The same logic applies to adoption pay: a colleague on adoption leave usually isn’t your comparator either.
“The same reasoning that applies to enhanced maternity pay versus shared parental pay applies to enhanced adoption pay too.”
The law treats enhanced adoption pay the same way it treats enhanced maternity pay: not extending it to shared parental leave usually isn't discrimination either.
- If you're comparing your shared parental pay to a colleague's adoption pay rather than maternity pay, the same principle applies, the two forms of leave aren't treated as equivalent.
- Adoption leave is recognised in law as serving more than a childcare function, including helping a newly placed child settle and bond, which is part of why the comparison to shared parental leave fails.
- Check your own employer's family leave policy directly rather than assuming national case law guarantees any particular outcome, employers remain free to offer more generous terms voluntarily.
The situation
Mr Price's employer enhanced pay for a female colleague on statutory adoption leave, but paid him, taking Shared Parental Leave, at the statutory rate only. He argued this was direct sex discrimination, on the basis that all forms of family leave existed for the same purpose: enabling childcare.
What the eat found
The Employment Appeal Tribunal held that a woman on statutory adoption leave was not the right comparatorA comparator is someone in a similar situation to you but without your protected characteristic (for example, a different race, sex, or disability status), used to judge whether you were treated worse... for a man on Shared Parental Leave. Statutory adoption leave, like maternity leave, is recognised in law as serving purposes beyond childcare alone, including helping a newly placed child settle into a stable environment and supporting the early parental bond, considerations the tribunal noted are particularly significant given many adopted children arrive from difficult circumstances. The correct comparator was a woman on Shared Parental Leave, who would have received the same pay as Mr Price, so there was no discrimination.
Price v Powys County Council. UKEAT/0133/20/LA. Employment Appeal Tribunal. 31 March 2021.