Employer Helpbook for Statutory Maternity Pay - HM Revenue ...

How to work out the relevant period
The ‘relevant period’ is needed to establish the earnings to be used (see 'What counts as earnings for working
out SMP’ on page 9) and the number of days, weeks or months to divide those earnings by. All earnings paid in
the ‘relevant period’ will be divided by the number of days, weeks or months in that ‘relevant period’.
Regulations define the ‘relevant period’ as the period between:
Date 1 the last normal payday on, or before the Saturday of the Qualifying Week (QW), this is the 15th week
before the week baby due. This payday will be Date 1 and is the end of the ‘relevant period’, and
Date 2 the last normal payday falling not less than eight weeks before the payday at Date 1.
Date 2 will be the day after this payday and is the start of the ‘relevant period’.
You must include all the earnings paid on, or after, Date 2, up to and including those paid on Date 1.
Regulations define a ‘normal payday’ as either the payday specified in the contract, or the day on which
they are usually paid if they have no contract or their contract does not specify a payday.
Where the baby is born before or during the Qualifying Week, the eight-week relevant period is different.
It is the period between the last normal payday:
• on, or before, the Saturday of the actual week the baby is born, and
• falling at least eight weeks before the above.
If your employee has a contractual payday this is always the normal payday, even if you pay them early or late
in a particular week or month.
Example – weekly paid employee
Employee paid every Friday
Date baby due 14/02/12
Qualifying Week 28/10/11 to 03/11/11
Payday at least 8 weeks
before 02/11/12
Start of the relevant
period – Date 2
The relevant period is therefore from 8 September 2012 to 2 November 2012
Average Weekly Earnings – total earnings £970.21 ÷ 8 = £121.27625
Do not round this Average Weekly Earnings figure up or down to whole pence.
Example – monthly paid employee
Employee paid on the last working day of month
Date baby due 14/02/13
Qualifying Week 28/10/12 to 03/11/112
Payday at least
8 weeks before
31/10/12
Start of the relevant
period – Date 2
The relevant period is therefore 1 September 2012 to 31 October 2012
Last payday on, or before, Saturday
of the Qualifying Week (end of
relevant period – Date 1)
Average weekly Earnings – total earnings = £1,409.30 ÷ 2 = £704.65 x 12 = £8,455.80 ÷ 52 = £162.61153.
Do not round this Average Weekly Earnings figure up or down to whole pence.
For more help and checksheets see pages 22 to 26.
10
Paydays
09/09 10/09 16/09 23/09 30/09 07/10 14/10 21/10 28/10 04/11
Earnings Total
– 140.11 140.00 100.00 120.00 130.00 108.10 130.00 102.00 970.21
Paydays
Last payday on, or before,
Saturday of the Qualifying Week
(end of relevant period – Date 1)
31/08/12 01/09/12 30/09/12 31/10/12
Earnings Total
– 685.75 723.55 1,409.30
Employer Helpbook E15(2012)