Adoption Leave

Unfortunately, no. In order to be eligible for adoption leave, you must be adopting a child in a way recognised by the statute. This includes adoption through a local authority/adoption agency, fostering to adopt, or having a child through surrogacy.

Special guardianship provides a legally secure placement for a child who cannot live with their birth parents, and legally is not adoption. For more information on your right to time off work if you are taking in a child through special guardianship, see our article on time off work for grandparents and kinship carers.

Yes, you can. An overseas adoption means the adoption of a child who enters Great Britain from outside the UK in connection with or for the purposes of adoption. The same rules apply, except that you must give your employer notice of the following:

• the date on which you received official notification and the date on which the child is expected to enter Great Britain. This must be given within 28 days of the latest of receipt of the official notification.
• the date on which you want to start your adoption leave. This must be given at least 28 days before that date.
• the date on which the child entered Great Britain. This must be given no more than 28 days after that date.

If your employer requests it, you must provide a copy of the official notification together with evidence of the date on which the child entered Great Britain.

You can choose to start your adoption leave on the date the child enters Great Britain or on a date no later than 28 days after the child enters Great Britain.

You must also sign form SC6 if you’re adopting from overseas with a partner. This confirms you’re not taking paternity leave or pay.

You could think about whether one partner (the ‘adopter’) would like to reduce their adoption leave and pay in order to create shared parental leave and pay for the other partner to take. If eligible, you may be able to share the 52 weeks of adoption leave with your partner. 

For more information, see our page on Shared Parental Leave for adoption or surrogacy.

If you would like to extend your time off with your new child, one or both of you may also be eligible for unpaid parental leave.

The main adopter (if they are an employee or an agency worker who has completed a 12 week qualifying period) who has been notified that a child will be placed with them can attend up to five adoption appointments on a paid basis. Each appointment is for a maximum of six and a half hours.

For a couple who are adopting, only the ‘adopter’ is entitled to paid time off. If the other partner is also employed, they will be entitled to unpaid time off for two adoption appointments.

You may work for your employer for up to 10 days without bringing your adoption leave to an end or losing your Statutory Adoption Pay. These days are known as Keeping in Touch days (KIT days) and can only take place by agreement.

You cannot be made to work during adoption leave, nor can you demand to have work during adoption leave. The rules about taking KIT days during adoption leave, and how much you should get paid for them, are the same as the rules for women taking KIT days during maternity leave.

There are two important exceptions to this rule in that you may be able to work for an employer not paying your SAP if you were working for this employer in the week in which you were notified of being matched with your child, without this affecting your SAP. You may also be able to do genuinely self-employed work without this affecting your SAP. For more information, see our article on working during maternity and family leave.

Your right to return to work after adoption leave is similar to maternity leave. Your terms and conditions of employment continue throughout your adoption leave.

If you take 26 weeks or less of ordinary adoption leave, your employer must allow you to return to the same job on the same terms and conditions as when you left.

If you take more than 26 weeks of adoption leave (any part of your additional adoption leave), your employer must allow you to return to your original job, unless it is not reasonably practicable to do so, in which case they should offer you a suitable alternative.

We recommend that you seek advice if you are not allowed to return to the same job, you are not offered any job or you think the job you have been offered is not suitable.

If after you have started adoption leave, the placement is not made, the child returns to the adoption agency, or the child dies, your leave will finish eight weeks later after the end of the week in which you were notified (or at the end of the adoption leave period if this is earlier). If you are getting Statutory Adoption Pay, this will also end eight weeks after the disruption (or at the end of the Statutory Adoption Pay period if this is earlier).

You have to give notice to your employer that you are returning to work as soon as the placement is disrupted. If you have not started your adoption leave when you find out that a child is not going to be placed with you or your partner, then you cannot take any leave or pay.