Understanding Holiday Entitlement During Maternity Leave
When you take maternity leave in the UK, it’s important to understand how your holiday entitlement is affected. Holiday entitlement refers to your legal right to paid time off work each year. This is a fundamental part of your employment rights, ensuring you have time to rest and recharge, and it remains relevant even when you are away from work on maternity leave.
What Is Holiday Entitlement and Why Does It Matter During Maternity Leave?
Every employee in the UK is entitled to a minimum amount of paid annual leave, often known as holiday entitlement. Under current law, most full-time workers are entitled to at least 28 days of paid holiday per year (including bank holidays). This entitlement is designed to protect your wellbeing and work-life balance.
When you’re on maternity leave, you might wonder if you still earn (or “accrue”) this holiday. The answer is yes: your holiday entitlement continues to build up while you are on maternity leave, just as if you were at work. This means you won’t lose out on your annual leave because you’ve taken time off to have a baby.
If you’d like to learn more about general rules around paid leave, visit our section on Understanding Holiday Entitlement.
Types of Maternity Leave: Ordinary and Additional
Maternity leave in the UK is divided into two main types:
- Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML): The first 26 weeks of maternity leave.
- Additional Maternity Leave (AML): The following 26 weeks, making up a total of 52 weeks if you take the full allowance.
Both types of leave are protected by law, and you have the right to return to work after either period. Importantly, your right to accrue holiday continues throughout both Ordinary and Additional Maternity Leave. This means that if you take a full year off, you will still build up your annual holiday entitlement for the entire period.
For more details on how maternity leave works, including how to request it and your rights during this time, see the ACAS Guidance on Maternity Leave.
Your Legal Rights to Holiday During Maternity Leave
UK law is clear: employees continue to accrue paid annual leave while on maternity leave. This is set out in the Employment Rights Act 1996, which protects your rights as an employee, including your entitlement to holiday pay.
Your employer cannot refuse to let you accrue holiday while you are on maternity leave, nor can they prevent you from taking this holiday when you return to work. In practice, this means:
- You build up holiday as normal during both OML and AML.
- You cannot take holiday during maternity leave itself, but you can usually take it before or after your maternity leave.
- Many employees choose to add their accrued holiday to the end of their maternity leave, allowing for a longer period off work with pay.
If you have questions about how your holiday entitlement fits with other types of leave, such as paternity or parental leave, our guide to Maternity, Paternity and Parental Leave provides a helpful overview.
Understanding your rights ensures you can plan your time off with confidence and make the most of your holiday entitlement during this important period in your life. If you need more detailed information about your specific situation, consult your employer’s policies or seek further advice using the resources linked above.
Do You Accrue Holiday While on Maternity Leave?
When you go on maternity leave in the UK, you continue to build up (or "accrue") your statutory annual holiday entitlement as if you were still at work. This right is protected by the Working Time Regulations 1998, which guarantee most workers at least 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per year – including during periods of maternity leave.
How Is Holiday Accrued During Maternity Leave?
Your holiday entitlement is calculated based on your usual working pattern, not on whether you are physically at work. This means that if you take maternity leave – whether it’s Ordinary Maternity Leave (the first 26 weeks) or Additional Maternity Leave (up to another 26 weeks) – you still earn your full holiday entitlement for the entire period. For example, if you are entitled to 28 days of holiday a year (including bank holidays), you will continue to accrue these days even while on maternity leave.
Statutory vs. Contractual Holiday Entitlement
It’s important to distinguish between statutory and contractual holiday entitlement:
- Statutory entitlement is the minimum amount set by law (5.6 weeks per year).
- Contractual entitlement is any additional holiday your employer may offer in your employment contract.
You will continue to accrue both statutory and any extra contractual holiday during your maternity leave, unless your contract specifically states otherwise for the additional days. However, your employer cannot reduce your statutory entitlement because you are on maternity leave.
What About Unpaid Leave?
While maternity leave itself is a protected period for holiday accrual, the rules are different for unpaid leave that is not maternity-related. If you take a period of unpaid leave outside of maternity leave, you generally do not accrue statutory holiday during that time. This can affect your overall holiday balance, so it’s important to check your employer’s policies and your employment contract.
Practical Advice and Examples
- Carrying Over Holiday: Since you can’t take holiday while on maternity leave, you may need to arrange with your employer to take your accrued holiday either before or after your maternity leave. Many employers allow – and sometimes require – employees to use up their annual leave before starting maternity leave or to carry it over to the following year.
