Family leave & holidays

The following costs will be met centrally from a staff absence budget and will not be deducted from MPs’ staffing budgets:

• costs of staff who are on maternity, paternity or adoption leave;

• costs of staff who are on long-term sick leave (i.e. longer than two weeks), and

• costs of staff who are UK armed forces reservists and have been granted special paid leave in order to participate in mandatory training in connection with their role in the reserve forces, up to 15 days per staff member per year [7.12]

The costs of staff to cover for those absent above will be met from MPs’ staffing budgets.

MPs should not make arrangements that will take them over their staffing budget limit. [7.13]

Read more about Booking annual leave.

MPs who take time off after the birth or adoption of a child, or for other reasons such as illness, are eligible for funding to provide cover for their office during their absence (normally where this is longer than three months).

This will be paid from the MP parental leave and absence budget, subject to a maximum as set out in the Summary of 2024-25 budgets. [10.9]

For new parents, funding for cover will normally be provided for a maximum period of seven months for the biological parent or primary adopter.

Longer periods and/or alternative arrangements may be agreed on a case-by-case basis. In cases of illness or absence for other reasons, the period of absence will be agreed on a case-by-case basis.

The funding provided does not need to be used for cover over one continuous period. [10.10]

MPs who request funding for cover during a period of absence must provide evidence as required by IPSA and set out in Funding to support MP parental leave & absence. [10.11]

MPs may choose how to arrange cover during a period of absence.

The use of IPSA funding for this purpose is subject to the normal rules on staffing costs, including the requirements for staff to be employed on a standard IPSA contract and job description and to be paid within the standard salary range for their job role. [10.12]

For more information visit Funding to support MP parental leave & absence.

The maximum amount of untaken leave that can be rolled forward from one leave year to the next is five working days unless the employee has been prevented from taking that leave due to sickness absence, or family leave (maternity, paternity, adoption leave etc).

This requirement cannot be enforced in contracts in place before 1 April 2017. [7.25]

[7.29] In relation to payments for occupational entitlements to redundancy pay and family (maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental) pay, from 1 April 2025 IPSA will fund payments to a staff member relating to their period of service in their current employment, as well as any period(s) of recognised past service, subject to paragraphs 7.30-7.35.

[7.30] A staff member will have ‘recognised past service’ where:   

1. the staff member is employed in line with the conditions set out in paragraph 7.6;   

2. the staff member was employed by one or more other MPs prior to their current employment and there is a gap in service between each such period of employment of no more than 60 calendar days; and   

3. a previous period of employment did not end in dismissal for gross misconduct.

[ 7.31] To be eligible for occupational redundancy and/or family pay based on recognised past service, a staff member must have at least the equivalent minimum qualifying period of service required by statute for the relevant entitlement, taking the current period of employment and any recognised past service together.

[7.32] Any occupational redundancy and/or family pay will include any statutory entitlement that may be due and payable. For the avoidance of doubt, statutory entitlements remain unaffected.

[7.33] IPSA will not fund more than one redundancy payment in respect of the same period of service. Where a staff member with recognised past service has already been paid a redundancy payment in relation to a period of service, that period will be counted for the purposes of determining eligibility for an occupational redundancy payment relating to any subsequent dismissal by reason of redundancy but will be discounted for the purposes of calculating the amount of such a payment. 

[7.34] Any portion of a redundancy payment made to a staff member which reflects a period of recognised past service will be met from the contingency budget. In line with paragraph 7.5, any portion of a redundancy payment which reflects the current period of employment must be funded from the staffing budget.  

[ 7.35] The arrangements for recognition of past service do not apply to individuals working on casual contracts, volunteers or those on secondment into an MP’s office from a third-party employer.  

Scheme principles

As per Principle 4: accountability of the Scheme, MPs should adhere to good employment practices.

See how to check your past service record.

The HR functions within IPSA Online are optional but they could help you to manage your office .

Staff can book a wide range of absences directly onto the system. The Payroll Proxy can then approve or reject the absence using Task Management. While the following guidance focuses on annual leave, all absence types (apart from sickness) work in the same way and follow the same steps.

The system automatically takes weekends and work schedules into account.

You can also check your annual leave balances on IPSA Online. As we have both part-time and full-time staff, annual leave balances are displayed in hours.

When you book annual leave it will show you the amount in days and hours.

If you wish to find out your annual leave in days, simply divide the hours of annual leave available by the number of hours you work in a day.

All work patterns and bank holidays (this includes Scotland and Northern Ireland) have been programmed into the system. This means when you book time off, you are only spending annual leave on days you would actually be working.

Casual staff must complete Overtime Forms in IPSA Online. for the hours they have worked, even though they are not employed on a full-time basis.

The hours worked should be claimed as Regular Time.

Based on the hours logged casual staff will accrue holiday pay.

For further information, visit Approving and rejecting staff overtime.

Staff can request maternity leave using the form in IPSA Online.

The form must be completed no later than the 15th week before the estimated week of the arrival of the child.

Once submitted, an alert will be sent to the MP or Proxy for approval.

For more information, visit Maternity leave and pay.

You may also find this tool from gov.uk useful.

Staff can request paternity leave using the form in IPSA Online.

The form must be completed no later than the 15th week before the estimated week of the arrival of the child.

Standard paternity leave is two weeks. The MAT B1 form should be attached to the Paternity request form on IPSA Online.

Once submitted, an alert will be sent to the MP or Proxy for approval.

For more information, visit Paternity leave and pay.

You may also find this tool from gov.uk useful.

Staff can apply for adoption leave using the online form in IPSA Online.

This form must be completed no later than the 15th week before the estimated week of the arrival of the child.

Once submitted, an alert will be sent to the MP or Proxy for approval.

For more information, visit Adoption leave and pay.

You may also find this tool from gov.uk useful.

Staff can complete the Shared Parental Leave Form in IPSA Online.

This form must be completed at least eight weeks before the start date of the first period of shared parental leave.

Once submitted, an alert will be sent to the MP or Proxy for approval.

For more information, visit Shared parental leave.

You may also find this tool from gov.uk useful.

