Thanks to years of experience, our employment lawyers in Scotland have the expertise and experience to help employees understand their maternity and paternity rights.

From maternity and paternity pay entitlements for pregnancies and when adopting a child, shared parental leave, pension contributions and benefits, and redundancy, our legal advice helps employees understand their rights in Scottish workplaces.

What are maternity and paternity rights?

In Scotland, maternity and paternity rights cover work entitlements during and after pregnancy, having a baby through surrogacy, and adoption. If any of these apply to you, your employment rights are protected for any leave you take among other work entitlements.

Your entitlements during pregnancy

If you’re pregnant, you’re entitled to up to 52 weeks of maternity leave, which you can begin at the start of the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth. If you can’t work because of your pregnancy in the four weeks before the week your baby is due, or if your child is born early, your maternity leave will automatically begin.

You can’t work for up to two weeks after giving birth, which is known as compulsory maternity leave. Your employer cannot allow you to work during this period. This applies to full-time, part-time, agency, and zero-hours employees. The amount of time is four weeks for factory workers.

If you and your employer agree, you can work for your employer for up to 10 days during maternity or adoption leave without ending your period of leave. This is known as a KIT (keeping in touch) day. During KIT days, you’re entitled to your normal rate of pay but you can’t just show up, you need to agree to a KIT day in advance.

All pregnant employees are entitled to 26 weeks’ Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) and 26 Additional Maternity Leave (AML), regardless of their length of service.

Antenatal care entitlements in Scotland

During a pregnancy, employees are entitled to paid time off for antenatal care such as medical appointments. You may need to prove your pregnancy or appointment beforehand.

Partners are also entitled to time off to go to antenatal appointments with pregnant partners, regardless of their length of service. This can be exercised twice during your partner’s pregnancy with appointments lasting a maximum of 6.5 hours each.

Partners don’t have a right to be paid for this time off and if your request is deemed unreasonable, your employer can refuse it.

Maternity and paternity pay entitlements

Maternity pay in Scotland

Your maternity pay entitlements will depend on your length of service. For example, if you’ve completed 26 weeks of continuous employment by the end of the 15th week before your expected week of childbirth, you’ll be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP).

Statutory Maternity Pay is payable for the first 39 weeks of maternity leave and is paid at two rates:

• The first six weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay is 90% of your average gross earnings.
• After this, you’ll receive a flat rate of £187.18 per week or 90% of your average earnings if they are lower. This weekly figure applies from 6 April 2025. The figure is usually increased every April.

You may be entitled to Maternity Allowance if you don’t qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay.

Paternity leave in Scotland

If you have 26 weeks of service with your employer, you can take two weeks of Statutory Paternity Leave, which is paid. This must be taken within 52 days of the birth. The start and end date rules are different if you adopt. The 26 weeks’ service requirement may shortly be abolished.

All terms of your employment remain in force during this time, but you will need to provide certain information to your employer to be eligible for Statutory Paternity Pay.

Employee rights when adopting a child

If you’re adopting a child, the primary adopter will be entitled to up to 52 weeks of adoption leave. The primary adopter is also entitled to Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) for the first 39 weeks of adoption leave, the same as Statutory Maternity Pay.

The remaining adopter will be entitled to two weeks’ leave. If you’re adopting a child with your partner, you’ll have to decide who the primary and secondary adopters are.

What is Shared Parental Leave?

Shared parental leave is when you and your partner share your maternity or adoption leave between you. The entitlement applies to employees who have been continuously employed for at least 26 weeks. Mothers or primary adopters can end their leave early and transfer it to their partner, and parents can share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay.

Pension contributions and benefits while on maternity leave

Your employee pension contributions will still be made when you receive Statutory Maternity and Statutory Paternity Pay. Employer contributions will be based on your normal salary as opposed to the actual pay you receive during maternity leave. There is no obligation on the employer to make pension payments during an unpaid period of AML.

Can I be made redundant while on maternity leave?

All redundancies must follow a fair redundancy process which includes a consultation with you. This applies if you’re on maternity leave, and you will be entitled to redundancy pay if you’re made redundant during this period. This will be paid at your rate of pay before your leave.

There are, however, additional protections in the context of statutory family-related leave. Redundancy, for example, will be deemed automatically unfair if it occurs during maternity, adoption, or shared parental leave, where an employee was not offered a suitable alternative vacancy.

It will also be deemed automatically unfair when redundancy selection is for an inadmissible reason (e.g. if the reason for selection relates to pregnancy, childbirth, maternity etc.) There may also be a discrimination claim in these circumstances.

Flexible working requests in times of pregnancy and adoption

According to the Flexible Working Regulations 2014, employees have the right to ask their employer to vary their hours if they meet certain conditions. This doesn’t have to be related to childcare or parental responsibilities, but this is often the case.

You can’t make a verbal request; instead, it must be in writing and dated. It must state that it is an application for a change in terms and conditions under section 80F of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It must also specify the change applied for and the date on which it is proposed the change should become effective.

Your employer has two months to make a decision on the application or such longer period as you agree with the employer.

Only employees can make flexible working requests, rather than agency workers or freelancers, and you can make two formal requests in any 12-month period.

A formal request is more likely to be approved, so the above factors are important, as is providing detailed information about the hours you would like to change and why.

How we can help

At Allan McDougall Solicitors, we have years of experience in assisting employees with maternity and paternity rights at work. With a friendly and knowledgeable approach, our team helps you understand what you’re entitled to and what your employer should do if you are adopting a child, having a baby through surrogacy, or are pregnant.

Our goal is to help you resolve issues informally without going to an Employer Tribunal, although we can represent you if the latter is the case. All in all, we work with your best interests at heart and help you achieve a fair legal outcome.

Get in touch with Allan McDougall Solicitors

If you’re facing issues regarding maternity or paternity rights at work, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team.

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