NHS Pension

NHS Pension and Maternity Leave: How Accrual Actually Works

FP FrontlinePay Editorial
Updated September 2026

Independent guidance — not affiliated with NHS England or DHSC

If you're planning maternity leave, it's natural to assume that a period of reduced or statutory pay means a matching hit to your NHS Pension — after all, your take-home pay clearly drops through the middle and later stages of most maternity leave. In practice, the NHS Pension Scheme handles this more generously than that assumption suggests, through a mechanism called deeming. This guide explains exactly how it works, what genuinely does and doesn't stay pensionable, and the one part — unpaid leave — where you do need to make an active choice rather than assume it's automatically covered. For the pay structure itself (how much you're actually paid, week by week), see our NHS Maternity and Paternity Pay Explained guide — this page covers what happens to your pension specifically.

Short answer

Throughout any paid period of NHS maternity leave — full pay, half pay, or Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) alone — your NHS Pension Scheme membership continues, and your CARE pension keeps accruing based on a deemed pensionable pay figure: broadly, the normal, full rate of pay you'd have received had you not been on leave, not the reduced amount actually paid to you. You only pay contributions on what you actually receive, but you get pension credit as if paid in full. It's only once you move onto genuinely unpaid leave that this stops automatically — though you can generally elect, within 30 days of returning to work, to buy back that lost pension with your employer covering two-thirds of the cost.

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The one thing to understand: "deeming"

NHS Pensions uses a specific mechanism, generally referred to as deeming, to protect members' pension accrual during authorised paid leave — maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental and paid sick leave are all treated the same way in this respect. The principle is straightforward once you see it stated plainly, even though it isn't always obvious from a payslip alone:

What you're paid

Your actual take-home pay during maternity leave genuinely does reduce through the full pay, half pay and SMP-only stages — that reduction is real, and it's what your bank balance sees.

What your pension sees

For as long as you're in a PAID week of leave, your pensionable pay for CARE accrual and contribution-tier purposes is deemed to be your normal, undiminished rate of pay — regardless of which pay stage you're actually in.

In other words: your pay genuinely drops, but — throughout the paid weeks — your pension doesn't drop with it. You pay contributions on your actual (reduced) pay, at the tier rate your deemed (full) pay would put you in, and you bank CARE pension for that period as if you'd been paid normally throughout.

How each stage of paid leave is actually treated

Standard NHS maternity leave runs across several distinct pay stages, and deeming applies consistently across every paid one of them:

1

Full pay weeks

Contributions are deducted on the full pay you actually receive for this period — since full pay and deemed (normal) pay are the same figure here, there's no gap to think about yet.

2

Half pay plus SMP weeks

You actually receive half pay topped up with Statutory Maternity Pay, capped so the combined total never exceeds your normal full pay for that week. Contributions are deducted on what you actually receive — but your pensionable pay for CARE accrual purposes is deemed at your normal, full rate, not the reduced amount reaching your bank account.

3

SMP-only weeks

Once the occupational (enhanced NHS) element ends, you're left with SMP alone — a much lower flat or near-flat statutory rate. Deeming still applies: your pensionable pay for accrual purposes is still treated as your normal, full rate throughout these weeks, even though SMP itself is a small fraction of it.

4

Unpaid weeks

Deeming stops here. This is the one stage that isn't automatically pensionable — see the section below on what you can do about it.

See our NHS Maternity and Paternity Pay Explained guide for exactly how many weeks fall into each stage and the qualifying service you need for the occupational (enhanced) element — that structure is set out in the NHS Terms and Conditions Handbook, not by NHS Pensions, so this page deliberately doesn't repeat it in full.

A worked example

To make the size of this protection concrete, consider a Band 6 midwife on £38,000 a year of pensionable pay, taking a full period of paid maternity leave (the standard structure of full pay, then half pay plus SMP, then SMP alone, before any unpaid weeks — see our maternity pay guide for the exact week counts).

ℹIllustrative worked example

Across the paid weeks of her leave, deeming means her pensionable pay for CARE accrual purposes is calculated as if she'd been earning her normal £38,000 a year throughout that whole paid period — even though her actual take-home pay during the half-pay and SMP-only stages was considerably lower. Purely to illustrate the scale of what deeming protects, compare the deemed pensionable pay for the paid weeks against a hypothetical (not how the scheme actually works) alternative where accrual instead tracked her actual reduced pay:

BasisPensionable pay credited for the paid weeks
Actual scheme rule: deemed at normal payFull, undiminished credit for every paid week, regardless of pay stage
Hypothetical (not how it works): based on actual reduced pay receivedA materially lower figure, since half-pay and SMP-only weeks would count for far less

At £38,000 pensionable pay, each full year of ordinary accrual banks £38,000 ÷ 54 ≈ £703.70 of new annual pension. Deeming is what keeps a period of paid maternity leave contributing its fair share toward that figure, rather than a fraction of it based on the much lower pay she actually received during the later stages of her leave.

