Inside Amazon's maternity leave policy and other parental leave programmes

As part of our employee benefits package, Amazon provides support for all UK-based parents.

Our maternity leave, paternity leave and all other parental leave policies and benefits are designed to support our employees as they navigate the early stages of parenthood.

Here’s an inside look at Amazon's parental leave benefits, including eligibility, process, and supportive programmes to help new parents transition back to work.

Amazon has many different programmes, policies and benefits available to accommodate the many different types of parents who work here. These range from our ‘Amazon Pregnancy Leave’, to our ‘Amazon Parental Leave’ policy available to eligible secondary parents, adoptive parents and intended parents through surrogacy.

Parental leave support is aimed at assisting new parents trying to balance work and family life, allowing them to spend more time with their newest family member. These benefits complement the statutory leaves available for parents in the UK, and depend on continuous service time by the date of birth or adoption.

Amazon’s Pregnancy Leave policy applies to all Amazon employees in the UK who are pregnant, including employees who are surrogates and those pregnant through artificial insemination or IVF. It is applicable regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

Amazon Pregnancy Pay is 100% of an employee’s base salary and is inclusive of Statutory Maternity Pay. Amazon Pregnancy Pay is paid for the last four weeks of pre-partum (pre-birth) and the first 10-16 weeks of post-partum, depending on how long you have worked for us.

Employees can take up to 52 weeks off during their maternity leave. Depending on the length of your continuous service with Amazon, you are eligible for a mix of Amazon Pregnancy Pay, Statutory Maternity Pay and unpaid leave during this time.

If you have at least one continuous year of service with Amazon before the expected due date, you are eligible for Amazon Pregnancy pay during pre-partum weeks 1-4 (optional) and post-partum weeks 5-20 of your pregnancy leave period. You are eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay weeks 21-39 of your pregnancy leave period and entitled to unpaid leave weeks 40-52 of your pregnancy leave period.

Amazon’s Paid Parental Leave is available to employees who are the non-birth parent of a new born, adopted child, or intended parent through surrogacy. Employees are also eligible if they are adopting a child under the age of 18 through an adoption agency for adoption in the UK. Our Paid Parental Leave is 100% of an employee’s base salary and is provided for up to 6 weeks, running concurrently with statutory paternity leave, if applicable and depending on length of continuous service. The leave can be taken continuously, or split into two blocks to suit the employees needs.

Shared Parental Leave is also available to eligible employees to give families more flexibility in how to share the childcare in the first year.

In the heart-breaking circumstances of pregnancy and infant loss, where applicable, employees are entitled to their pregnancy leave, and parental bereavement leave may also be available.

Welcoming a new baby or child into a family is life-changing, so we offer programmes and accommodations to help employees adjust more comfortably to their new work-life balance.

Our Ramp Back programme offers parents eight consecutive weeks of flexibility and partial work hours as they readjust to work schedules as new parents. Ramp Back is designed to ease the transition back to work after a leave of absence for a pregnancy-related reason or to bond with a new child.

Amazon also provides accommodation for employees who wish to express and store breast milk while at work. Regardless of gender identity or presentation, Amazon will provide you with a reasonable amount of time and lactation room to express breast milk.

In addition to parental leave, Amazon offers a range of great benefits that support employees and eligible family members. These comprehensive benefits begin on day one of employment and include private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection, paid breaks and a company pension plan.

We offer private medical insurance to all our regular full-time employees, regardless of their level, tenure, or position. Amazon also offers access to critical illness insurance and free counselling services. Read more about our employee benefits.

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