Pregnancy and parenthood

Time off for antenatal care: your rights in 2026

Updated 6 October 2026

Time off for antenatal care is one of the clearest day one rights at work. In 2026 the rules give you paid time off for the appointments and classes a registered health professional recommends, a right not to be treated worse for taking it, and protection if your employer refuses or obstructs. You do not need a qualifying period. You do not need to find a replacement. You do not need to use holiday. The main job is to give your employer reasonable notice, keep evidence of the appointments, and make the time back where the law actually allows it to be made up.

Do I have a right to time off for antenatal care

Yes, and you have it from day one. Section 55 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended by the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 and related regulations, gives every pregnant employee the right to paid time off for antenatal care. The right kicks in on your first day in the job. It does not depend on how many hours you work, whether you are on a zero hours contract, or whether you are still in a probationary period.

Antenatal care means any appointment or class that a registered medical practitioner, midwife, or registered health professional has advised you to attend because of your pregnancy. It includes scans, blood tests, midwife checks, consultant appointments, and antenatal classes such as NHS antenatal or hypnobirthing courses that a clinician has referred you to. It also covers time travelling to and from the appointment and any recovery time that the same professional has specifically told you to take after a procedure.

Your employer must pay you for the time you are away at your normal rate of pay. For shift or variable hours workers, the average is calculated over the weeks actually worked in line with section 55. The right to paid time off only covers the time the appointment takes, including travel and any clinician directed recovery. It does not turn the rest of the day into paid leave, although your contract may give you more.

What counts as an antenatal appointment in 2026

The legal definition is broad and practical. Anything a registered medical practitioner, midwife, or registered health professional has advised because you are pregnant counts. That covers:

• Routine midwife appointments and the booking appointment.
• Ultrasound scans, including the dating scan, the anomaly scan, and any growth or reassurance scans your midwife or consultant orders.
• Blood tests, glucose tolerance tests, and other diagnostic work.
• Vaccinations recommended in pregnancy, such as whooping cough and flu, where a clinician has advised them.
• Antenatal classes that a midwife or doctor has referred you to, including NHS classes, breastfeeding workshops, and specialist courses for higher risk pregnancies.
• Appointments with a consultant obstetrician, fetal medicine unit, physiotherapist, or mental health practitioner where the referral relates to your pregnancy.
• Time for pregnancy related treatment at a genitourinary medicine clinic or other specialist.

Time off is also allowed for appointments linked to fertility treatment that a clinician has advised as part of an ongoing pregnancy pathway, and for the early pregnancy assessment unit if you are referred there with pain or bleeding. The right is tied to the advice of a registered professional, not to a specific provider, so a private scan that a midwife has not asked for is not automatically covered, although you can agree it as annual leave.

How much notice do I have to give my employer

You should give your employer as much notice as you reasonably can, and you should be ready to show evidence. The statutory code is that you tell them the date and time of the appointment, how long you expect to be away, and that you want to take it as antenatal care. You can do that in a message or email. Your employer can ask to see the appointment card, a copy of the letter, or any other evidence that the appointment is antenatal care. They cannot ask intrusive questions, demand to see medical details, or ask for the notes themselves.

If an appointment is changed at short notice, for example a triage call from the maternity unit asking you to come in the same day, you do not have to give the full usual notice. Tell them as soon as you can and ask for the time off. Your employer should be reasonable. The right exists precisely because pregnancy care is not always bookable months ahead.

What your employer must pay and what they can ask you to make up

Your employer must pay your normal hourly or salaried rate for the time of the appointment, including reasonable travel. They cannot dock your pay, refuse the time, or push you to use annual leave, unpaid leave, or flexi time to cover it. They also cannot ask you to work extra hours afterwards to make the time up, because that would amount to paying for the appointment twice and would erode the right.

Where the appointment is at the end of a shift or in a way that the rest of the working day has little useful work in it, your employer may agree a sensible arrangement, such as starting later or finishing earlier. That is a discussion, not a demand, and the default remains that antenatal time is paid and not made up. If you are a zero hours or casual worker, the appointment counts as time worked for the purpose of calculating average pay over the relevant period.

Can my employer refuse or make it difficult

No, and if they do, the law treats it as a failure to allow the right. Refusing the time off, withholding pay, telling you to take it as holiday, telling you to make the hours up, or making you feel you cannot take the time are all problems. So is being disciplined for absence that was in fact antenatal care. The remedy is to raise a written grievance, contact Acas for early conciliation, and if needed bring a claim in the employment tribunal. The usual time limit is three months minus one day from the act you are complaining about, with the new six month limit from October 2026 applying only to claims presented on or after that date where the underlying right carries it.

You also have protection from detriment under section 18 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, and from dismissal under section 99, which gives automatic unfair dismissal protection for pregnancy and maternity reasons. If you are dismissed because you took antenatal care, you do not need two years of service to bring an unfair dismissal claim on that ground. Detriment and dismissal claims are separate and can be brought together, so it is worth getting advice early.

Companions and partners at appointments

The right to paid antenatal care time off is yours as the pregnant employee. Your partner, the other parent, or a chosen companion does not get a statutory right to paid time off to attend your appointments, although their contract may allow it. There is a separate right to unpaid time off to accompany you to up to two antenatal appointments, capped at six and a half hours each, under section 57ZE. That right applies to employees who are the baby's father, the pregnant person's spouse or civil partner, or someone in an enduring family relationship with the pregnant person, and is available from day one.

What to do in the meantime

Put your appointments in a shared calendar as soon as you can, give your manager the date and time, and say you are taking it as antenatal care. Keep appointment cards, emails, or letters so you can evidence each one if asked. If your employer pushes back, refuses, asks you to take holiday, or docks your pay, write to them the same day summarising the conversation and quoting section 55. Speak to Acas on 0300 123 1100 to start early conciliation, and note that you have three months minus one day from the act to bring a tribunal claim, with the new six month limit applying to claims presented from 1 October 2026. If you are within a year of your due date, also read the related guide on pregnancy and dismissal protection, the day one right to neonatal care leave, and your right to switch back to a safer role if your work poses a risk.