This free parental leave checklist runs the employer’s side of the process, from the day an employee tells you about a pregnancy, adoption or new child to the day you start planning their return. It covers the United States and the United Kingdom side by side. Choose the country and the type of leave (maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental or other parental leave) and the checklist shows the tasks, notices and deadlines that apply. Due dates run from the expected week of childbirth or the placement date, so nothing waits until someone remembers it. When the return date is close, the Return-to-Work Checklist takes over.
The UK sets a floor of leave and pay for almost everyone. Maternity and adoption leave are available from the first day of employment, and since 6 April 2026 so are paternity leave and unpaid parental leave. Statutory pay has its own service and earnings tests. The process is driven by formal notices with fixed deadlines, most of them counted back from the expected week of childbirth.
The US has no federal right to paid leave. The Family and Medical Leave Act gives job-protected, unpaid leave to eligible employees of covered employers. Paid leave comes from a state programme, if the employee works in a state that has one, or from your own policy. Most of the employer’s work is checking which layers apply, then sending the right notices on time.
Both countries punish the same mistakes. Treating someone worse because they are pregnant or on leave, leaving them out of a restructure, or forgetting them when a promotion comes up can all lead to a claim. The safest records show what the employee was told, when, and by whom. Rules change often in this area, so take advice from an employment lawyer before any decision about a specific employee’s job or pay.
Job protection: FMLA, for eligible employees of employers with 50 or more employees.
Pay: a state paid family leave programme where one exists, plus any employer policy.
During pregnancy: accommodations under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
Key deadline: FMLA notices within five business days.
Job protection: leave rights from day one, plus extra redundancy protection.
Pay: statutory pay, which employers pay and largely recover from HMRC, plus any enhanced scheme.
During pregnancy: an individual risk assessment and paid time off for antenatal care.
Key deadline: confirm maternity or adoption dates in writing within 28 days.
Six phases run from notification to return planning. The country and leave type chosen in Phase 1 decide which tasks and phases appear.
Shown for maternity leave.
Shown when the employee works in the UK. Leave-type tasks appear only for that type.
Shown when the employee works in the US.
The figures below are the statutory floor in England, Scotland and Wales; Northern Ireland has its own employment law. Your contract or policy may pay more. The flat weekly rate of £194.32 (or 90% of average weekly earnings, if lower) applies from April 2026. Statutory pay also needs average earnings of at least the lower earnings limit, £129 a week for 2026/27.
| Leave | How much | Statutory pay | Employee notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maternity | Up to 52 weeks, from day one; at least 2 weeks after the birth are compulsory | 39 weeks: 6 weeks at 90% of earnings, then 33 weeks at the flat rate. Needs 26 weeks’ service by the 15th week before the due week | By the 15th week before the due week; you confirm dates within 28 days |
| Paternity | 1 or 2 weeks, in one block or two, within 52 weeks of the birth; day one since April 2026 | Flat rate, but still needs 26 weeks’ service | Due date 15 weeks ahead; 28 days’ notice of leave dates |
| Adoption | Up to 52 weeks, from day one | 39 weeks, paid like maternity. Needs 26 weeks’ service by the week of matching | Within 7 days of matching; you confirm dates within 28 days |
| Shared parental | Up to 50 weeks shared between parents in the first year, in up to 3 booked blocks | Up to 37 weeks shared, at the flat rate | 8 weeks’ written notice of each block |
| Unpaid parental | 18 weeks per child before their 18th birthday, normally up to 4 weeks a year; day one since April 2026 | None | 21 days |
Up to 10 keeping-in-touch days can be worked during maternity or adoption leave, and up to 20 during shared parental leave, both by agreement. Neonatal care leave of up to 12 weeks sits on top of the others for babies who spend a week or more in neonatal care. Further Employment Rights Act 2025 changes affecting new parents, including stronger dismissal protection and changes to flexible working, are scheduled for 2027. Check the government’s timeline before relying on any date.
