The top 10 UK companies with the best maternity leave benefits

The transition to parenthood is a huge moment in an employee’s life. Statutory maternity pay is the minimum amount of money that a business must pay when a woman takes time off work to have a baby, and is compulsory for all businesses to provide – but many employees look for enhanced packages beyond this when job hunting.

Enhanced maternity pay is when employees receive full pay for a period of their maternity leave. The length of this period varies from company to company, with more generous packages likely to entice and retain talent.

Beyond compulsory statutory leave payments, each company can decide what their benefits package looks like – including how to support parents once they return to work.

Let’s look at the companies that have some of the most impressive enhanced maternity leave policies in the UK.

1. NatWest Group

NatWest Group’s maternity policy in Great Britain and offshore is 24 weeks of full pay, then 15 weeks of statutory pay only. Then, during a 12-week phased return to work, mothers receive full pay regardless of the number of hours they work.

The company’s policy for Northern Ireland is slightly more generous, with 26 weeks of full pay.

NatWest Group also introduced a partner leave policy in January 2023, meaning all partners’ parental leave allowance is aligned with the maternity leave policy in their jurisdiction.

2. Aviva

Aviva offers 26 weeks of full pay for maternity, parental and adoption leave, with statutory pay after this period. To be eligible for this generous allowance, a staff member must have been working at Aviva for 26 weeks prior to the child’s due date or arrival date.

Long-term paid leave for fathers is particularly rare in the UK, but is a great policy to implement at a business to help retain and entice talent, and make both mothers and fathers feel valued.

3. Vodafone

Vodafone provides any mother or father who’s having a baby, adopting a child, or becoming a parent through surrogacy up to 16 weeks of fully paid leave at any time during their first 18 months of becoming a parent. The company also offers the flexibility to work a 30-hour week for six months after this period of paid leave.

If a baby is born prematurely, staff are given the flexibility to adapt their leave to suit their needs. For parents who lose a child at any point from pregnancy to their 18th birthday, Vodafone offers two weeks of paid leave.

4. Google

Google offers enhanced maternity leave as well as a host of benefits when mothers return to work. Mothers get 24 weeks of full pay and upon return, are offered flexible working arrangements, on-site lactation rooms, and back-up childcare.

Adoption leave is up to 26 weeks of fully paid leave for one parent, and there is 18 weeks’ fully paid allowance for baby bonding time for the other parent in both scenarios. Google’s medical insurance plan also covers the cost of four rounds of IVF for its employees.

5. TfL

For TfL workers, 52 weeks of maternity leave is offered, made up of 26 weeks of full pay, 13 weeks of statutory pay, and 13 weeks of unpaid leave. For mothers returning to work, those who previously worked full-time are eligible to apply for flexible working with reduced hours.

For those who sadly have a stillborn or miscarriage in the first 23 weeks of pregnancy, mothers and fathers are entitled to sick leave. For those who go through this at 24 weeks or later, they are eligible for maternity pay.

TfL’s paternity leave policy offers two weeks of full pay. Both parents are also entitled to 18 weeks of unpaid parental leave up until the child’s 18th birthday, with a maximum of four weeks taken in a year.

6. Etsy

Small business marketplace Etsy offers 26 weeks of full pay for both mothers and fathers, including those becoming parents via adoption or surrogacy.

When returning to work, all Etsy offices have parent rooms primarily used by nursing mothers for pumping – however, they are gender neutral and also have changing tables for babies.

Read more: what is the motherhood penalty?

7. Monzo

Monzo offers its employees paid maternity, paternity, adoption or shared parental leave after they’ve worked at the company for 13 weeks.

The company offers 52 weeks of leave for mothers, made up of 26 weeks at 100% pay, 13 weeks at statutory maternity pay, and 13 weeks of unpaid leave. Fathers can also get 13 weeks of leave at 100% pay. Monzo also offers eight days of leave per year for fertility treatments.

All employees who go through pregnancy loss are given ten days additional paid leave – and this includes colleagues who are partners or surrogate mothers.

8. UK Civil Service

In the UK’s Civil Service, mothers are entitled to 52 weeks of overall maternity leave – this is made up of 26 weeks of full pay, 13 weeks of statutory maternity pay, and then the remaining weeks are unpaid.

Despite only offering paternity pay at the statutory rate, the Civil Service does offer shared parental leave. The mother must take at least two weeks paid maternity leave, and can then convert the remaining untaken maternity leave and pay into shared parental leave, with pay in line with the above allowances. This means the dad takes the second part of the leave off from work.

9. BT

As of January 2025, both mothers and fathers working at BT will be able to take 18 weeks of leave on full pay after having a baby, then eight weeks on half pay and, after this, 26 weeks of pay at the statutory rate. This means they will receive some form of pay throughout 52 weeks of eligible leave.

Offering generous and equal leave like this enables both parents to adjust to their new life together – this level of leave is still rare in the UK, so will be deemed as a valuable benefit for employees and potential new hires.

10. John Lewis

In 2021, John Lewis introduced a policy that makes all employees who have been at the company for a year eligible for 26 weeks of paid leave when they have a baby, regardless of how they became a parent. The 26 weeks consist of 14 weeks at full pay and 12 weeks at 50% pay.

Mothers who sadly miscarry are eligible for two weeks of leave with pay, and are also offered free counselling and mental health services.

Final thoughts

Generous maternity, paternity and shared parental leave allowances are a great way to retain and attract talent. The transition to parenthood is tricky, and workers look to company policies to ease the financial burden and allow them to be present in the early days of their child’s life.

When creating your own policies, be sure to involve your head of HR or HR team to ensure they work for both you as a business owner and your employees. Consider what your business can offer – as well as pay policies for this period, think about what post-birth benefits could be included in your allowance. This could include:

• Shared parental leave
• Generous pay and leave allowance
• Onsite parent rooms
• Support with childcare
• Inclusive policies for those becoming parents via surrogacy or adoption
• Longer paternity leave

Read more: Are you eligible for paternity leave after starting a new job?

Kirstie Pickering - business journalist

Kirstie is a freelance journalist writing in the tech, startup and business spaces for publications including Sifted, UKTN and Maddyness UK. She also works closely with agencies to develop content for their startup and scaleup clients.