XClose

UCL People & Culture

Menu

Adoption Leave and Pay Policy

This policy sets out the entitlements and support available to employees who wish to take adoption leave (AL).

 

Contents

Purpose

1. This policy sets out the entitlements and support available to employees who wish to take adoption leave (AL), because they are either;

i.    Fostering a child to adopt;
ii.    Matched with a child to adopt;
iii.   Having a child through a surrogacy arrangement, including via a parental order under section 54 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008.

2. Employees will not be entitled to adoption leave or pay in the following situations:

i. Private Adoption;
ii. Becoming a special guardian or kinship carer;
iii. Adopting a stepchild;
iv. Adopting a family member, unless they have applied for a parental order in a surrogacy arrangement;
v. Where the employee is the partner of the primary adoptive parent (see Paternity/Partner's Leave) 

Time off for Appointments

Pre-Matching

3. UCL understands there may be appointments that prospective adopters will need to attend before being matched with a child. Line managers should be sympathetic to these requests and accommodate them where possible.

4. Annual leave may be used for such appointments (with the option of purchasing additional leave), or unpaid leave if the appointment is of at least half a day in length.

5. Alternatively, for shorter appointments, employees may be able to arrange locally to make the time up with their line manager.

Post-Matching

6. Employees who are primary adopters may take paid time off to attend up to five adoption appointments once they are matched with a child.

7. Employees whose partner is the primary adopter, are entitled to take unpaid time off in order to attend up to two such appointments.

8. Adoptive parents in a surrogacy arrangement are entitled to unpaid leave to attend up to two antenatal appointments.

9. Employees must endeavour to give as much notice as possible to their line manager for adoption or antenatal appointments. 

Entitlement to Adoption Leave

10. Providing that the correct notification proess has been followed, employees are entitled to take up to 52 weeks Adoption Leave in one continuous block. There is no qualifying length of service requirement.

11. The legal minimum amount of AL that employees must take is two weeks compulsory adoption leave, immediately following the date of the placement.

12. When can AL start?

i)  Foster to Adopt (Early Permanence Placement)
An employee can choose for AL to begin when a foster to adopt placement is made, or at the point the child is approved to be adopted (which may be some months later). Taking AL at the later date (on matching) may affect Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) as this is calculated based on the final 8 weeks’ salary before taking leave.

Adopters are eligible for Adoption Leave only once per placement.

ii) Adoption Leave as a registered adopter
AL can start from the date that the adopted child is placed, or up to fourteen days before the date of the placement.

If the child is being adopted from overseas, AL can start when the child arrives in the UK or no later than 28 days after this date.

iii) Adopting if using a surrogate 
AL can start the day the child is born or the day after. 

Entitlement to Occupational Adoption Pay

13. Providing that the correct notification processes have been followed, all employees who are primary adopters, regardless of length of service, are entitled to Occupational Adoption Pay (OAP). 

14. OAP is calculated to ensure the employee receives 22 weeks full pay, or 11 weeks full pay followed by 22 weeks half pay. 

15. OAP includes any entitlement to statutory adoption pay (SAP).

16. Payment of OAP commences simultaneously with the beginning of the adoption leave period and is paid monthly in arrears (in the same way salary is paid). 

Entitlement to Statutory Adoption Pay

17. An employee will be entitled to Statutory Adoption pay (SAP) if they have at least 26 weeks' service by the time they are matched with a child, or the 15th week before the baby's due date in the case of a surrogacy arrangement, and provided that the average earnings are above the lower earnings limit for National Insurance contributions at the 26th week. Employees will be required to provide evidence of the surrogacy or adoption, as described in paragraph 27, plus a declaration that they have elected to receive SAP, at least 28 days before the date chosen as the beginning of the adoption pay period, or if that is not possible, as soon as reasonably practicable.

18. Employees who are not eligible for SAP will be informed by payroll and provided with the ‘SAP1’ form, and they may be able to get support from the local council, or adoption agency instead.

19. SAP is payable for a 39-week period and is included within the weeks of OAP where applicable. After exhausting OAP, employees may receive SAP for the remaining weeks unless or until they return to work or enter into the Shared Parental Leave scheme. Please check the Government website for the current rate. 

20. If the child's placement ends during the AL period, the adopter will be able to continue AL for up to eight weeks after the end of the week in which the placement stops. Payment of adoption pay continues for this eight week period, or until the end of the employees SAP period if that is sooner.