Each layer has its own eligibility test, so one employee may qualify for state pay but not FMLA protection, or the reverse. State programmes differ in weekly benefit, length, waiting periods and whether the job is protected, so read the rules for the state where the employee works.
| Layer | What it gives | Who it covers | Employer task |
|---|---|---|---|
| FMLA | Up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in 12 months; bonding leave must end within 12 months of the birth or placement; health coverage continues | Employees with 12 months’ service and 1,250 hours, at a site with 50 employees within 75 miles | Eligibility and designation notices, each within five business days |
| State paid leave | Partial wage replacement, paid by the state fund or an approved private plan | Workers in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington; Maryland’s benefits are not due before 2028 | Post the state notice, give the employee claim information and coordinate any top-up |
| PWFA | Reasonable accommodation for known limitations from pregnancy, childbirth or related conditions | Employers with 15 or more employees | Talk to the employee, agree an accommodation, and do not force leave if another option works |
| PUMP Act | Break time and a private space, not a bathroom, to express milk for a year after the birth | Most employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act | Arrange the space before the return date |
| Health plan | Special enrollment for the new child | Group health plan members | Enrollment request within 30 days of the birth, adoption or placement |
Spouses who work for the same employer share one 12-week FMLA allowance for the birth and bonding. The authorities to check are the Department of Labor, the EEOC and your state paid leave agency.
Enter the expected week of childbirth or placement once. Notices, payroll set-up, cover and return planning are given due dates relative to it, and the checklist shows the HR lead what is due this week rather than what they happen to remember.
Conditional logic reads the country and leave type from Phase 1. A UK paternity leave never shows FMLA notices, and a US adoption never asks for a MATB1. One template covers every case without anyone skipping lines.
Letters and certificates are uploaded to the task they belong to, and the audit trail shows who completed what and when. The leave plan goes to a named approver, and the checklist waits until it is signed off.
Parental leave touches HR, payroll and the line manager at once. CheckFlow’s HR checklist software runs it alongside onboarding, reviews and departures, with assignments and approvals between the people involved.
Leave ends with a return, and the first weeks back decide whether the employee stays. The Return-to-Work Checklist picks up where this one stops: access, catch-up, lactation space, flexible working and follow-up reviews.
It should cover the whole employer process: logging the request and expected dates, health and safety during pregnancy, checking eligibility for leave and pay, sending the required notices on time, setting up pay in payroll, arranging cover and handover, keeping in touch during the leave and planning the return. The tasks differ by country and by type of leave, which is why this template switches them with two questions at the start.
Up to 52 weeks of Statutory Maternity Leave from the first day of employment. Statutory Maternity Pay lasts up to 39 weeks: 90% of average weekly earnings for the first six weeks, then £194.32 a week or 90% of earnings, whichever is lower, for the remaining 33 weeks in 2026/27. Pay needs 26 weeks’ continuous service by the 15th week before the due week and earnings of at least £129 a week. Many employers pay more under their own policy.
Yes, since 6 April 2026, under the Employment Rights Act 2025. Unpaid parental leave became a day-one right on the same date. Statutory Paternity Pay has not changed: it still needs 26 weeks’ service by the 15th week before the due week and earnings of at least the lower earnings limit. Paternity leave can be one week or two, taken together or as two separate weeks, at any point in the 52 weeks after the birth, and before or after shared parental leave.
An employee of a covered employer who has worked there for at least 12 months, worked at least 1,250 hours in the last 12 months, and works at a site where the employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles. They can take up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for the birth, adoption or foster placement, ending within 12 months of it. Group health coverage continues on the same terms during the leave.
Thirteen states and the District of Columbia have paid family and medical leave laws. Twelve of those states and DC pay benefits in 2026, with Delaware and Minnesota starting in January and Maine in May. Maryland has delayed its programme, and benefits are not expected before 2028. Several other states have voluntary insurance schemes. Benefit levels and rules differ widely, so check the agency for the employee’s work state.
In the UK, not because of the leave, and they have extra protection. From the moment an employee says she is pregnant until 18 months after the birth, and during adoption or longer shared parental leave, the employee must be offered any suitable alternative vacancy ahead of other candidates. In the US, FMLA leave does not save a job that would have gone anyway, but the employer has to prove the layoff would have happened if the employee had not taken leave. Use the Redundancy & Layoff Process Checklist if roles are at risk.
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