The My Team Absence Report can be used in IPSA Online to display the holidays your staff have booked during the current calendar year.

The report is only available under an MP’s login.

The report can be run at any time. New absences will be displayed as soon as are approved by the office manager.

You can track eight payroll forms on the Form Tracker in IPSA Online.

The Form Tracker will tell you the status of your form and who it is with to be actioned.

The process is the same for each form but you must select the relevant Form Tracker on IPSA Online.

You can track:

• MP Staff Leaver form

• MP Staff Maternity Leave Request form

• MP Staff Adoption Notification form

• MP Staff Paternity Leave Request form

• MP Staff Shared Parental Leave form

• Season Ticket Request form

• Bike Loan form

• MP Staff Overtime form

You can view any form you have submitted to Payroll and its status by using IPSA Online.

MPs’ staff will be able to view their past service on IPSA Online and we will publish details shortly on how you will be able to view that. Staff should keep an eye on their own record on IPSA Online and advise IPSA payroll of any changes. We are currently populating that data so while you can see the screen from 1 April your data will be populated over the coming months.

A staff member’s past service with one or more MPs will be recorded against their National Insurance number linked to each resource ID (res ID) they hold.

If there is a gap in service of longer than 60 calendar days, then any previous service will not be recognised for redundancy or family leave pay.

See guidance on recognising past service.

An MP’s staff member is entitled to carry over up to 5.6 weeks of annual leave into the following leave year if they were unable to take all or part of their annual leave because they took maternity and other family-related leave.

In cases of sick leave, if an MP’s staff member is working regular hours and all year round is unable to take some or all of their statutory holiday entitlement as a result of being off sick, they will be entitled to carry forward up to 20 days (four weeks) of their untaken leave into the following leave year.

This is pro-rated for part-time staff. It must be taken by the end of the period of 18 months starting from the end of the leave year in which it was accrued.

The ability to sell annual leave has now ended.

The original offer was made in relation to annual leave in 2020 and 2021.

Any annual leave from 2022 must be taken with no option to be paid for it unless leaving and in agreement with the employer.

IPSA is committed to ensuring its rules help to support MPs in maintaining a family life and support MPs who require time away from work for other reasons.

This includes supporting MPs before, during and after the birth or adoption of a child (including surrogacy) and those who may be absent due to sickness or the need for medical treatment. We are also committed to supporting those with caring responsibilities for others.

As independent officeholders, MPs are not employees and therefore not eligible for any statutory parental leave. The terms 'leave' or 'absence' mean something different for MPs because they remain the elected constituency representative and there are no formal requirements in place in Parliament for them to take leave.

In practice, MPs occasionally need to take time away from Parliament following, for example, the arrival of a baby or if they are seriously unwell. However, due to the unique constitutional nature of their position, some aspects of an MP’s role cannot be carried out by anyone else while they are absent, for example, taking part in debates or parliamentary committees.

For these reasons, IPSA has developed alternative, flexible funding arrangements to support MPs to take an absence from work for an extended period, and so that their constituents and their office continue to be supported during that period. Several MPs have accessed this support for different reasons and in different ways.

This guidance explains how MPs can access tailored funding to support any extended absence from their role.

Any MP who requires further information or wishes to discuss their circumstances should contact IPSA at 020 7811 6400 or info@theipsa.org.uk so we can discuss options to support any period of absence.

Support available to cover an MP's absence

Funding arrangements to support MPs remain unchanged if they are absent:

• MPs are paid their full salary throughout their period of leave.

• MPs continue to have full access to all the budgets that support their work, such as office, accommodation, staffing and travel.

Funding available to cover an MP's absence

Since 2021-22, IPSA has provided funding from the MP parental leave and absence budget to allow MPs to recruit additional capacity into their office if they expect to be absent from work for an extended period of normally more than three months up and to seven months.

MPs are encouraged to contact IPSA to discuss any funding for material absence which may fall below three months, as well as cases which may span longer than seven months and where IPSA has the discretion to extend the funding if necessary.

It should be noted that where an MP is absent from Westminster for a more limited period due to an important life event, IPSA offers enhanced account management and customer service support to the office when it is made aware. MPs who face ongoing conditions and may require reasonable adjustments whilst present in Westminster should contact IPSA to discuss our disability assistance funding support.

Where an absence spans financial years, any funds remaining will be carried forward into the following year alongside any additional provision needed for annual salary increases.

All claims from this budget will be published in aggregate across all MPs and not against an individual.

Details of funding

The funding available is a pro-rated calculation based on the cost (salary plus on costs) of employing an MP representative for the period of absence budget.

However, this support is not one-size-fits-all and MPs are under no obligation to use the funding as long as they remain within its budget envelope.

As they may not be able to conduct end-to-end recruitment, induction and security processes in time, MPs can therefore use the equivalent funding as they see fit, provided it is within the ordinary rules of the Scheme on staffing.

Find out more about staffing costs.

The following options are thus available (and can be combined), provided the total cost falls within the total funding available and that staff are employed on a standard IPSA contract, job description and salary within the relevant range for their job role:

• Recruit a full-time MP representative to cover the period of absence.

• Temporarily promote an existing staff member to take on additional duties during the period of absence (such as the management of other staff).

• Recruit additional staff on fixed-term contracts to increase capacity for the period of absence (for example, caseworkers).

• Temporarily increase the contracted hours of existing part-time staff or pay overtime.

• Fund learning and development for staff taking on additional responsibility during the MP’s absence.

The funding does not need to be used for cover for one continuous period. An MP undergoing medical treatment could, for example, seek funding to cover absence for three months and then an additional three months at a later stage.

This may also be relevant for adoption processes.

IPSA offers the following extra support for any eligible period of extended absence in addition to or instead of the staff cover funding above:

• funding for travel for any additional staff members (from the travel budget);

• a single point of contact at IPSA to assist them during the period of leave, including at senior level where preferable;

• an additional payment card and amended proxy permissions to provide flexibility while the MP is absent.

Funding for cover during parental leave

MPs taking time off after the birth or adoption (including surrogacy) of a child are eligible for funding to provide cover for their office during their absence through this budget.