Unpaid leave: the part that isn't automatic

Once occupational and statutory pay are both exhausted, any remaining weeks of maternity leave are unpaid — you're still on leave, with your job protected, but there's no pay for that period at all. This is where deeming stops applying, and it's the one part of maternity leave and pension that genuinely needs an active decision rather than assuming it's taken care of automatically.

  • • By default, unpaid weeks aren't pensionable — no contributions are due, and the period doesn't count towards your pension unless you take action
  • • You can elect to buy back the lost pension — if you do so within 30 days of returning to work (or a longer deadline your employer sets), the cost is generally split two-thirds employer, one-third you
  • • Miss the window, or buy back only part of it, and you fund 100% yourself — the favourable cost-split only applies to a timely, full election
  • • This is worth deciding deliberately, not by default — ask your trust's pensions team what your own unpaid-week figure would cost to buy back before your return-to-work window closes

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What this means for your Annual Allowance

Because deeming preserves your normal pensionable pay through the paid weeks of leave, a tax year that includes maternity leave doesn't mechanically produce a smaller Pension Input Amount just because your actual take-home pay was lower that year — the underlying CARE accrual calculation runs on your deemed pay, the same as any other year. If you're returning from leave into a promotion, a new role, or a pay award landing around the same time, it's worth checking your Annual Allowance position for that year in the ordinary way, rather than assuming a maternity year is automatically a low-growth one. See our Annual Allowance Tax Charge Explained guide and the Annual Allowance Calculator.

Practical checklist

1

Confirm your own maternity pay stages and dates

Use our NHS Maternity Pay Calculator to see your own week-by-week pay structure, so you know which weeks are paid (and therefore deemed) and which, if any, are unpaid.

2

Ask about the unpaid-week buy-back option before you return

If your leave includes genuinely unpaid weeks, get the cost of buying them back from your trust's pensions team ahead of your return date, so you can decide within the 30-day window rather than after it's closed.

3

Check your Annual Benefit Statement afterwards

Once your next statement arrives, check that the period of paid leave shows normal accrual, and query anything that looks reduced with NHS Pensions or your trust's payroll team.

4

Check your Annual Allowance position if relevant

If your maternity leave falls in a year with a promotion, pay award or return to higher-paid duties, check your Annual Allowance position for that year rather than assuming a maternity year is automatically low-growth.

⚠General information, not your own confirmed figures

The mechanics described here — deeming, the unpaid-week buy-back option and its cost split — are checked against current NHS Pensions (NHSBSA) guidance, but your own pay stages, dates and figures depend on your trust's specific payroll records and your own maternity leave dates. Confirm your own position with your trust's pensions team and NHS Pensions rather than relying on this page alone. FrontlinePay is not affiliated with NHS England, NHS Pensions, the NHS Business Services Authority, or the Department of Health and Social Care.

NHS Maternity Pay Calculator

Your own week-by-week maternity pay figures, which drive what's deemed pensionable.

Try it

Why trust this guide

  • ✓ The 'deeming' mechanism — pensionable pay for accrual and contribution-tier purposes based on normal pay, not actual reduced pay, throughout paid leave — is verified against current NHS Pensions (NHSBSA) member guidance
  • ✓ The unpaid-week buy-back option and its two-thirds/one-third cost split within a 30-day window is stated as a real, checkable mechanism rather than assumed
  • ✓ Deliberately doesn't duplicate the AfC maternity pay structure (weeks and rates) already covered in this site's pay guide — cross-links to it instead
  • ✓ Distinguishes clearly between what happens automatically (paid weeks) and what needs an active decision (unpaid weeks)
  • ✓ Independent and not affiliated with NHS England, NHS Pensions/NHSBSA or the DHSC — this is educational context, not financial advice

NHS Maternity and Paternity Pay Explained

The actual pay structure and week counts behind the pension mechanics on this page.

NHS Pension Scheme (2015) Explained

The CARE accrual mechanics that deeming plugs into.

NHS Pension and Long-Term Sickness

The same deeming principle, applied to paid and unpaid sick leave.

NHS Returning to Work After Maternity Leave

What to check on your first payslip and statement back.

Annual Allowance Tax Charge Explained

How a year including maternity leave is still measured for tax purposes.

This guide is independent, general information only — not financial, tax or pensions advice — and FrontlinePay is not affiliated with NHS England, NHS Pensions, the NHS Business Services Authority, or the Department of Health and Social Care. Maternity pay stages, qualifying service requirements and pension buy-back terms can change over time. Confirm your own current figures with your trust's pensions team and NHS Pensions before relying on them for planning.

