Leave vs pay — two different tests
| Right | The test |
|---|
| Adoption LEAVE (up to 52 weeks) | A day-one right for employees — no minimum service. Up to 26 weeks ordinary + 26 weeks additional leave. |
| Adoption PAY (39 weeks) | 26 weeks’ continuous service by the week you’re matched with the child, + average earnings of at least £129/week (the Lower Earnings Limit). Paid: 6 weeks at 90% of average earnings (no cap), then 33 weeks at £194.32 or 90% if lower. |
- You must adopt through an adoption agency — private arrangements and most step-parent adoptions don’t qualify.
- Only one parent in a couple takes adoption leave — you choose which. SAP is taxable and counts as income for Universal Credit.
- You keep all your normal employment terms during leave, can use up to 10 keeping-in-touch days, and are legally protected from dismissal or detriment for taking it.
The other parent, surrogacy & fostering to adopt
- Your partner can take paternity leave and pay (2 weeks, splittable) — and you can convert the balance of your adoption leave into Shared Parental Leave to split between you.
- Surrogacy: intended parents qualify for adoption leave and pay if you expect to apply for a Parental Order within 6 months of the birth and meet the normal tests. Leave starts the day the baby is born; the second intended parent can take paternity leave.
- Fostering to adopt: leave and pay run from the day the child comes to live with you under the placement — you don’t wait for the formal match or court order.
- Overseas adoptions qualify too, with different notice and evidence rules — ask your employer early.
Self-employed?
There’s no adoption equivalent of Maternity Allowance — a genuine gap in the system. If you’re adopting while self-employed, check what else the household can claim:
run the benefits check — UC, Child Benefit and (for under-4s, on a low income) Healthy Start may all apply, and an
Adoption Support Fund referral via your agency can help with therapeutic support costs.
How to claim it
- Tell your employer within 7 days of being matched (surrogacy: by the 15th week before the due date) — when the child will arrive and when you want leave to start.
- Provide proof if asked — usually the matching certificate from the agency (surrogacy: a statutory declaration about the Parental Order).
- Your employer confirms your leave dates within 28 days and pays SAP through normal payroll, like wages.
Refused? Two routes
The employer must give the refusal in writing on form SAP1 with reasons. If you think they’re wrong, HMRC’s Statutory Payments Dispute Team can rule against them and order payment — and ACAS (0300 123 1100) advises free on the leave side. Don’t just accept a “we don’t do adoption pay” — it’s statute, not policy.
Do this now
Matched, or expecting a surrogate birth? Diary the 7-day notice window and email your employer today with the placement date and your intended leave start.
Then check the household money around the new arrival — Child Benefit (claim within 3 months), free childcare hours and a full benefits check.
Northern Ireland
NI has its own equivalent adoption leave and pay rules (via nidirect) — the structure is the same; check the NI guidance for current details.