Adoption leave in the UK: What are your obligations as an employer?

Adoption leave — is it the same as maternity leave? Who’s eligible? Should you create an adoption leave policy? If your head is swimming with these kinds of questions, don’t worry. This blog explores what adoption leave is, employee entitlement and eligibility and how you can create an adoption leave policy.

What is adoption leave, and who’s entitled to it?

Statutory adoption leave is leave eligible employees are legally entitled to take when they adopt a child in the UK. Those eligible to take adoption leave can take up to 52 weeks off work to adjust to life with their adopted child, just like maternity leave.

Eligible employees are those:

• That have been employed by you for at least 26 weeks in the lead-up to the adoption

• Have adopted a child through an approved adoption agency, fostering to adopt or having a child through surrogacy

• Have given the appropriate notice to you as the employer

• Who provide proof of adoption if required

Is UK adoption leave the same as maternity leave? 

Although they’re similar, adoption and maternity leave aren’t the same. Here are some key differences:

Mandatory time off

Firstly, maternity leave is taken by pregnant employees, who must take a mandatory two weeks post-birth to recover physically. This mandatory leave is four weeks if the pregnant person works in a factory. 

Whereas, with adoption leave, there is no enforced time off; you do not have to take any adoption leave if you don’t want to.

Notice period and start date

For maternity leave, pregnant employees must give their employer 15 weeks' notice before they want to start maternity leave. But for adoption leave, the parent must inform their employer within seven days of discovering they’re matched with a child.

Pregnant employees can take maternity leave as early as 11 weeks before their due date, but for adoption leave, the parent can only start their leave 14 days before the child is due to live with them.

How does adoption leave work in the UK?

Once your employee finds out they’ve been matched with a child from the adoption agency, they must notify you as the employer within seven days. The employee can take adoption leave up to 14 days before the child's placement date or from the day the child comes to live with them.

Similar to maternity leave, if your employee is using adoption leave for surrogacy purposes, the employee must give you a minimum of 15 weeks’ notice before the week the child is due to be born. 

The main adopter is allowed paid time off to attend up to five appointments (no longer than 6.5 hours each). While the other adopter can take unpaid time off to attend up to two appointments. As an employer, you can ask for proof these appointments are taking place.

How much is statutory adoption pay?

Statutory adoption pay or SAP is currently:

• 90% of employee’s average earnings for the first six weeks

• Followed by £184.03 per week (or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lowest) for the next 33 weeks

But as the employer, you can decide to offer more than statutory pay. Paying employees more can improve staff retention, promote inclusion, and vastly improve staff loyalty.

Can an employer refuse adoption leave? 

No, employers cannot refuse adoption leave — it’s a statutory right for all employees who meet the eligibility criteria. As long as the employee has given the correct notice and has followed your adoption leave policy, you can’t turn down the request for adoption leave.

Their employment contract will remain in place throughout the entirety of the leave.

What should I include in an adoption leave policy?

Lay your adoption leave policy out in labelled sections, and take inspiration from our ideas below:

1. Introduction — Introduce the policy, why it’s being created and how employees can best navigate the document. 

2. Leave eligibility and entitlement — Outline eligibility requirements (i.e. they must be classed as an employee) and the leave length they’re entitled to. The statutory minimum is 52 weeks, but you may decide to offer more generous time off. Don’t forget to include allowable paid and unpaid approved adoption appointments. 

3. Adoption leave pay — Include how much you’ll pay employees taking this leave. If you’re offering just the statutory amount, make this clear and outline what that entails.

4. How to request adoption leave — Explain how employees can request adoption leave. You might want them to email their line manager, department head, or HR manager. Whatever request process you decide on, write it down and enforce it through your policy. 

5. Return to work process — Coming back from an extended period of leave can be daunting for your employees. Remove some of that anxiety by making sure they know what to expect in their first days and weeks back. Like maternity leave, adoptive parents are also allowed 10 ‘keep in touch’ or KIT days, so you include this, too.

Best practices when implementing your adoption leave UK policy 

💡Always ensure you create an adoption leave policy that uses simple language, is clearly set out, and is easily accessible to all employees. If your policy is hard to understand, your HR team will be fielding unnecessary questions and complications when employees come to take leave.

💡Make sure the policy and any additional benefits you offer are included in a standardised policy document accessible across the organisation to avoid discrimination. 

💡Train management on your adoption leave policy to ensure consistency across the organisation. Employees who have questions about your policy will likely approach their line manager. Therefore, the manager must be aware of the policy and can help support employees through the leave process.

How PayFit helps you manage adoption leave

Did you know you can store all your leave policies within the PayFit platform? That means every single employee can log into their private employee portal to access all the documents they’ll ever need. 

Having them stored digitally means any updates or amends you make to your adoption leave policy are there for everyone to see. No more printing and re-distributing to every employee.

You can also manage requests digitally through the PayFit platform. That means no leave request goes unnoticed and is always dealt with by the appropriate assigned person (i.e. line manager). The approver will get a notification in real-time so the request can be actioned promptly.

Another leave request feature that also comes in handy for adoption leave is automatic calculations. PayFit will automatically calculate the adoption leave and display it within the payslip to keep pay transparent for the employee and ensure you remain compliant with current statutory regulations. 

Ready to explore our leave and absence management features? Book a free demo, and our friendly team members will show you the ropes.