Notification Process

21. An employee going through the adoption process should inform their manager of this as early as is reasonably possible and, when requesting AL, is required to notify their line manager within 7 days of being matched with a child. 

22. Where an employee plans to adopt a child or apply for a parental order following a surrogacy agreement, they must tell UCL at least 15 weeks before their intended AL start date. 

23. The employee should agree with their line manager when others can be told, such as the Departmental Administrator/local HR contact (if applicable) so that the absence can be planned for. 

See paragragh 12 for information on the earliest/latest AL can start.

24. The employee may wish to curtail their AL in order to enter into shared parental leave with their partner. For details on this, refer to the Shared Parental Leave Policy. If the employee and/or their partner are considering entering into Shared Parental Leave, the employee must book a consultation with the HR Employment Policy Team.

25. The employee should complete and submit the online application form. Once signed by their partner and the Line Manager, this will be automatically forwarded to MyServices for processing. Within four weeks of receiving the application, HR Services will write to the employee to confirm the maximum amount of AL and Adoption Pay to which they are entitled, including the date by which they are expected to return to work. 

26. The Adoption Application form should be supported by a letter issued by the adoption agency that matched the employee with the child. Where there is a surrogacy agreement, the Adoption Application form should be supported by a statutory declaration confirming that the employee intends to apply for a parental order in the six months after the baby’s birth and expects the order to be granted. . Please review the government website for what to include in the declaration or letter: Statutory Adoption Pay and Leave: employer guide: Proof of adoption.

27. In circumstances where there is a surrogacy arrangement, but the employee does not qualify for a parental order, please contact the Employment Policy team to discuss the available options.

28. AL will automatically end 52 weeks after the start date unless the employee has given 8 weeks’ notice in writing to return before this date. If notice is given after the birth or adoption date, the notice is binding. If notice to end AL is given before the birth or adoption of a child, the primary adoptive parent is able to withdraw this notice in writing up to six weeks after the birth or planned adoption date. 

29. If the date of the placement changes, employees must notify UCL within 28 days if the date of placement (or UK arrival date for overseas adoptions) changes.

30. If an employee wishes to amend their return-to-work date, at least eight weeks’ notice must be given, if the date is earlier than previously agreed (or, if that is not possible, as soon as is reasonably practicable), by submitting a new Online Adoption Leave application. If an employee's original application has been submitted, but not yet processed, please contact HR Services, via MyServices, to void the original application before submitting a new one.

31. The employee can raise a query via the MyServices Portal if they have a query about eligible dates and entitlements. Please visit the parental leave toolkit page for useful tools and documents to help you plan your leave. 

32. The employee and their line manager should review and complete the Parental Leave Checklist at the earliest opportunity and before the employee starts their AL.

Keeping in contact during Adoption Leave

33. Line managers should ask employees to ensure their personal contact details are up to date on the Inside UCL mobile app (or on MyHR) and should discuss with the employee how and when they would like to be in contact during their period of AL. The line manager should inform employees on AL, (and consult with, where appropriate) about any important business changes or announcements which may affect them.

34. Employees on AL should continue to have the same access to training and career progression as other employees and should not be disadvantaged in any way by their absence.

Keeping in Touch Days (KIT Days)

35. An employee and their manager can agree up to 10 'Keeping in Touch' (KIT) days which can be used during AL, without bringing the AL to an end.  KIT days are not mandatory and are not an automatic entitlement; they should be mutually agreed between the manager and the employee. 

36. KIT days can be used for any activity that the employee would normally undertake if they were at work. Examples of activities are: attendance on training courses, meetings, briefings and conferences. The time should be used productively and agreed in advance. 

37. Any work undertaken on a KIT day will be treated as a whole KIT day and will be subtracted from the 10-day allowance. 

38. Employees will be paid their normal rate of pay to the nearest half or full day for any KIT days they take, in addition to any SAP and OAP they are receiving at the time the KIT day is worked. Payment for KIT days is funded by the respective department budget.

39. Payments for KIT days will be subject to deductions for tax and NI but will not be eligible for salary sacrifice. Whether payments for KIT days are pensionable is dependent on the particular pension scheme. Please contact the Pensions Team for further information.

