The short answer
- Statutory Adoption Pay is 90% of your average weekly earnings for 6 weeks, then £194.32 a week (or 90% if lower) for 33 weeks.
- You need 26 weeks with your employer by the week you are matched, and earnings of at least £129 a week.
- Adoption leave of up to 52 weeks is a day-one right for employees.
- Only one adopter gets adoption pay; the other can get paternity pay or share leave.
Adoption leave
Employees can take up to 52 weeks of adoption leave: 26 weeks of ordinary leave and 26 weeks of additional leave. You do not need to have worked for your employer for any minimum time to get the leave itself. Leave can start on the day the child is placed with you or up to 14 days before. For overseas adoptions it starts within 28 days of the child arriving in the UK.
Adoption leave is only for the main adopter. In a couple adopting together, you choose who takes it; the other can take paternity leave.
Statutory Adoption Pay
| Weeks | Amount |
|---|---|
| 1 to 6 | 90% of average weekly earnings |
| 7 to 39 | £194.32 a week, or 90% of earnings if lower |
| 40 to 52 | Unpaid, unless your employer pays more |
The rates are the same as Statutory Maternity Pay. Your employer pays it through payroll, so Income Tax and National Insurance are taken off, and recovers most or all of it from HMRC.
Who qualifies for pay
To get Statutory Adoption Pay you must:
- be an employee or worker on your employer’s payroll;
- have worked for them continuously for at least 26 weeks by the end of the week you were matched with a child;
- earn on average at least £129 a week (the Lower Earnings Limit) in the 8 weeks before that;
- give the right notice and proof of the adoption, usually a matching certificate.
Agency workers and people on zero-hours contracts can qualify if they meet these tests.
How average weekly earnings are worked out
Your employer adds up your gross pay in the 8 weeks (or 2 monthly pay days) up to the last pay day before the end of the matching week, and divides by 8. Overtime, bonuses and commission paid in that time count. Salary sacrifice reduces it, so if you are planning to adopt, check how a sacrifice scheme affects your pay. The calculator estimates it as your salary divided by 52 unless you enter a figure.
A pay rise counts
If you get a pay rise that would have applied during the 8 weeks, even if it is backdated later, your adoption pay is recalculated.
Worked examples
- Average weekly earnings: £36,000 ÷ 52£692.31
- Weeks 1 to 6 at 90%: 6 × £623.08£3,738.46
- Weeks 7 to 39 at £194.32: 33 weeks£6,412.56
- Weeks 40 to 52£0
- 90% of earnings£180.00 a week
- Lower than £194.32, so paid for all 39 weeks39 × £180
Enhanced employer schemes
Many employers pay more than the statutory minimum, often full pay for a number of weeks and then half pay. Schemes are usually inclusive of Statutory Adoption Pay: you get whichever is higher each week, not both. On average earnings of £600 a week, a scheme of 16 weeks full pay and 10 weeks half pay gives £15,126 over 52 weeks, compared with £9,653 from the statutory scheme alone.
Some schemes ask you to return to work for a period, often 3 to 6 months, or repay the enhanced part. Check the policy before you start leave.
Notice and key dates
- Within 7 days of being matchedTell your employer
Give the placement date and when you want leave to start.
- Within 28 daysEmployer confirms
They tell you when your leave will end.
- Up to 14 days before placementLeave can start
Or on the day of placement.
- 28 days' noticeAsk for pay
Your employer may ask for the matching certificate.
- 8 weeks' noticeReturning early
Tell your employer if you want to come back before 52 weeks.
Leave for the other adopter
- Leave
- Up to 2 weeks
- Pay
- £194.32 or 90% if lower
- When
- Within 52 weeks of placement
- Leave
- Up to 50 weeks shared
- Pay
- Up to 37 weeks shared
- How
- The main adopter ends adoption leave early
Use the shared parental leave calculator to plan a split between you.
