decided
Real decisions, rewritten for what they mean for you, not for HR professionals.
Mishandling Keeping in Touch days rarely causes a claim alone, but it can tip a wider pattern into unlawful discrimination.
Paying you less for shared parental leave than a colleague gets for maternity leave usually isn’t discrimination.
The same logic applies to adoption pay: a colleague on adoption leave usually isn’t your comparator either.