How does adoption leave and pay work?

Fifty-two weeks of leave from day one for the main adopter, pay on a service test, and different start rules for UK adoption, overseas adoption, fostering to adopt and surrogacy.

Difficulty: intermediate
Time: 14 min
Read: 5 min

Short answer

One member of an adopting couple takes adoption leave — 52 weeks, a day-one right for employees — and the other takes paternity leave or shared parental leave. Statutory Adoption Pay needs 26 weeks' service by the matching week plus earnings at or above the lower earnings limit, and runs for 39 weeks. Notice is within seven days of being matched, and the evidence is the matching certificate.

Adoption leave is deliberately built to mirror maternity leave, so most of the structure will be familiar: 52 weeks of leave, 39 weeks of pay, keeping-in-touch days, and the same protections on return. The differences are all in the trigger. Instead of a due date there is a matching date, an entry date, or a birth by a surrogate, and each of those has its own notice rules and its own earliest start.

Step by step

Decide who takes adoption leave.Only one of a couple can take it. The other takes paternity leave, and either can then take shared parental leave. Choose on the basis of the two employers' policies and the two pay entitlements, and decide early because the notices are tied to matching.
Check the leave and pay tests.Adoption leave has been a day-one right for employees for some years — no service condition. Statutory Adoption Pay needs 26 weeks' continuous service by the week you are matched, plus average earnings at or above the lower earnings limit.
Give notice within seven days of matching.Tell your employer you have been matched, when the child is expected to be placed, and when you want the leave to start. Give 28 days' notice for the pay. The employer confirms the end date within 28 days.
Produce the matching certificate.The adoption agency issues it and it is the evidence for pay, in the same way the MATB1 is for maternity. If your employer refuses adoption pay they must give you form SAP1 within seven days.
Know the start rules for a UK adoption.Leave can start up to 14 days before the child is placed with you, or on the day of placement. Choose deliberately — the days used before placement come out of the 52 weeks.
Know the start rules for an overseas adoption.The notice runs from official notification rather than matching, and leave starts when the child enters the UK, or within 28 days of that. The deadlines are different from a UK adoption, so use the overseas guidance specifically.
Know the surrogacy route.Intended parents who expect to apply for a parental order can take adoption leave and pay. Notice is given around 15 weeks before the baby is due, with a statutory declaration of intent to apply for the order. The surrogate keeps her own full maternity leave rights regardless.
Use the adoption appointments entitlement.The main adopter can take paid time off for up to five adoption appointments before placement; the second adopter can take unpaid time off for two. This is separate from the leave itself.
Use keeping-in-touch days.Ten days, as with maternity leave, voluntary on both sides and without ending the leave or losing that week's pay.
Apply for the parental order in time, for surrogacy.A parental order application must be made within six months of the birth, through the family court. It is a separate legal process from the employment rights and its deadline is not extendable in the ordinary case.

Tips

Compare both employers' adoption and paternity policies before deciding who takes which. Enhanced pay is common on one side and not the other.
The five paid adoption appointments for the main adopter are widely unknown and widely unused. Ask for them.
For surrogacy, diarise the six-month parental order deadline the day the baby is born. It is a court deadline, not an employment one.

Common mistakes

Starting leave 14 days before placement without thinking — Those days come out of the 52 weeks. Starting early is useful for preparation and it shortens the time you have with the child at home later.
Both adopters trying to take adoption leave — Only one can. The other's route is paternity leave and then shared parental leave, and the notices for that need planning at the same time.

If it doesn't work

You were matched and missed the seven-day notice

Cause: The notice period runs from matching, not from placement — Fix: Tell your employer immediately in writing. The regulations allow for notice as soon as reasonably practicable where seven days was not possible, so explain why and confirm the dates.

Your employer refused adoption pay

Cause: Usually the 26-week service or the earnings test — Fix: Ask for form SAP1, which they must issue within seven days. It sets out the reason, and you will need it if you claim anything else.

Your employer has no adoption policy at all

Cause: Common in smaller organisations — Fix: The statutory rights apply whether or not there is a policy. Send them the GOV.UK employer guidance and the matching certificate, and contact Acas if it is not accepted.

Questions people ask

Is fostering to adopt covered?

Yes. Where you are approved as a foster-to-adopt carer, leave and pay start at the point the child is placed with you rather than at a later formal adoption.

What if the placement breaks down?

Adoption leave generally continues for a period after a disrupted placement rather than ending immediately. Check the current GOV.UK guidance and speak to your employer and to Acas, because the exact period is set by regulation.

Does adopting a stepchild or a relative's child qualify?

Statutory adoption leave and pay are for adoptions arranged through an adoption agency. Adopting a partner's child does not usually qualify. Check the GOV.UK eligibility page for your circumstances.

What about Northern Ireland?

Adoption leave and pay operate in the same way under separate Northern Ireland regulations. Use nidirect for the forms and the notice periods.