Overseas, surrogacy and fostering to adopt
- Overseas adoption: the 26 weeks are counted to the week you get official notification. Pay starts when the child arrives in the UK or later.
- Surrogacy: intended parents who apply for a parental order can get adoption leave and pay, with the 26 weeks counted to the 15th week before the baby is due.
- Fostering for adoption: approved foster carers in fostering-for-adoption placements can get adoption leave and pay.
- Step-parents and family adoptions: adopting a stepchild or a relative’s child does not give adoption leave or pay.
If you cannot get adoption pay
There is no equivalent of Maternity Allowance for adopters. If you do not qualify for Statutory Adoption Pay, for example because you are self-employed or have not been with your employer for 26 weeks, your employer must give you form SAP1 explaining why. Check Universal Credit, which can help with a drop in income, and Child Benefit, which you can claim as soon as the child lives with you.
Other money when a child arrives
- Child Benefit from the date the child comes to live with you.
- Universal Credit’s child element, if you claim it.
- Adoption allowances from your local authority in some cases, particularly for children with additional needs.
- The Sure Start Maternity Grant if you adopt a child under 1 and get a qualifying benefit.
- Funded childcare hours and Tax-Free Childcare once you return to work.
Your rights at work
While on adoption leave you keep your contractual rights apart from pay, including holiday, which keeps building up. You can do up to 10 keeping-in-touch days without ending your leave. You have the right to return to the same job after 26 weeks, or to a similar one after 52. Being treated unfairly or dismissed because you took adoption leave is unlawful.
Tax, National Insurance and pensions
Statutory Adoption Pay is treated as earnings. Income Tax and National Insurance are taken off it through payroll, just like normal pay, so the figure in the calculator is before deductions. At £194.32 a week most people pay little or no tax on the flat-rate weeks, because it is below the weekly Personal Allowance of about £242.
Your employer must keep paying its pension contributions during paid adoption leave as if you were on your normal pay. Your own contributions are based on what you actually receive. If you pay into a pension by salary sacrifice, check with your employer how the arrangement works while you are on leave.
Planning your finances for the year
The drop from normal pay to £194.32 a week after week 6 is often the hardest part of adoption leave. A simple plan helps:
- work out your monthly income in each phase of leave: the first 6 weeks, weeks 7 to 39 and any unpaid weeks;
- list fixed costs such as rent or mortgage, council tax and childcare deposits, and see which months fall short;
- save some of the higher first-6-week payments for the unpaid weeks at the end;
- check whether Universal Credit could top up your household income while you are on the lower rate;
- ask your employer whether you can use accrued holiday at full pay at the end of your leave.
Coming back to work
If you want to return before the end of 52 weeks, give your employer 8 weeks’ notice. You can ask for flexible working from your first day in the job, and your employer must consider it reasonably. Many adopters use shared parental leave to return part-time while their partner takes some of the leave, or use unpaid parental leave later on: up to 18 weeks for each child before their 18th birthday, usually taken in blocks of a week.
Keeping-in-touch days
You can work up to 10 keeping-in-touch days during adoption leave without ending your leave or losing adoption pay for that week. They can be used for training, team days or a gradual return. Both you and your employer have to agree, and you should be paid for the work, usually at your normal rate, with Statutory Adoption Pay counting towards it. If you share leave through shared parental leave, you get up to 20 more.
How employers recover the cost
Employers pay Statutory Adoption Pay through payroll and claim most of it back from HMRC: 92% for most employers, or 108.5% for small employers whose Class 1 National Insurance was £45,000 or less in the previous tax year. Any enhanced pay above the statutory amount is the employer’s own cost.
Key numbers
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Adoption leave | Up to 52 weeks |
| Statutory Adoption Pay | 39 weeks |
| First 6 weeks | 90% of average weekly earnings |
| Weeks 7 to 39 | £194.32, or 90% if lower |
| Lower Earnings Limit | £129 a week |
| Service needed for pay | 26 weeks by the matching week |
| Keeping-in-touch days | Up to 10 |