Lesson 2 · Pregnancy & Parenthood
One week in late January decides most of your household's income for 2027. Plus: Hannah's contract ends three weeks after the birth, and the answer is better than you'd fear.
First, the dates are now exact. Last period 2 August 2026, so:
UK statutory parental pay isn't assessed at the birth. It's assessed at a single fixed week called the qualifying week — the 15th week before the baby is due. For you that is Sunday 24 to Saturday 30 January 2027.
Almost every entitlement in this lesson is decided by facts true in that week, and almost every deadline is the end of it. Learn this one date and the rest follows.
Statutory pay is a payroll obligation, so the state needs a fixed point to test "was this person really employed, and earning how much?" — long enough before the birth that an employer can plan. Hence a week chosen 15 weeks out, and hence the fact that turning up with news at 38 weeks is too late for some rights.
To get Statutory Maternity Pay she needs two things: continuous employment with the same employer for 26 weeks ending in the qualifying week, and average earnings of at least £129/week. Working backwards, she must have been employed at Herman Miller since 1 August 2026 at the latest. On a one-year contract running to May 2027, she started around May 2026. She qualifies comfortably.
SMP is 39 weeks: six weeks at 90% of her average weekly earnings, then 33 weeks at £194.32 (2026/27 rate) or 90% of earnings if that's lower. The flat portion alone is about £6,410.
Her contract expires 28 May 2027 — nineteen days after the due date. The instinct is to assume the maternity pay dies with the job. It doesn't.
Once she has qualified for SMP, she is entitled to all 39 weeks of it even if her employment ends. A fixed-term contract expiring during maternity leave does not stop it. Herman Miller must keep paying — and if they don't, HMRC's Statutory Payments Disputes Team will pursue it.
Concretely: if she starts maternity leave on 25 April 2027, SMP runs to roughly 23 January 2028 — about 35 weeks of it arriving after her job has ended. That is the difference between a frightening spring and a manageable one.
Three qualifications, none of them small:
Non-renewal of a fixed-term contract is legally a dismissal, not simply an ending. And since April 2024, pregnant employees and new parents have enhanced protection.
The enhanced protection — a right to be offered any suitable alternative vacancy in priority over other candidates — begins from the date she notifies her employer of the pregnancy in writing, and runs until 18 months after the birth. Verbal doesn't start the clock. An email does.
Herman Miller is a large employer. "Priority for suitable vacancies" is a real and valuable right there, and it costs nothing to switch on. Whenever she chooses to tell them — and that's her call and her timing — it should be in writing.
Two more things worth her knowing: if the contract genuinely isn't renewed because the person she's covering returns, that's ordinarily lawful. But if the pregnancy or the leave is any part of the reason, it's automatic unfair dismissal and maternity discrimination. And with over two years' service she'd also be owed statutory redundancy pay — on a one-year contract, she won't be, so don't expect it.
You're the sole director and sole employee of a company you've only just started. That makes your side of this both simpler and harder than most people's.
Statutory Paternity Pay: two weeks at £194.32, and to get it you must have been continuously employed — by your own company, on the payroll — for 26 weeks ending in the qualifying week. Same test as Hannah's. Which means TWP Agency must have had you on PAYE since 1 August 2026. If you incorporated or started payroll after that date, you will not qualify for the pay. You'll also need to have been drawing at least £129/week gross — worth checking, because a lot of director-only companies pay a low salary plus dividends, and dividends do not count.
Paternity leave is different and is now yours regardless. From 6 April 2026 it's a day-one right — no service requirement. Two weeks, taken in one block or two single weeks, any time within 52 weeks of the birth. Notice: tell your employer the due date 15 weeks in advance, i.e. by 30 January 2027. You are your own employer, so this is a note in your own company records — but do actually write it, because HMRC's position on director statutory payments is that the paperwork is what proves it.
£194.32 a week is not the number that will affect your life. Your company's revenue stops when you stop, and there is nobody to cover you. The statutory scheme was designed for someone whose employer keeps trading without them; you don't have one.
So the real planning task is not a form, it's a cash buffer: decide now how many weeks you intend to be genuinely absent — most partners find two is nowhere near enough — and start setting aside that many weeks of household costs plus the company's fixed costs. Nine months of deliberate saving is a very different exercise from finding the money in May.
Your compensation: you control your own diary. No boss to ask, no leave policy to negotiate. That is a real advantage, and it only pays out if the cash is there to use it.
One admin sweetener: your company can reclaim 109% of statutory parental payments under Small Employers' Relief, so the SPP costs TWP roughly nothing net.
| What | Amount | When / catch |
|---|---|---|
| Child Benefit | £27.05/wk (~£1,407/yr) for a first child | Claim as soon as the birth is registered. Claim even if you'll be taxed on it — it protects National Insurance credits toward the state pension for whoever's at home. Opt out of the payments, not the claim. |
| High Income Child Benefit Charge | Claws it back above £60,000 individual income | Watch this if you pay yourself in dividends — it's assessed on the higher individual, not household, income. |
| Free NHS prescriptions & dental | Whole pregnancy + 12 months after | Needs a maternity exemption certificate (FW8). The midwife signs it. Ask at booking — people forget and pay for a year. |
| MATB1 certificate | Proof of pregnancy for the employer | Issued from 20 weeks (~20 Dec 2026). Herman Miller will need it to pay SMP. |
| Shared Parental Leave | Up to 50 weeks shared | Requires Hannah to cut her maternity leave short and convert the balance. Her contract ending complicates it. Park this — we'll do it properly later. |
| Unpaid parental leave | 18 weeks per child, to age 18 | Unpaid, but it's a right. Useful to you specifically, as you set your own schedule. |
Full deadline card, printable: Reference · Money & Deadlines. Appointment schedule with your real dates: Reference · Antenatal Timeline.
What is the qualifying week, and when is yours?
15th week before the expected week of childbirth: Sun 24 – Sat 30 Jan 2027. Continuous employment and earnings are both tested against it, and most notice deadlines land at the end of it.
Her contract ends 19 days after the birth. What happens to her Statutory Maternity Pay?
Once qualified, SMP is owed for all 39 weeks regardless of employment ending. The employer keeps paying it. Only enhanced/contractual top-ups die with the contract.
What switches on her enhanced redundancy protection?
Written notification of pregnancy starts the protected period — priority for suitable alternative vacancies, running to 18 months after birth. A conversation doesn't count.
Which is the genuine risk to your household income?
Sole director, sole employee, no cover. The statutory scheme assumes an employer that keeps trading without you. The mitigation is a deliberate cash buffer built across the next nine months.
Free recall: name the four things that must happen before the end of January 2027, and what each one is for.