When an employee is not entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), the employer is obliged to advise the employee via form SMP1. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in Great Britain have updated their ‘fill in on screen, print and sign with a pen' version and ICB highlights this to members.
If you cannot pay SMP to an employee because they are ineligible, you must complete form SMP1 within 7 days and give this to the employee together with the maternity certificate, for example the MATB1. This is so the employee can make a claim for Maternity Allowance.
The DWP have updated their ‘fill in on screen, print and sign with a pen’ version, therefore, there are two versions of the one form:
1. The SMP1 (for download and manual completion); and / or
2. The SMP1 (for completing on screen and subsequent printing)
For Bookkeepers
Note that the SMP1 version in Northern Ireland, published by the Department for Communities (DfC), is already a version that can be downloaded (for manual completion) or completed online and printed.
It is important to use the correct version, as Maternity Allowance is claimed from different bodies if the employee is not entitled to SMP:
- In Great Britain, Maternity Allowance is claimed from the DWP;
- In Northern Ireland, Maternity Allowance is claimed from the DfC.