Letter Notifying an Employer of Intended Maternity Leave

This is a letter that can be used to notify an employer of an employee's intention to take maternity leave. It fulfils the employee's duty to notify the employer of any intended maternity leave and requests that the employer responds with further information regarding pay.

The letter can be amended to reflect the date of the baby's expected arrival and the date upon which the person requesting maternity leave wants to begin their period of leave.

How this letter should be used

This letter should be sent to the employer with an enclosed MATB1 certificate as evidence of the pregnancy. It should be sent at least 15 weeks before the expected date of birth.

Once the letter has been received by an employer they should respond within 28 days confirming the start and end dates of the relevant maternity leave period.

Applicable law

Maternity leave is established and regulated by the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999 as amended.

Statutory maternity pay is established and regulated by sections 164-171 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 and the Statutory Maternity Pay Regulations 1986 as amended.

Any maternity pay provided for within an employee's contract, or any further provisions concerning leave, will be a matter of contract and employment law.

Help from a lawyer

You can choose to consult a lawyer if you need help.

The lawyer can answer your questions or help you through the process. You will be offered this option when you complete the document.

How to modify the template

You fill out a form. The document is created before your eyes as you respond to the questions.

At the end, you receive it in Word and PDF formats. You can modify it and reuse it.