Search Legislation

The Statutory Maternity Pay (General) Regulations 1986

Changes over time for: Explanatory Notes

 Help about opening options

Alternative versions:

Status:

This revised version has been created from an electronic version contributed by Westlaw which was originally derived from the printed publication. Read more

Changes to legislation:

There are currently no known outstanding effects for the The Statutory Maternity Pay (General) Regulations 1986. Help about Changes to Legislation

Close

Changes to Legislation

Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. At the current time any known changes or effects made by subsequent legislation have been applied to the text of the legislation you are viewing by the editorial team. Please see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ for details regarding the timescales for which new effects are identified and recorded on this site.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These regulations make provision as to statutory maternity pay (SMP) introduced by Part V of and Schedule 4 to the Social Security Act 1986 (“the 1986 Act”). They are made under powers in the 1986 Act which have not yet been in force for 12 months. Accordingly the regulations are exempt, by section 61(5) of the Act, from reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee and are made without reference to that Committee.

Part I relates to the citation, commencement and interpretation of the regulations.

Part II contains provisions relating to entitlement to SMP. Regulation 2 prescribes when the maternity pay period of 18 weeks begins in cases where the woman does not stop work until after the start of the 11th week before her expected week of confinement. It also sets out the provisions which apply when the woman is confined before the 11th week before her expected week of confinement. Regulations 3 and 4 contain provisions specifying entitlement to SMP where the woman's contract of service is ended before the 14th week before the expected week of confinement.

Regulation 5 provides for 2 or more contracts of service to be treated as a single contract where both employer and employee are the same. Regulation 6 specifies the lower rate of SMP. Regulation 7 specifies the circumstances in which the liability to make payments of SMP is to be that of the Secretary of State and not the employer. Regulations 8 to 10 specify circumstances in which there is to be no liability to make payments of SMP.

Part III provides for weeks which would otherwise break a period of continuous employment to count in determining whether employment was continuous. These include weeks where the woman was absent because of a temporary cessation of work, or because of pregnancy or confinement, even though no contract of service existed between the woman and her former employer (regulation 11); weeks falling between a dismissal and reinstatement (regulation 12) and weeks in which the woman did not work because of a trade dispute at her place of employment (regulation 13). Breaks due to a change in ownership or control of the undertaking or business in which she worked are disregarded in determining whether her employment is continuous (regulation 14). Time spent in the reserve forces is also disregarded (regulation 15).

Regulation 16 contains provisions as to when a contract of service is to be treated as not normally involving or having involved employment for less than 16 hours weekly.

Part IV contains general provisions relating to the meaning of `employer' (regulation 17); to the treatment of 2 or more employers as one (regulation 18); to the payments which are to be regarded as contractual remuneration (regulation 19); to the meaning of `earnings' (regulation 20) and to the calculation of normal weekly earnings (regulation 21).

Part V of the Regulations contains provisions relating to the administration of SMP including the provision of information by women (regulation 22) and the keeping of records by employers (regulation 26).

Part VI relates to the payments of SMP both by employers (regulations 27–29) and by the Secretary of State (regulation 30). Regulation 31 provides for the payment of SMP where the woman is unable to act.

Part VII relates to offences.

Back to top

Options/Help

Print Options

Close

Legislation is available in different versions:

Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.

Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.

Close

See additional information alongside the content

Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.

Close

Opening Options

Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once

Close

More Resources

Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • correction slips
  • links to related legislation and further information resources
Close

Timeline of Changes

This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.

Close

More Resources

Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as made version that was used for the print copy
  • correction slips

Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:

  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • links to related legislation and further information resources