Adoption leave and pay: your entitlement explained

Adoption leave and pay follow almost the same structure as maternity leave and pay, built for the person taking on primary care of a newly placed child rather than someone who’s given birth.

How much leave you get

You’re entitled to 52 weeks of adoption leave in total: 26 weeks of Ordinary Adoption Leave followed immediately by 26 weeks of Additional Adoption Leave. This is a day-one right, the same as maternity leave, how long you’ve worked for your employer makes no difference.

Only one person per adoption can take adoption leave, whoever is named as the primary adopter. Their partner can take paternity leave instead, or the couple can split Shared Parental Leave between them once the primary adopter curtails their own adoption leave, see our guide on shared parental leave and pay for how that works.

How much you’re paid

Statutory Adoption PayThe minimum amount your employer is legally required to pay you for up to 39 weeks while you're on adoption leave, if you meet the qualifying conditions. It mirrors statutory maternity pay in structur... (SAP) mirrors Statutory Maternity PayThe minimum amount your employer is legally required to pay you while you're on maternity leave, if you meet the qualifying conditions, mainly around length of service and earnings. It's separate from... exactly: up to 39 weeks, the first 6 at 90% of your average weekly earningsThe average amount you earn per week, usually calculated over a reference period before your absence started. It's used to work out how much Statutory Sick Pay, maternity pay, or other statutory payme..., and the remaining 33 at whichever is lower, the government’s flat weekly rate or 90% of your average weekly earnings. From 6 April 2026 that flat rate is £194.32 a week, the same rate used across statutory maternity, paternity, and shared parental pay.

To qualify for SAP you need at least 26 weeks’ continuous employment with your employer by the relevant week (the week you’re matched with the child, not tied to an expected week of childbirth), and average weekly earnings above the Lower Earnings LimitThe minimum weekly earnings threshold that used to decide whether you qualified for Statutory Sick Pay at all. It was removed from 6 April 2026, so your earnings no longer affect whether you qualify, ....

Notice you have to give your employer

Adoption notice runs on a different clock to maternity’s, because there’s no expected week of childbirth to count back from. Within 7 days of being matched with a child (or as soon as reasonably practicable if that’s not possible), tell your employer when the child is expected to be placed with you and when you want your adoption leave to start.

Overseas adoption and surrogacy

If you’re adopting a child from overseas, the notice timing runs from when you receive official notification of the match instead, and leave can start either when the child enters the UK or up to 28 days beforehand.

Having a child through surrogacy and intending to apply for a parental order can also entitle you to adoption leave and pay on broadly the same terms, once the parental order application is made, even though the child is genetically yours. This is a distinct route from adoption leave proper and worth checking against your specific circumstances.

Coming back to work

Return-to-work protection works the same way as maternity leave: exactly the same job after Ordinary Adoption Leave alone, and the same job, or a similar one on no less favourable terms if that’s not reasonably practicable, if you’ve also taken some or all of your Additional Adoption Leave.

If you’re treated unfairly because of adoption leave

The same protections against dismissal, selection for redundancyA dismissal that occurs when your employer no longer needs the work you do, either because the business is closing, a workplace is closing, or the requirement for employees to carry out that kind of w..., and other detrimentAny action your employer takes that puts you at a disadvantage, short of dismissal. In a whistleblowing or discrimination context, being moved to a worse role, excluded from meetings, or given an unfa... that apply to maternity leave apply to adoption leave too. See our guide on pregnancy and maternity discrimination for the closely related legal tests, and our guide on redundancy and family leave if you’re facing redundancy while on adoption leave.

If your adoption leave or pay doesn’t add up after checking all this, you can book a call to talk it through.