Frequently asked questions

Does my NHS Pension stop building up while I'm on maternity leave? +
Not for the paid part of your leave — this is the single most important, and most reassuring, thing to understand. Throughout any period of paid maternity leave (full pay, half pay, or Statutory Maternity Pay alone), your NHS Pension Scheme membership continues and you keep accruing CARE pension, calculated using a 'deemed' pensionable pay figure — broadly, the normal pay you'd have received had you not been on leave — rather than the reduced amount you actually receive. It's only genuinely unpaid weeks of leave that don't automatically count, covered below.
If I'm only receiving half pay, do I only get half the pension credit for that period? +
No, and this is the point that catches people out in the opposite direction from what they'd expect. Your pension contribution deduction (the actual £ taken from your pay) is based on what you actually receive — so yes, a smaller cash amount comes out of a smaller paycheck. But the pensionable pay used to work out how much CARE pension you bank for that period, and which contribution tier rate applies, is based on your deemed (normal, full) pay, not your actual half pay. In effect, you get full pension credit for the period while paying contributions on a reduced income — a genuinely valuable, if under-publicised, feature of the scheme.
Does the same 'deeming' rule apply during the weeks I'm only getting Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)? +
Yes. Deeming applies throughout the whole paid part of your maternity leave — the full pay weeks, the half pay plus SMP weeks, and the SMP-only weeks that follow — not just the higher-paid early weeks. As long as you're in a paid week of maternity leave, your pensionable pay for benefit and contribution-tier purposes is treated as your normal, undiminished rate of pay, even though the actual pay reaching your bank account for that week may be far lower.
What happens once I move onto unpaid maternity leave? +
This is where deeming stops. Once you're on genuinely unpaid leave (typically the final weeks of the standard 52-week entitlement, once occupational and statutory pay have both run out), no pension contributions are payable by default, and that period doesn't automatically count as pensionable service. You do have an option to change that — see the next question — but it isn't automatic the way the paid weeks are.
Can I 'buy back' the unpaid weeks so they count towards my pension? +
Yes, and it's worth knowing this option exists before your unpaid weeks pass by unnoticed. If you elect to make good the lost pension within 30 days of returning to work (or a longer deadline your employer may set), the cost is generally split, with your employer covering two-thirds and you paying the remaining third. Miss that window, or choose to buy back only part of the unpaid period, and you'd need to fund 100% of the cost yourself instead. If this matters to you, ask your trust's pensions team about it as part of planning your return, rather than after the window has closed.
Do I keep paying pension contributions throughout maternity leave, or can I opt out just for this period? +
Contributions are generally taken throughout any period of leave, paid or unpaid, unless you actively opt out — during unpaid weeks, if you're still contributing, the deduction is based on your rate of pay immediately before the unpaid period began, not a nil figure. If you don't want to keep contributing during unpaid weeks specifically, that's a choice you can make, but weigh it against the buy-back option above and what stopping contributions (even briefly) may mean for the pensionable status of that period.
Does this work the same way for paternity, adoption and shared parental leave? +
The same general 'deeming' principle — pension accrual and contribution tier based on your normal, undiminished pay during any paid period of leave, rather than the reduced or statutory rate you're actually receiving — applies across NHS Pension Scheme rules for maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave alike. The specific pay structure and number of paid weeks differs by leave type and is set out in the NHS Terms and Conditions Handbook rather than by NHS Pensions, so check the pay side separately — this page focuses on what happens to your pension specifically, whichever type of family leave you're taking.
Will taking maternity leave show up as a gap or a problem on my Annual Benefit Statement? +
It shouldn't, for the paid weeks — because deeming means your pensionable pay for that period is calculated as if you'd been at your normal rate of pay throughout, your Annual Benefit Statement should reflect that same normal accrual for those weeks, not a reduced figure. If a period of unpaid leave wasn't bought back, that specific period simply won't add further accrual, in the same way any other unpaid, non-pensionable absence wouldn't — check your statement against your own leave record if anything looks unexpected, and query it with NHS Pensions or your trust's payroll team directly.
Does maternity leave affect my Annual Allowance position for the year? +
It can interact with it, in the same way any year's Pension Input Amount calculation does, but there's nothing maternity-specific that changes the underlying Annual Allowance mechanics — because deeming preserves your normal pensionable pay for CARE accrual purposes through the paid weeks, a year that includes maternity leave doesn't automatically depress your Pension Input Amount the way you might expect from looking at your actual (reduced) take-home pay that year. See our Annual Allowance Tax Charge Explained guide for how the underlying calculation works.
Where should I go to check my own specific figures? +
Your trust's payroll and pensions team can confirm exactly how your own maternity pay periods have been recorded and pensioned, and NHS Pensions (NHSBSA) is the authoritative source for the scheme rules themselves, including the current buy-back deadline and cost split for unpaid weeks. For the pay side (how much you're actually paid week by week), see our NHS Maternity and Paternity Pay Explained guide and the NHS Maternity Pay Calculator.

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