This is normally expected to be taken before the end of the first year following the birth or adoption, although we encourage those undergoing adoption or surrogacy-related processes to contact us if they need to be absent before the arrival of the child.

MPs who request funding for cover during a period of parental leave are required to provide IPSA with a maternity certificate (form MAT B1) or a matching certificate from an adoption agency.

In cases of surrogacy, a surrogacy declaration is required, or if legal parenthood has already been established, then IPSA will require a parental order.

The budget applies to same-sex couples in the same way.

Where an MP plans to take shared parental leave, they should contact IPSA to discuss what may be feasible and desirable. Biological fathers, partners and second adopters undertaking the principal at-home carer role are eligible for funding under equal terms and should contact IPSA to agree on the next steps.

Where the MP is the principal at-home carer and has de facto parental responsibility for a stepchild, the budget can also apply.

Where kinship arrangements are in place, such as where a grandparent assumes the sudden care responsibility for a grandchild, the MP should contact IPSA to discuss support that can be offered, particularly if this is long term.

Where an MP or their partner experiences complications in childbirth, baby loss or child bereavement, IPSA will offer enhanced account management support to them and their office through this intensely difficult period. Where this leads to a material medical or caring responsibility absence, the funding can apply and IPSA can arrange a single point of contact, including at senior level, to discuss in confidence.

As mentioned, in all cases where an MP experiences a significant life event, IPSA stands ready to offer enhanced account management and customer service support outside of this budget so that no individual falls through the gap during a shorter-term absence when additional staff cover may not be required or practicable.

The time periods align with the current arrangements for proxy voting in the House of Commons and its future pilot for serious illness. There is no obligation for the MP to use the proxy voting arrangements at the same time as the absence funding, but MPs can apply to the Speaker of the House of Commons to vote by proxy.

For more information, the Clerk of Divisions can be contacted by email at pbohoc@parliament.uk or by calling extension 3261.

MPs may also wish to discuss matters with Members’ HR at membershr@parliament.uk or the Parliamentary Health and Wellbeing Service (PHWS) and its materials for MPs and staff at PHWS@parliament.uk.

Download the PHWS booklet on Services for Members of both Houses.

Download the PHWS booklet on Services for Members' and Peers' staff.

Funding for cover for sickness, medical treatment or other absence

MPs who need to take time off due to sickness, medical treatment or for other reasons can also apply for funding for cover from the MP parental leave and absence budget.

Where an MP is unavailable to request the funding themselves, IPSA will support the nominated caretaker MP to make decisions about the arrangements needed to support the office.

MPs shall demonstrate eligibility for the absence funding by providing IPSA with documentation from a medical professional to support an absence. We understand this may not be immediately possible or appropriate. In these circumstances, please speak to us.

The normal funding available is intended to cover the period of absence (plus up to one-month handover). Longer periods and/or alternative arrangements may be agreed on a case-by-case basis.

Where an MP is required to undertake a caring responsibility for a dependant or another – such as a parent or partner – for an extended period, we encourage them to contact IPSA to discuss the next steps and potential support arrangements.

IPSA can also liaise with whips in Parliament and Members’ HR on the appropriate provision.

Accessing the MP parental leave and absence budget

• Contact us. We encourage any MP who expects to be absent from work to contact their IPSA account manager at the earliest opportunity so that we can work with them to put in place the funding and arrangements needed to support their office while they are absent. A senior single point of contact can be arranged.

• Decide how you want to keep in touch with IPSA while you are absent from work. This might be through a member of the MP’s team or directly. We will discuss with you how and how frequently you want to keep in touch, bearing in mind how we will support the MP and their team during year-end and annual publication.

• Decide and inform us in writing if you want to delegate any decision-making to a proxy while you are absent. This might relate to business costs and/or staffing. Most MPs decide to keep responsibility for staffing decisions but to delegate decisions about business costs.

• Consider requesting another payment card for your office manager.

Returning to work

IPSA requires MPs to inform us they have returned to work so any additional support may be provided.

Given their importance, funding from this budget will not be impacted if the MP returns occasionally to Westminster for equivalents of 'keeping-in-touch days'.

However, where their presence in Parliament is so regular they could reasonably be deemed to have returned to work, the arrangements will be revised and/or withdrawn.

MPs who have taken parental leave will also be entitled to the following support for MPs with children who are dependants:

• uplift to the accommodation budget for each child for whom they need to provide accommodation, up to a maximum of three uplifts;

• the cost of hotel accommodation for their children, up to the usual caps as set out in the Scheme;

• the cost of journeys for children between the constituency and London;

• the cost of a carer’s journey where the children need to be accompanied.

See more guidance on dependants.

Other MPs who have been absent due to illness may need additional support from the disability assistance budget if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term negative effect on their ability to do normal daily activities.

MP representative job description

IPSA created a new job description for an MP representative who may be recruited or promoted to cover the period when the MP is absent.

This person may, for example, be responsible for leading a team of staff, organising community events, meeting ministers if they agree to do so, and working with many stakeholders to act on behalf of the absent MP within the constraints of the constitution.

Although the MP representative will not enter parliamentary chambers, engage in debates, ask questions in the House of Commons or vote, they could submit written questions on the MP’s behalf.

Use the job description generator to see the MP representative profile.

Consultation about support for parental leave and other MP absence

IPSA conducted an extensive further consultation across 2022 and received positive feedback on the support available from parliamentary stakeholders, other legislatures and external subject matter experts. This exercise was led by Helen Jones, an IPSA Board member and former MP.

Download the research.

Implications for publication and FOI

The MP parental leave and absence budget is a central and uncapped fund, and costs incurred against this budget are aggregated and not published against individual MPs.

IPSA also receives requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act.

As required by the legislation, IPSA considers FOI requests on a case-by-case basis and whether there are exemptions that apply that mean information should not be disclosed.

For example, we take privacy very seriously and consider the section 40(2) Personal Information exemption which provides an exemption from disclosing information if complying with the request would breach any of the principles in the UK GDPR.

