England & Walesmaternity

Confirm Maternity Leave Letter (Employer to Employee) — England & Wales

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TEMPLATE LETTER TO CONFIRM AN EMPLOYEE'S MATERNITY LEAVE

letter date
Dear employee name,
Thank you for telling us about your pregnancy in your notification method dated notification date.
Maternity leave start and return dates
You told us you want to start your maternity leave on leave start date.
You're entitled to 52 weeks' statutory maternity leave.
[If has_enhanced_leave:] Your contract also gives you enhanced maternity leave of enhanced leave weeks.
If you take your full entitlement, your return-to-work date will be return to work date.
If you want to take less than your full maternity leave entitlement, please let us know. By law, you must take at least 2 weeks' off after your baby is born. [If works_in_factory:] If your employee works in a factory, they must take at least 4 weeks' off.
Changing your maternity leave start and return dates
If you want to change the date you start your maternity leave, you must give us at least 28 days' notice.
If you want to change the date you return from maternity leave, you must give us at least 8 weeks' notice.
If your maternity leave is triggered early
If your baby arrives early your maternity leave will automatically start the date after your baby is born. If this happens, please let us know as soon as possible.
Your maternity leave will automatically start after the first day of absence if:
you're off work with pregnancy-related illness at any time in the 4 weeks before the week your baby is due
you're on maternity suspension in the 4 weeks before the week your baby is due
If your maternity leave is triggered early, we will tell you your new return to work date within 28 days.
Antenatal appointments
You have the right to a reasonable amount of paid time off for pregnancy-related appointments.
After your first appointment, you must provide an appointment card or other evidence of your appointments if we ask for it.
Holiday entitlement
You will still build up your usual holiday entitlement while you're on maternity leave.
You cannot use holiday entitlement while you're on maternity leave. But you can arrange to use your holiday before or after maternity leave.
You should speak to contact person as early as possible about how to use your holiday entitlement, including any you build up while on maternity leave.
Keeping in touch days
You can work for up to 10 days during your maternity leave to help you stay in touch with organisation name. These are called 'keeping touch (KIT) days'.
You should speak to contact person to arrange any keeping in touch days.
If you have any questions about anything in this letter, please get in touch.
Yours sincerely,
signatory name

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This is a process template, not legal advice. Pregnancy and maternity are protected characteristics — dismissal or redundancy connected to pregnancy or maternity leave carries specific statutory protection and can amount to automatic unfair dismissal. Complex cases require independent legal advice before you proceed.

Variables you will fill in

Letter date(date)required
Employee name(text)required
How the employee notified you(select)required
Date the employee notified you(date)required
Maternity leave start date(date)required
By law, you must write back to your employee within 28 days confirming their start and end dates.
Does the contract offer enhanced (more than statutory) maternity leave?(boolean)
Enhanced maternity leave, in weeks (if applicable)(text)
Return-to-work date if the full entitlement is taken(date)required
Does the employee work in a factory?(boolean)
Factory workers must take at least 4 weeks off after childbirth (rather than the general 2-week statutory minimum).
Contact person for holiday/KIT day questions(text)required
Organisation name(text)required
Your name (signatory)(text)required

This information is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice on a specific situation, consult a qualified adviser or Acas (acas.org.uk).