NHS Maternity Pay and Your Pension: A Complete Guide
How your NHS pension works during maternity leave — contributions on actual pay, tiers stepping down per phase, and what happens during the unpaid weeks.
Read the guide →Plain-English deep dives into the parts of NHS maternity pay that catch people out — pension tiers, salary sacrifice, returning to work, this year's changes, and how the NHS really compares to the private sector.
How your NHS pension works during maternity leave — contributions on actual pay, tiers stepping down per phase, and what happens during the unpaid weeks.
Read the guide →Why salary sacrifice lowers your SMP through the calculation window — and why it can't be deducted once SMP is being paid.
Read the guide →What happens to your pay when you return — KIT days, using annual leave, phased returns, and whether you'll ever repay anything.
Read the guide →The new £194.32 SMP rate, the £129 earnings threshold, Scotland's move to a 36-hour week — and what stayed the same.
Read the guide →The honest comparison against the statutory minimum and enhanced private schemes — and why the pension makes the gap smaller than it looks.
Read the guide →Your exact figures — all four phases, after tax, NI and pension, with the Phase 2 cap correctly enforced.
Calculate now →