The Working Time Regulations 1998 and The Working Time Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 entitle all staff members to a minimum of 28 days (5.6 weeks) of annual leave.

This can include the public/bank holidays in the UK country in which the staff member works.

There is a minimum allowance of 20 days that must be taken in the year. This is pro-rated for part-time staff.

Staff members employed since 15 April 2015 have a leave year starting on 1 January and this should not be changed.

The leave entitlement is detailed in the employment contract (for contracts created before July 2024) or in the Key Terms document which forms part of the contract or agreement with the MP.

Annual leave entitlement may rise with the length of service within the first three years.

Staff members are encouraged to take their full annual leave entitlement within the leave year to ensure a healthy work-life balance.

Carrying over leave

Staff members are unable to carry forward more than five days of annual leave in any leave year unless they have been prevented from doing so due to sickness absence, maternity, paternity or adoption leave.

Managing annual leave

It is the responsibility of staff and their managers to maintain a record of all annual leave within the office.

This will make it easier to know who has taken leave out of their entitlement and enable the MP to monitor that staff are at least taking their statutory requirement.

Calculating annual leave for casual workers

Casual workers accrue annual leave pay based on their hours worked.

Their annual leave entitlement (the rate at which they accrue annual leave) is 28 days (inclusive of bank holidays).

Instead of requesting their holiday pay, or being paid the entire amount when they leave, each month their holiday pay will be included in their monthly pay. It will appear as a separate line on their payslip.

This will reduce errors and ensure the MP has up-to-date spending figures in their budget rather than having an unexpectedly large claim at the end of the casual workers’ contract.

If you have any questions, please contact a member of the IPSA Payroll team who can assist you.

Calculating annual leave for term-time staff

Term-time staff work only when the house is in session or the staff member’s children are at school.

They accrue annual leave based on the number of weeks worked across the year. This is done by multiplying the annual leave entitlement and the bank holiday entitlement by the number of weeks worked and dividing by 52 (the number of weeks in the year). For example:

25 + 8 bank holidays annual leave for someone working 39 weeks across the year would be 33/52 × 39 = 24.75 days.

This should then be multiplied by the full-time daily hours to give the calculation in hours. Therefore for someone who works 37.5 hours per week, the annual leave should be multiplied by 7.5 (hours worked each day).

This is 24.75 × 7.5 = 185.62 or 186.0 when rounded to the nearest half-hour.

If the staff member works part-time, the above calculation needs to be pro-rated in accordance with the number of hours worked across the week.

Compressed hours

It is important to inform IPSA if a member of staff is working compressed hours. IPSA can produce a contract to reflect this agreement.

Payment or recovery of annual leave

Upon leaving the calculation for the payment/recovery of annual leave to MPs’ Staff is:

Days: Annual Basic Salary / 260 = daily annual leave rate × numbers of days due or overtaken

Hours: Annual Basic Salary / 52 / Weekly working Hours = hourly rate × number of hours due or overtaken

If there are any further questions not covered within this guidance, please contact Members' HR at 020 7219 2080 or by email at membershr@parliament.uk.

Family leave includes all types of leave associated with birth, adoption, surrogacy and for carers and those with dependents.

The following sections are designed to help you understand the pay and leave entitlements for MPs' staff.

Previous references to the Family Leave Addendum should be taken to mean this guidance.

This content was updated in July 2024 to reflect recent legislative changes.

Maternity leave and pay are granted to employees in the UK who take time off when they are having a baby or via surrogacy, or when they are adopting a baby/child as the main adopter.

Notifying your employer

If a staff member is pregnant, it is important to notify the line manager/MP in writing as soon as possible and no later than the fifteenth week before the expected week of childbirth.

The Office must be notified in writing, of:

• the expected week of childbirth

• the maternity start date

Once you receive your MAT B1 certificate or doctor’s letter – which you will get from your midwife or doctor – you must provide this to your employer.

This must be provided as soon as possible, but no later than 21 days before your maternity start date.

You will not receive Statutory Maternity Pay if you do not give your employer proof that the baby is due. Please note, the first two weeks of maternity leave are compulsory.

MP staff should submit a maternity leave request form on IPSA Online and attach the MAT B1 form/doctor’s letter.

Find out more about submitting maternity leave requests.

Except for terms relating to pay, your terms and conditions of employment remain in force during the ordinary maternity leave and additional maternity leave periods.

You must check the staff member is eligible:

• the staff member must be an employee, not an agency worker or self-employed

• the staff member must provide the correct notice and proof of pregnancy

• the staff member must have worked continuously for their MP for at least 26 weeks, up to the end of any day in the qualifying week

• to receive Statutory Maternity Pay, the staff member must earn at least £125 a week (on average)

Find out more about calculating the 'qualifying week'.

Maternity pay

The amount of maternity pay a staff member will receive depends on their length of continuous service.

Staff members with less than 26 weeks of continuous service (up to the end of any day in the qualifying week) will not receive maternity pay.

Staff members who have served longer than 26 weeks with their MP, but not one full year, will receive full pay for the first six weeks of maternity leave, then Statutory Maternity Pay for the following 33 weeks.

Staff members who have made one continuous year's service for their MP will receive full pay for the first 26 weeks, then Statutory Maternity Pay for the following 13 weeks.

Changing your intended maternity leave start date

If you want to change your intended start date, please inform your manager or MP in writing.

You must provide as much notice as possible, but wherever possible you must inform your employer at least 28 days before the original intended start date (or the new start date if you are bringing the date forward).

Your maternity leave should normally start on the intended start date. However, it may start earlier if you give birth before your intended start date, or if you are absent for a pregnancy-related reason in the last four weeks before your expected week of childbirth.

In either of those cases, maternity leave will start on the following day. The law states you are not allowed to work during the two weeks following childbirth.

Keeping in touch (KIT days)

Staff members on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave can work for up to 10 'keeping in touch' (KIT) and 20 'shared parental leave in touch' (SPLIT) days without losing occupational family pay (covering maternity, adoption, paternity, and shared parental leave collectively), provided the MP gives advance approval.

KIT days do not trigger the end of the period of family leave.