- Example: If you are on maternity leave for a full year, you will still accrue your full statutory holiday entitlement for that year. You could agree with your employer to take this holiday immediately before or after your maternity leave ends.
Understanding your holiday rights during maternity leave can help you plan your time off and avoid losing out on paid holiday. If you are interested in how holiday entitlement works in other situations, such as during long-term sickness absence, you may find it helpful to read about How Holiday Entitlement Works in the UK for a broader comparison.
Taking Holiday Before, During, or After Maternity Leave
When planning your maternity leave, it’s important to understand your options for taking paid annual holiday. UK law is clear: you continue to accrue statutory holiday entitlement while on maternity leave, just as if you were at work. Knowing when and how you can use this holiday can help you make the most of your time off and avoid losing any entitlement.
Taking Holiday Before Maternity Leave Starts
Many employees choose to take some or all of their accrued holiday before their maternity leave begins. This is a practical way to extend your time off with full pay, since holiday is paid at your normal rate, whereas statutory maternity pay is often lower. You’ll need to agree your holiday dates with your employer in advance, following your workplace’s usual procedures for requesting annual leave.
Using Holiday During Maternity Leave
Generally, you cannot use holiday entitlement at the same time as maternity leave. The two types of leave cannot run concurrently, as maternity leave is a separate legal right. However, some employers may allow you to add holiday to the start or end of your maternity leave period, effectively giving you a longer continuous break from work. Always check your workplace policy and discuss your plans with your employer.
Carrying Over Unused Holiday After Maternity Leave
If you’re unable to take all your accrued holiday before starting your maternity leave, you should not lose this entitlement. The law protects your right to carry over unused statutory holiday to the next holiday year if your maternity leave prevents you from taking it. When you return to work, you can use this carried-over holiday, subject to your employer’s normal approval process. This is especially helpful if your maternity leave spans two holiday years.
Legal Protections for Holiday Around Maternity Leave
Your right to accrue and take holiday is protected under the Working Time Regulations 1998 and the Employment Rights Act 1996. Employers cannot refuse to let you take your accrued holiday simply because you’ve been on maternity leave. If you feel your rights are not being respected, you may want to seek advice or consult Calculating and Taking Your Holiday for a broader overview of holiday entitlement and your paid leave rights in the UK.
Careful planning and open communication with your employer will help ensure you receive the holiday you’re entitled to before, during, or after maternity leave. This not only protects your legal rights but also helps you make the most of your time away from work.
Holiday Accrual on Other Types of Parental Leave
When it comes to taking time off work to care for a new child, many parents wonder how their annual holiday entitlement is affected. In the UK, your right to accrue paid holiday continues during several types of parental leave, but the rules can vary depending on the type of leave you take.
Holiday Rights During Paternity Leave and Shared Parental Leave
If you take statutory paternity leave or shared parental leave, you continue to build up (accrue) your paid annual holiday entitlement just as you would if you were at work. This means that any period spent on Paternity Leave and Paternity Pay or shared parental leave counts towards your statutory holiday entitlement, which is at least 5.6 weeks per year for most employees.
For example, if you take two weeks of paternity leave, you will still accrue holiday during that period. The same applies if you and your partner share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay through shared parental leave – your holiday entitlement continues to build up throughout.
How Does This Compare to Maternity Leave?
Holiday accrual during paternity leave and shared parental leave works in much the same way as during maternity leave. In all these cases, your employment contract continues, so your right to paid holiday is protected by law. This ensures that when you return to work, you will not lose any of your statutory holiday entitlement because you took time off for parental reasons.
What About Unpaid Parental Leave?
Unpaid parental leave is a separate entitlement that allows eligible parents to take up to 18 weeks off work for each child before their 18th birthday. However, the rules are different when it comes to holiday accrual. During periods of unpaid parental leave, you do not continue to accrue statutory holiday entitlement, as this type of leave is treated as a pause in your contract for holiday purposes.
These rules are set out in the Parental Leave Regulations 2013, which clarify the distinction between paid and unpaid parental leave in relation to holiday rights.
Practical Advice for Parents
If you are planning to take any form of parental leave, it’s a good idea to speak with your employer about how your holiday entitlement will be managed. Many employees choose to take some of their accrued holiday immediately before or after parental leave, but you should always check your workplace policy and discuss your plans in advance.
For a broader overview of your rights to paid time off, including how holiday entitlement works alongside other types of leave, visit Your Guide to Holiday Entitlement and Paid Leave Rights in the UK.
Understanding your rights helps you make the most of your time off with your family, without missing out on your holiday entitlement.
