If an employee receives a pay rise between the start of the period used to calculate Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) and the end of their statutory maternity leave, their SMP may need to be recalculated under the Alabaster ruling. Use HMRC's SMP calculator to determine the revised average weekly earnings and any additional SMP due.
In UK Payroll, open the employee record and navigate to the Parental tab. Before making any changes, make a note of the existing maternity schedule or take a screenshot for reference. Update the average weekly earnings with the recalculated amount and save your changes. The maternity schedule will automatically recalculate any remaining SMP payments based on the updated earnings figure.
Compare the original schedule with the recalculated schedule to identify any difference in SMP already paid. If the employee should have received a higher SMP amount, add the difference to their payslip as a Gross Pay Item using Statutory Maternity Pay as the pay item type. This ensures the payment is included in statutory reporting and can be reclaimed correctly through the EPS submission.