Any type of work can be conducted on a KIT/SPLIT day including training, conferences, and meetings, but the staff member must be working. They are voluntary during family leave.

Please complete the KIT or SPLIT day payment form and email it to payroll@theipsa.org.uk.

KIT or SPLIT days are paid at the employee’s usual full-time pay rate, regardless of how many hours are worked on a particular day. Therefore, if the staff member is in receipt of SMP only or is receiving no pay, they will receive a full day’s pay.

KIT days must be paid at the time you do the work and cannot be delayed or added on to extend your maternity leave.

They can be taken at any point during the 52 weeks you are on maternity leave. However, if you are still in receipt of full pay, you will not receive any further payment.

The calculation is:

Annual salary / 12 / working days in the month = daily rate due per KIT/SPLIT day worked

In other words, this is your monthly salary divided by the working days in the month you came to work a KIT day. This can be between 20 and 23 days depending on the month. This means the rate may vary following the month it is served.

Women may be eligible to convert some of their maternity leave into shared parental leave.

Find out more about shared parental leave.

Antenatal care

Reasonable time off for antenatal care will also be paid at full pay.

Holiday entitlement during maternity leave

Holiday entitlement will continue to accrue during maternity leave.

If your maternity leave continues into the next holiday year, any holiday entitlement that cannot reasonably be taken before starting your maternity leave can be carried over. It must be taken immediately before returning to work unless your manager agrees otherwise.

An MP’s staff member is entitled to carry over up to 5.6 weeks of annual leave into the following leave year if they have been unable to take all or part of their annual leave because of taking maternity and other family-related leave.

Please discuss your holiday plans with your manager in good time before starting your maternity leave. All holiday dates are subject to approval by your manager.

Sickness before maternity leave

Maternity leave will automatically start four weeks before the baby is due if the staff member is off work for a pregnancy-related illness.

If the baby arrives early the leave will start the day after the birth.

IPSA must be informed of this by email to payroll@theipsa.org.uk

Return to work

You must return to work on the expected return date unless you tell your employer/manager otherwise.

If you wish to return to work earlier than the expected return date, you must give your employer/manager eight weeks' prior notice of the date. It is helpful if you give this notice in writing.

You may be able to return later than the expected return date if you request annual leave or parental leave, which will be at your employer/manager’s discretion.

If you decide you do not want to return to work you should give notice of resignation in accordance with your contract.

Flexible working

MPs’ staff can submit a flexible working request before returning from family leave.

MPs should seek any advice from Members HR relating to these cases.

Employees in the UK are entitled to paternity pay and leave depending on their length of service. There are slightly different rules for employees in Northern Ireland.

Paternity leave is granted to employees in the UK who take time off when their partner is having a baby or via surrogacy, or when they are adopting a baby/child as the secondary adopter.

You get the same amount of leave even if you have more than one child – for example, twins. One week of leave is the same number of days you normally work.

You are entitled to take up to two weeks of paternity leave within 52 weeks of the child's birth (or due date if the birth is early).

You cannot take leave before the birth. You can choose whether to take one or two weeks.

Since 6 April 2024 in England, Scotland and Wales, the two weeks do not have to be consecutive – they can be taken together or separately.

In Northern Ireland, the two weeks must be taken consecutively.

You have the right to attend two antenatal appointments with your partner or surrogate at full pay.

If adopting, you have the right to two adoption appointments after you have been matched with a child/ren.

IPSA must be informed of this period of leave once agreed with the MP.

Use IPSA Online to enter your leave request and attach the MAT B1 form before submitting.

Learn more about submitting paternity leave requests.

Paternity pay

Paternity pay is only available to employees who have certain qualifying periods with their current employer and all employees must provide the correct notice.

If you are unsure of your entitlement to statutory paternity pay you can check using the Gov.uk online calculator.

Statutory paternity pay rates

The Gov.uk website also sets out whether you are eligible for the statutory weekly rate of Paternity Pay or the percentage of your weekly earnings (whichever is lower).

Paternity pay for birth or surrogacy

You must have completed 26 weeks of continuous service by the qualifying week to receive full occupational paternity pay (two weeks of full pay).

If you have less than 26 weeks of continuous service you are entitled to one week’s full pay.

The 'qualifying week' for birth or surrogacy is the 15th week before the birth of the child.

To calculate this, count back 15 weeks from the expected date of childbirth found on the MATB1 form.

The qualifying week starts on a Sunday and finishes on the following Saturday.

If up to the end of any day in the qualifying week, you have less than 26 weeks of service, you will receive one week’s full pay.

If up to the end of any day in the qualifying week, you have completed 26 or more weeks of service, you will receive two weeks of full pay.

Learn more about calculating the 'qualifying week'.

Keeping in touch

For more information about KIT and SPLIT days, see 'Keeping in touch (KIT Days)' in our page on maternity leave and pay.

When a couple adopt a child, one person is the “main adopter”, and one is the “secondary adopter”.

The main adopter can take adoption leave and pay, equivalent to maternity pay and leave.

The secondary adopter can take paternity pay and leave.

It is important to notify the line manager/MP in writing as soon as possible when a staff member is matched with a child for adoption and wishes to take adoption leave – ideally within seven days of being notified (unless this is not reasonably practicable).

Staff members must provide their line manager/MP with documentary proof of the adoption. This is usually a matching certificate from the adoption agency.

Staff members must also notify their line manager/MP when they expect the child to be placed with them and when they want their adoption leave to start.

They can change their adoption leave start date if they give their line manager/MP at least 28 days’ notice unless agreed otherwise.

Use IPSA Online to enter your leave request. For more information, visit Submitting adoption leave requests.

If a staff member wishes to return from adoption leave early, they must inform the MP eight weeks in advance so that preparations can be made for the staff member's return.

For information about entitlements and any risk assessment needed, the MP can contact Members HR on 020 7219 2080 or by email at membershr@parliament.uk.

For MPs’ Staff members who are the main adopter, please visit Maternity leave and pay.

For MPs’ Staff members who are the secondary adopter, please visit Paternity leave and pay.