How Maternity Pay and Holiday Entitlement Work Together
When you’re on maternity leave in the UK, it’s important to understand how your maternity pay and holiday entitlement work together. By law, while you’re on maternity leave – including both Ordinary Maternity Leave (the first 26 weeks) and Additional Maternity Leave (up to a further 26 weeks) – you continue to build up (accrue) your statutory paid holiday as if you were at work. This means your right to paid annual leave is protected, even if you’re not physically working during your leave.
Maternity Pay and Holiday Entitlement: How They Interact
Maternity pay is separate from holiday pay. Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is paid for up to 39 weeks and is usually calculated based on your average earnings before your maternity leave starts. Your entitlement to accrue holiday is not affected by whether you receive SMP, Maternity Allowance, or no maternity pay at all. This means that, regardless of the type or amount of maternity pay you receive, your holiday entitlement continues to build up throughout your entire period of maternity leave.
For example, if your employment contract gives you 28 days of paid holiday a year (the statutory minimum), you will still accrue these days while you are on maternity leave. You cannot take holiday while you are on maternity leave, but you can take your accrued holiday before or after your leave ends. Many employees choose to take some or all of their annual leave immediately before or after their maternity leave to extend their time away from work.
Understanding Your Pay During Leave
It’s a good idea to check how your maternity pay will be calculated, as this can affect your finances during your time away from work. The calculation for SMP is based on your average weekly earnings over a specific period before your maternity leave starts. To get a clear picture of what you’re entitled to, you can use official resources such as the Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) guidance, which explains how much you could get, how to claim, and what to do if you think your pay is incorrect.
If you want to see exactly how much maternity pay you might receive and when key dates fall, try using a practical tool like the Maternity Leave and Pay Calculator. This can help you plan your leave and understand how your pay and holiday entitlement fit together.
For a step-by-step explanation of how your maternity pay is calculated – including what counts as “average earnings” and how different types of pay are treated – see our guide on How to Calculate Your Maternity Pay.
Planning Your Holiday and Leave
Since you continue to accrue holiday while on maternity leave, it’s worth planning with your employer how and when you’ll take your annual leave. You might want to use up some of your holiday entitlement before starting maternity leave, or save it to use when you return. Your employer cannot force you to take holiday during maternity leave, but you should discuss your options early to avoid missing out on your paid holiday.
To learn more about your rights to paid holiday and how to manage your leave, visit Calculating and Taking Your Holiday for a full overview of holiday entitlement and paid leave rights in the UK.
By understanding how maternity pay and holiday entitlement work together, you can make informed decisions about your leave and ensure you receive all the benefits you’re entitled to during this important time.
Additional Employee Benefits and Rights During Maternity Leave
During maternity leave, employees in the UK are entitled to more than just the continued accrual of holiday. Many other employee benefits and rights remain protected by law, ensuring that you are not disadvantaged while you are away from work.
Which benefits continue during maternity leave?
By law, most of your contractual benefits continue during both Ordinary Maternity Leave (the first 26 weeks) and Additional Maternity Leave (the following 26 weeks), except for your normal pay. Instead, you may receive Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), Maternity Allowance, or nothing, depending on your eligibility. However, benefits such as pension contributions, private health insurance, company car, and mobile phone provision should continue unless your contract states otherwise. For example, if your employer provides childcare vouchers or a staff discount scheme, you should still have access to these during your maternity leave.
If your employer offers enhanced contractual maternity pay or additional perks, these should also be honoured as per your employment contract. It’s a good idea to check your employment terms or speak to your HR department for details on what applies to you.
Protection from unfair treatment or dismissal
UK law provides strong protection against discrimination and unfair treatment during maternity leave. Under the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Equality Act 2010, it is unlawful for your employer to dismiss you, select you for redundancy, or treat you unfavourably because you are pregnant or on maternity leave. If your role is made redundant during your maternity leave, you have the right to be offered any suitable alternative vacancy, if one exists, before other employees. If you believe you have been treated unfairly, you may have grounds to raise a grievance or pursue a claim for unfair dismissal or discrimination.
Where to find more information
Understanding your full range of rights and benefits can help you make informed decisions about your leave. If you want to explore your entitlements further, including how maternity leave interacts with other types of leave and benefits, see our comprehensive guide to Employee Benefits. For more details specifically about your rights during maternity, paternity, and parental leave, visit the section on Maternity, Paternity and Parental Leave within our Employee Benefits guide.
Taking time to understand your legal protections and benefits can help ensure you make the most of your rights while balancing family and work.
