Prison officer maternity pay calculator

What this prison officer maternity pay calculator does

Planning maternity leave means answering a practical question: what will actually reach my account, month by month, and where are the gaps? This calculator takes your pay and the pay scheme you choose and lays out take-home pay week by week and month by month across up to 52 weeks of leave, against what you would normally take home.

It starts from facts we can verify and is explicit where we cannot. Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) rules and 2026/27 rates are built in from GOV.UK. HMPPS's Employee Package (2023-24 edition) says up to 52 weeks of maternity leave with up to 26 weeks of contractual pay, but the actual contractual pay rates are not published, so the occupational part is an editable input. There are three presets: statutory only; the Civil Service pattern GOV.UK describes (26 weeks full pay, 13 weeks statutory pay, 13 weeks unpaid, with the warning that terms depend on the department); and your own scheme.

Statutory Maternity Pay in 2026/27

If you qualify, SMP is paid for up to 39 weeks. For the first 6 weeks it is 90% of your average weekly earnings. For the remaining 33 weeks it is the lower of £194.32 or 90% of your average weekly earnings (GOV.UK, 2026 to 2027). Maternity leave itself can last up to 52 weeks, so the last 13 weeks are unpaid unless your employer's scheme says otherwise.

For a Band 3 officer on the top pay point of the 37-hour table (£36,778 a year, about £707 a week), SMP is about £636 a week for 6 weeks, then £194.32 a week. That drop at week 7 is the single biggest reason people look for an occupational scheme, and why the calculator lets you test one.

The Civil Service pattern, and why to check yours

GOV.UK's Civil Service guidance describes mothers in the Civil Service being eligible for 26 weeks' maternity leave at full pay, 13 weeks at statutory pay and 13 weeks unpaid. The same guidance says employers vary and that you should check your own department's maternity policy. HMPPS's own Employee Package (2023-24 edition) is consistent with that headline: up to 52 weeks of leave with up to 26 weeks of contractual pay. It does not publish the actual pay rates, the qualifying service or the return-to-work conditions, so the 'Civil Service guidance' preset is labelled as exactly that and you should confirm with HR.

The same Employee Package lists maternity support (paternity) leave of up to two weeks at contractual pay and shared parental leave of up to a year with up to 26 weeks of contractual pay. The Scottish Prison Service publishes its own: 27 weeks of full basic pay for maternity and adoption leave, then 12 weeks of statutory pay, and 2 weeks of paid paternity leave. Those are SPS figures; they do not apply to England and Wales.

How the calculator works

1. Choose your pay from the 2026/27 tables or enter your own annual pay.
2. Pick a scheme preset or enter your own weeks of full pay and half pay.
3. Set how long you plan to be on leave, up to 52 weeks.
4. Optionally enter your average weekly earnings if you know them; statutory pay uses a specific earnings average, so your figure may differ from pay divided by 52.
5. Read the totals, the month-by-month chart and the phase timeline. The shortfall figure compares what you receive with your normal take-home over the same weeks.

How take-home is estimated

Each week's income is annualised and run through 2026/27 income tax and National Insurance, with an alpha pension contribution applied only to employer-paid weeks. Low-income weeks on statutory pay often attract little or no tax, which is why take-home on statutory pay is closer to the gross figure than you might expect. This is an approximation: your tax code, any pension treatment on leave and how payroll spreads pay can differ.

Paternity, adoption and shared parental leave

Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Shared Parental Pay are both £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, in 2026/27 (GOV.UK). HMPPS's Employee Package (2023-24 edition) lists up to two weeks of paternity leave at contractual pay and shared parental leave with up to 26 weeks of contractual pay, but not the pay rates or qualifying conditions, so confirm them with HR. Read our guide on paternity and shared parental leave. Use the 'Statutory only' preset to see the statutory floor.

Budgeting for the drop in pay

The shape of the income matters as much as the total. Under statutory pay alone, income falls sharply at week 7 and again at week 40, so a monthly budget that works in month 1 may not work in month 3. If your scheme gives full pay for the first 26 weeks, the drop comes at week 27 instead. Look at the month-by-month chart rather than the headline total, work out your fixed costs, and see which months need a cushion.

Annual leave also builds up while you are on maternity leave under the statutory rules, and many people use it before or after leave to extend their paid time. Check how your employer handles this and use the annual leave calculator to see what a block of leave is worth.

Questions to ask HR before you plan

• What qualifying service do I need for the occupational scheme, and for statutory pay?
• How many weeks are on full pay, half pay and statutory pay, and when does unpaid leave start?
• Is anything repayable if I do not return to work, and for how long?
• How is my annual leave accrued during maternity leave, and can I take it before or after?
• How are my pension contributions and pension build treated while on reduced or no pay?
• What happens to Payment Plus, supplements and London weighting while I am on leave?