ACAS also provides information about Adoption leave pay and other rights.

Under the Shared Parental Leave (SPL) system eligible staff members will have the right to share up to a maximum of 52 weeks’ leave, which does not need to be consecutive.

The first two weeks of leave are compulsory for women on maternity leave.

Use IPSA Online to enter your SPL request.

For more information, visit Submitting shared parental leave requests.

If the mother/primary adopter is only entitled to maternity allowance (and not maternity leave) the notice of curtailment must be submitted to Jobcentre Plus. The maternity allowance cannot be reinstated, so they are in effect giving consent for their partner to take the whole of any SPL entitlement.

Shared Parental Pay is the same as Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), except that during the first six weeks SMP is paid at 90% of whatever you earn (with no maximum).

If a staff member wishes to return from shared parental leave early, they must inform the MP eight weeks in advance so that preparations can be made for the staff member's return.

For information regarding entitlements and any risk assessment, the MP should contact Members HR on 020 7219 2080 or by email to membershr@parliament.uk

If you or your partner have a child who dies before they are 18 or if you have a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy, you may be entitled to leave, statutory parental bereavement pay, or both.

Parental bereavement leave

If you are classed as an employee, you may be entitled to two weeks’ leave from the first day of your employment for each child who has died or is stillborn.

You can take this in either one block of two weeks, two separate weeks or only take one week. A week is counted as your normal working week.

It can be taken from on or after the date of death or stillbirth and must be taken within 56 weeks of that date.

Statutory parental bereavement pay

To qualify for Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay, you must have been continuously employed by your employer for at least 26 weeks up to the end of the “relevant week”.

The “relevant week” is the week (ending with a Saturday) immediately before the week of the death or stillbirth.

If you are eligible, you’ll be able to get either £184.03 a week or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower).

To qualify you must have earned £123 a week before tax over an eight-week period and have given the employer the correct notice.

If you are on another type of statutory family leave, parental bereavement leave must start after the other leave has ended. It does not have to be immediately after, even if the leave is for another child.

Notice for parental bereavement leave and pay

Within zero to eight weeks after the child’s death or stillbirth, notice of leave must be given before you normally start work on the first day of your working week of the week(s) you want to take off work.

Within nine to 56 weeks after the child’s death or stillbirth, notice of leave must be given one week before the start of the week(s) you wish to take off work.

Notification can be by phone, voicemail, text message or email and no proof of death or stillbirth is needed.

For statutory parental bereavement pay, you must ask within 28 days starting from the first day of the week you are claiming.

This notification must be in writing stating your name, the dates of the period you wish to take statutory parental bereavement pay and the date of the child’s death or stillbirth.

You must complete a declaration to your employer regarding your eligibility.

For more information and to make a claim visit Claim Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP3).

You can also find additional information by visiting Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Leave – overview.

Please notify IPSA Payroll by emailing Payroll@theipsa.org.uk.

From 6 April 2025, if you or your partner has responsibility for a child receiving neonatal care, you may be entitled to neonatal care leave, statutory neonatal care pay or both.

Neonatal care means:

• medical care in a hospital

• palliative (end-of-life) care

• outreach care

This is not currently available in Northern Ireland.

Neonatal care leave

If you are classed as an employee, you may be entitled to neonatal care leave. You qualify for this from day one of your employment.

Leave must be taken between the child’s birth and before the end of 68 weeks.

The neonatal care must be given uninterrupted for a period of at least seven days.

A week of leave accrues for every seven continuous days that a child is admitted to neonatal care. This has a cap of 12 weeks for each parent/carer.

This leave can be added to the end of statutory maternity or statutory adoption leave.

It must be taken within 68 weeks of the child being born.

Tier 1 leave is where the NCL is taken while the child is in neonatal care of the first week following their discharge from care. It can be taken when it is accrued while care is still being provided.

Tier 2 leave is where the leave being requested has occurred during other periods of family leave and must be taken in one continuous period after the other parental leave has finished.

Statutory neonatal care pay

If you or your partner has responsibility for a child receiving neonatal care, you may be entitled to Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (SNCP).

To qualify for Statutory Neonatal Care Pay, you must have been continuously employed by your employer for at least 26 weeks up to the end of the 'relevant week'. This is in line with the rules for statutory maternity and adoption pay. The 'relevant week' is the week (ending with a Saturday) immediately before the week of the child’s birth.

If you are eligible, you will be able to get either £187.18 a week or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower). To qualify, you must have earned £125 a week in the relevant period and have given the employer the correct notice.

Notice for neonatal care and leave

Notice for neonatal care leave is split into two tiers depending on the situation:

Tier 1 leave and pay

Notice must be given either:

• before the employee is due to start work on their first day of absence from work where possible,  

• or as soon as reasonably practicable following the child’s admission. 

Notice signifies your intention to take leave after it has been accrued.

Notice should be given on a weekly basis until the child is discharged or the leave ends.

Notice for Statutory Neonatal Care Pay must be given within 28 days following the start of the leave.

Tier 2 leave and pay

For both leave and pay, you must give notice that is twice the length of the leave plus one day, and this is capped at four weeks’ notice.

Notification can be by phone, voicemail, text message or email to your employer

More information

To inform IPSA of this absence, the payroll proxy can submit an absence on behalf of the staff member. IPSA will write to the staff member to confirm their entitlement to pay and leave.

Find out more about neonatal care pay and leave at GOV.UK.

Paid carer leave (new from April 2024)

You have the right to take paid time off for caring responsibilities for a dependent who meets one of the following criteria set out on GOV.UK (www.gov.uk):

• a physical or mental illness or injury that means they’re expected to need care for more than three months.

• a disability (as defined in the Equality Act 2010)

• care needs because of their old age

You will be paid at your normal pay rate and are permitted to take one paid week a year.

A week is counted as your normal working week.

The new carer leave policy was introduced into legislation in April 2024.

For more information visit Unpaid carer’s leave.

Please submit a notification of carer leave on IPSA Online.

Emergency leave for dependants (replaces the 2017 carer policy)

You will have the right to take a reasonable period off work to deal with unforeseen circumstances and emergencies involving a dependant.

