Key Dates & Notice Deadlines

How this calculation works

Notice periods for statutory leave are legally defined to the day, not the month: maternity leave notice is due by the end of the 15th week before the Expected Week of Childbirth, paternity leave notice is 28 days before the intended start date, and Shared Parental Leave notice is 8 weeks (56 days) before each booked period. Missing these deadlines can mean an employer is entitled to postpone or refuse the requested start date.

Parental bereavement leave works differently — instead of a notice-before-the-fact deadline, it must simply be taken within 56 weeks of the child's death, with shorter running notice required once leave is under way. Getting the anchor date right (the Expected Week of Childbirth, an intended start date, or the date of death) is what the deadline is actually measured from, so each calculator asks for that specific date rather than assuming today's date.