This means that the person taking adoption leave can shorten the leave to take/share shared parental leave. Contact us Employee Relations Self-employed dads and partners still have no rights to paid time off – but do check what it means to be an ‘employed earner’ for Statutory Shared Parental Pay (see below). Shared Parental Leave and Pay also apply to this group of parents, again if they meet the conditions. Employment Law Recruitment & Resourcing If you wish to break up your leave, it is advisable to talk to your employer about this as soon as possible. As a result, many agency workers will meet the conditions for ShPP (having worked for the agency throughout the pregnancy/up to the matching date and beyond, earning at least £112 a week in the calculation period), but will not be entitled to maternity leave, adoption leave, paternity leave or indeed shared parental leave. So, if you are the partner of someone who is taking adoption leave for a baby born via a surrogate, you will need to have worked for your employer since before the pregnancy began. Taking time off together is possible with SPL.

Paternity leave still requires that an employee has been employed for 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the baby is due. For adoptions from overseas, adopters first receive “official notification” of the adoption and the important milestone is when the child enters Great Britain. The mother of the baby/adopter of the child must meet the ‘employment and earnings’ condition. M remains employed in the week before any SPL is due to start; M has shortened her maternity leave by returning to work or providing a notice to curtail the leave.

They also need to have average earnings of at least £30 a week in at least 13 of those weeks. Eventually this could make a real difference to family lives and attitudes in the workplace. Employee Benefits Connect This is the person who can take adoption leave, which is now a day one right (this means that since 5 April 2015 you don’t have to have any length of service with your employer to take up to 52 weeks adoption leave). Adoptive parents, whether using a surrogate or being matched with a child, may need to make choices about which parent takes adoption leave and which paternity leave (where both are employed) as well as whether to use SPL.

Being an ‘employed earner’ means that there is someone who is liable to pay Class 1 national insurance, or would be liable if you earned enough – you don’t have to be employed. RSS feeds Pro-formas for curtailing leave and giving notice of intention and entitlement are on the ACAS website. There are several terms that have very specific meanings in the law on adoption leave. The policy can also set out how shared parental leave can be taken – for example, that the leave must be taken in blocks of at least one week. For employees to be eligible for statutory shared parental pay, both adoptive parents must meet certain eligibility requirements. Any Statutory Shared Parental Pay is created by the curtailment of Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay or Maternity Allowance. The shared parental leave policy should state who is eligible to take shared parental leave. As with birth situations, shared parental leave … Apart from SPLIT days (see below) working in between periods of SPL reduces the time within which SPL can be taken, unless the partner takes SPL when their partner is working. shared parental leave policy to cover birth situations, their rules on shared parental leave in adoption situations, Model shared parental leave policy (adoption): the right of adopters to shared parental leave, Model shared parental leave policy (adoption): definitions under your shared parental leave policy. Wellbeing

Health & Safety Pay here includes Maternity Allowance, so it may be worth a self-employed mother, who would not be entitled to SPL herself, going back to work, for example, if you would be entitled to SPL and pay. Its purpose is the sharing of knowledge and best practice on Shared Parental Leave. It’s important that you are clear about which of you is going to exercise the right to adoption leave and the right to take paid time off for up to five adoption appointments. The 90 per cent of average earnings rule may mean that, in some cases, your partner’s statutory payment would be less or more than yours; think about exactly how much you will each receive during time off. We’ll send you a link to a feedback form. The mother or adopter also has to meet employment and earnings conditions in order for the other parent/partner to take SPL. Email Newsletters the partner of the mother at the time of the birth and lives with her and the child in an ‘enduring family relationship’. HR Director Talent Management Up to 3 booking notices can be used.

The test for length of service in ShPP depends on being an employed earner for 26 weeks by the end of the relevant week (the 15th week before the baby is due for birth children, or the week in which you are notified of being matched with a child for adoptive children). If you are adopting with your partner, and you meet the conditions of entitlement, you can take SPL. If you have decided that you and/or your partner will take some SPL, the first step is to make sure that maternity or adoption leave and/or pay are curtailed .

Secondly, a “notice of entitlement and intention” from the employee giving an initial, non-binding indication of each period of shared parental leave that the employee is requesting.

Two weeks’ paternity leave isn’t very much and many dads and partners welcome the chance to spend more time with their new family. Model shared parental leave policy (adoption): how much shared parental pay is available.