You may take up to five days leave, and it may be paid in full at the discretion of your manager. Any additional leave will be unpaid.

You can take this leave if it is needed in any of the following circumstances:

• to provide assistance if a dependant falls ill, gives birth, is assaulted, or injured

• to make arrangements to provide care for a dependant who is ill or injured

• on the death of a dependant

• to deal with an unexpected disruption in care arrangements

• to deal with an incident involving your child while he/she is in school

• to attend a medical appointment with a dependant – however, as with your own medical appointments, these should be made outside working hours where possible

For these purposes, a dependant may be a spouse, civil partner, partner, child, parent, or someone who lives in the same household or relies on you for care or assistance if they are ill or injured.

This does not include an employee, tenant, lodger, or boarder/flatmate.

Please submit a notification of carer leave in IPSA Online.

Unpaid parental leave

If a staff member has completed one year’s service with their MP, they are entitled to 18 weeks unpaid parental leave for each child born or adopted.

The maximum unpaid leave allowed in any one year is four weeks.

If the dependent has a disability the Carer Leave Policy may apply [LINK].

The leave can start once the child is born or placed for adoption, or as soon as the employee has completed one year's service, whichever is later.

Employees can take the leave any time up to the child's 18th birthday.

A request should be made to an employer giving 21 days’ notice of the start date of the parental leave.

If the employee qualifies for parental leave and gives the employer the correct notice the employee should be able to take parental leave at any time.

To take parental leave straight after the birth or adoption of a child, an employee should give notice 21 days before the beginning of the expected week of childbirth or placement.

In cases where this may not be possible, they should give notice to the employer as soon as possible. For example, if a child is born prematurely or where less than 21 days’ notice is given where a child is to be placed with you for adoption.

Parental leave should be taken in blocks of a week or multiples of a week and should not be taken as “odd” days off – unless the employer agrees otherwise.

Employees cannot take off more than four weeks during a year per child.

One week is based on an employee’s working pattern.

An employee will remain employed while on parental leave and some terms of the contract – such as contractual notice and redundancy terms – still apply.

For more information, visit Recording sickness and unpaid leave.

Here is an example of how to calculate the “qualifying week” for maternity, paternity, adoption and surrogacy pay and leave.

Example

You or your partner/surrogate is pregnant, and the estimated due date is Wednesday 18 December 2024.

The expected week of childbirth begins on Sunday 15 December 2024 and ends on Saturday 21 December 2024.

Counting back 15 weeks from the 18 December means the 3 September 2024.

Therefore, the qualifying week starts on Sunday 1 September 2024 and ends on Saturday 7 September 2024.

To have completed 26 weeks of continuous service, you must have been employed from 16 March 2024.

The HMRC Maternity Calculator is a useful tool to help you calculate these dates.

Annual leave on family leave

Annual leave continues to accrue while on family/parental leave.

It is recommended this is taken either at the beginning or end of the family leave.

For more information visit Calculating and managing your annual leave entitlement.

Redundancy and family leave

Where staff member's jobs are made redundant (as a result of their employing MP leaving Parliament) while qualified for – or in receipt of – statutory pay entitlements for parental leave, any remaining statutory pay owed to the staff member will be paid in the staff member’s final payslip.

Former MPs may request that the staff member receive any remaining occupational pay they would have been entitled to for that period of parental leave, had their employment not ended.

Time off in lieu

Any accrued time off in lieu must be taken before a staff member begins their family leave.

Staff absence budget

The salary cost for the absent member of staff will be automatically transferred to the staff absence budget, from the first day of leave as soon as IPSA are informed.

In such cases, an MP may wish to have some support in the office to cover the absence.

This cover will be funded from the normal staffing budget.

Pay award and family leave

If an MP awards a pay increase to all their staff, the same consideration must also be given to a staff member who is on family leave.

Childcare vouchers

If a staff member is in receipt of childcare vouchers before they go on maternity/adoption leave, they are entitled to continue receiving them for the duration of their maternity/adoption leave (up to 52 weeks).

While the staff member is on full pay, the deductions continue as normal.

When the staff members move onto Statutory Maternity Pay or nil pay, they are still entitled to receive the childcare voucher as if they were being paid their full salary.

During this period, there will be no deduction from the employee's pay, and the MP must therefore take the full cost of these vouchers as expenditure against their staffing budget.

Employers pension contribution

While a member of staff is in receipt of statutory maternity, adoption or paternity pay the MP will continue to pay the full employer’s pension contributions (10% of salary).

Over-payment recoveries

If a member of staff is having any salary over-payment recoveries while on family leave, these will cease when they go on to statutory pay only and be restarted upon their return to work.

Should the member of staff not return to work, IPSA will write to them for the outstanding monies owed.

Statutory money reclaim

MPs are classed as small employers, and they will automatically receive 103% reclaim against statutory maternity/adoption/paternity and shared parental pay in their staffing budget.

Time off for public duties

Time off for public duties will be available in line with the Employment Rights Act 1996.

Time off may be paid or unpaid, which is also dependent on the MP’s business needs as to the time off requested.

The amount of time off will depend on the nature of the duties.

Jury service

If a staff member is required to undertake jury service, they will continue to be paid their normal salary (from the staffing budget) irrelevant of the length of time the hearing may be for. You must provide suitable documentation to your MP and IPSA.

Volunteer magistrates

The amount of time off for a voluntary magistrate will depend on the nature of the duties but is usually expected to be 13 days/26 half-day sittings per year.

Where possible, employees who volunteer as a magistrate should claim the allowances available to them for loss of earnings, travel and subsistence.

For more information about the available allowances, visit the Magistrates Association website.

Unpaid leave

A staff member may wish to take some time out of their role to advance their career development, care for a relative or for other professional and personal reasons. The staff member may want to use unpaid leave. This is left at the discretion of the MP.

Unpaid leave should be of short duration and agreed in writing with the MP to confirm the terms and conditions.

The MP should contact Members HR for advice before agreeing to this in writing. Members HR can be contacted at 020 7219 2080 or by email to membershr@parliament.uk.

Reservist duties

If a staff member undertakes mandatory training as an armed forces reservist during their normal working hours, their employer may grant up to 15 additional days (per person, per year) of annual leave, paid special leave or unpaid leave as per (7.12 (c)) of the Scheme.

If they take annual leave, their salary will continue to come out of the MPs’ normal staffing budget during this time. Cover for the staff member may be arranged but this cost will also need to be paid from the normal staffing budget.

Where the staff member is granted paid special leave to undertake mandatory training, their salary costs will be allocated to the staff absence budget for the period of leave. Cover could then be arranged using the regular staffing budget. An annual leave request should be submitted using the reason “reservist duties paid”.

Find out more about booking annual leave.

If the reservist is mobilised, they will be paid through funds administered by the Ministry of Defence.

Party-political activities

If any staff members take time off for any party-political activities, such as campaigning at local or general elections, IPSA must be informed as this period will be unpaid.

The staff member may take annual leave or use up any accrued time off in lieu to undertake these activities.

During any period of unpaid leave, the contract of employment will remain for purposes of accruing continuous service with the MP.

Suspension on pay

Staff members will continue to accrue annual leave while on a period of suspension.

Compassionate or bereavement leave

It is at the MP's discretion as to what period of leave to approve. The cost of this will come from the staffing budget, irrelevant to the period taken.

Find out more about parental bereavement leave and pay.

Kinship care

'Kinship care', 'kinship carers' or a child living in kinship care is where a child lives with a relative or friend or other person connected to the child for some or all of the time, but who are not the parents, the local authority or a professional caregiver.

The local authority will support adults caring for a child in kinship care arrangements. Depending on the type of kinship care arrangement, there may be financial support available from the government or local authority.

MPs as employers should provide flexibility to their staff who are kinship carers, support them for time off for official appointments for the child, and treat kinship carers fairly and in line with other parents or carers.

Continuous service

If staff members are on a period of leave for any of the above reasons, it will still be counted as continuous service.

To work out the amount of days of holiday your casual workers are entitled to, use the Casual holiday pay calculator.

MPs are the legal employers of their staff. IPSA is not the employer of MPs’ staff. From a legal point of view, each MP is seen as a separate employer. When a staff member moves from one MP employer to another, they lose any legal rights to redundancy pay or family pay and they have to ‘re-qualify’ for those statutory entitlements.

While IPSA cannot change the legal position, we want to support better employment conditions for MPs’ staff. IPSA will recognise MPs’ staff past service by funding occupational payments based on an individual’s whole period of service as an active MP staff member so long as there is no break in service of more than 60 calendar days.

IPSA’s policy on recognising past service is not the same as ‘continuous service’. Continuous service is set out in law and applies to a period of service with a single employer.

Principles of recognised past service

• Occupational payments are based on the statutory calculation and the minimum and maximum periods apply, including payment caps and are calculated based on age.

• A staff member must have at least the equivalent minimum qualifying period of service before occupational payments will be made. This qualification period could be made up of the current period of employment and any recognised past service taken together.

• The legal position remains the same as before and statutory payments will still be linked to the qualifying periods of service with each individual MP employer.

Jargon buster

Statutory pay: this is a payment that the government will fund, usually via your employer.

Statutory qualifying periods: this is what the government decides are the minimum periods of service someone must meet to be able to receive a statutory payment.

Statutory calculation: this is the set of rules that the government places on a statutory payment. You may have to have a specific length of service. The payment may be decided based on your age or your salary, or that there is a cap on the maximum amount you can receive, and this is all set out on GOV.UK.

Occupational pay and qualifying periods: occupational entitlements are decided and funded by IPSA. The calculation for occupational payments for recognising past service adhere as closely as possible to the statutory calculation and statutory rules.

How it works

From 1 April 2025, IPSA will fund payments recognising eligible past service for MPs’ staff who currently hold a standard IPSA model contract of employment with their current employer for the purposes of:

• occupational family pay, and  

• occupational redundancy pay.

Normal tax rules apply and any redundancy payment totalling more than £30,000 will be subject to tax in the normal way.

Step-by-step guide

Step 1: Will your past service be recognised?

If you answer 'yes' to any of these questions, the service is unlikely to be recognised:

• Is it a casual or volunteer agreement, or a bought-in service?

• Is it dismissal for gross misconduct?

• Is the service gap over 60 calendar days?

Step 2: Family pay

For family pay purposes, these questions may apply and you may have the service recognised:

• How much service has been completed?

• What is the length of the most recent service?

• How much is the occupational family pay, including any statutory pay due?

Once someone has started working in an MP’s office, for the purposes of recognising past service, IPSA will consider this day one of their service with an MP.

Where a staff member moves from one MP employer to another without having completed the full-statutory qualifying period, the occupational qualifying period would continue to accrue until eligibility has been met.

Recognised past service and the government maternity allowance

Speak to payroll@theipsa.org.uk if you have enough recognised past service across multiple MPs but don’t qualify for statutory maternity pay, only the government’s maternity allowance. IPSA will need to see your proof of eligibility and the equivalent amount will be deducted from the occupational payment to avoid any duplication of payments.

Break in service

A break in service is where an individual has left the employment of one MP and has not worked for another MP for more than 60 calendar days. If the record shows there is a break in service, the member of staff will be treated as though they have no previous service and will start again to accrue rights to redundancy or family pay. A permitted gap is 60 calendar days or less, 61 or more calendar days is a break in service.

It is important for staff to keep an eye on their vetting status so that this does not expire in the middle of moving roles and push them over the 60-calendar-day break in service limit.

Dismissal for gross misconduct

On every staff leaver form, MPs should clearly record the reason for staff exit. A new option has been included on the leaver form to record dismissal for gross misconduct.

Where a period of service has ended in dismissal for gross misconduct, this service will not be recognised for the purpose of any future redundancy or family leave pay. Once the period of employment ending in gross misconduct is discounted from the total length of service, this could create a break in service of over 60 calendar days.

You can find more information about the data we collect on MPs’ staff in our privacy notice.