40. Employees should complete the online KIT/SPLIT Day form, with the dates worked and if this was a full or half day. Once signed by the Line Manager, this will be sent to the Departmental Administrator/Local HR Contact, who will raise this payment via Departmental Transactions using the "KIT Day Payment" pay element. This should be submitted on, or after, the KIT day has been worked. 

Annual Leave and Parental Leave

41. Where an employee will take a period of at least 6 weeks of any form of parental leave, UCL will require the employee to take a reasonable proportion of untaken annual leave (including annual leave carried forward and purchased annual leave) before the parental leave begins, to ensure that arrangements for carrying leave forward under the Annual Leave Policy are adhered to wherever possible. 

Please see Table of Annual Leave accrual before Parental Leave.

42. Annual leave (pro-rata for part-time staff) is accrued throughout any period of parental leave.

43. Except for 5 days which can be automatically carried over and taken at any time during the following leave year, employees should, where possible, take annual leave accrued during parental leave in the leave year in which it is accrued. Employees will normally only be allowed to carry over more than 5 days’ leave into the next leave year if it has not been possible to take it. Where parental leave crosses two annual leave years, annual leave accrued during the period of parental leave in the first leave year can be carried over to the next leave year, but must be taken immediately following the parental leave, and before returning to work. 

Bank Holidays and Closure Days during any type of Parental Leave

44. Bank holidays and UCL closure days accrue during parental leave and must be manually added to the employee's annual leave balance. This should be done via Employee Self Service in MyHR. Please see the guide to adjust annual leave entitlement.

45. Accrued bank holidays and closure days must be taken immediately following AL, and before returning to work.  

Authorised Deductions from Pay 

46. Where an employee has authorised salary deductions (e.g. Trade Union membership subscriptions or Give as You Earn) these payments will continue to be deducted during AL. Unless instructed otherwise, UCL will continue to pay all of an employee's authorised deductions during periods of unpaid AL and these contributions will be recovered from future salary payments.

47. If an employee wishes to cancel any authorised salary deductions or contributions whilst on AL, they should contact MyServices. For details of how AL affects pension contributions, employees should contact the HR Pension Services Team or refer to your pension provider website.

Neonatal Leave

48. Please see the Neonatal Care Leave policy for details on leave and pay arrangements for employees whose baby has received at least 7 consecutive days of neonatal care, within the first 28 days of birth

Returning to Work

49. Employees wishing to take any additional periods of leave such as unpaid parental leave or carer’s leave should refer to the relevant policy.

50. Employees wishing to amend their working pattern on their return to work, should refer to the Flexible Working Policy.

51. Academic employees returning from AL (where a single block of leave is more than 3 calendar months duration) are entitled to take one term of Research  Leave, without teaching commitments, in accordance with the principles set out in the Research Leave Policy. 

Ending Employment by resignation

52. Employees who decide not to return to work, during or following a period of AL, should give the correct amount of notice to resign in line with their contract of employment. 

Their employment will end once their notice period comes to an end. 

There is no requirement to repay any OAP or SAP.

53. When processing the employee as a leaver in MyHR, the leaver reason to be selected is "Maternity/Shared Parental Leave Non-Returner".

54. UCL will pay the appropriate OAP entitlement until the last day of employment. After this date, if an employee is entitled to any SAP, this will be paid as a lump sum in their final payslip, plus any outstanding accrued annual leave. 

Ending employment by redundancy

55. An employee who is on, or has recently returned, from adoption leave and is potentially at risk of redundancy or their contract is due to end during their Adoption leave, will be consulted as appropriate in accordance with the Termination Procedure or Organisational Change Procedure. 

56. They will have priority status for redeployment opportunities in line with the Redeployment Procedure.

57. UCL will pay the appropriate OAP entitlement until the last day of employment. After this date, if an employee is entitled to any SAP, this will be paid as a lump sum in their final payslip, plus any outstanding accrued annual leave. 

Financial Assistance for Departments

58. The Department may request financial assistance to cover the duties of the employee while on any form of parental leave which cannot be covered by other staff in the department within their usual working week.

Monitoring of Policy

59. The Employment Policy Team will keep the monitoring of adoption leave and the operation of this policy under review.

HR Employment Policy Team

June 2026

Managers' Toolkit

Contact

For queries on this policy visit MyServices

Policy Owner

HR Division: Employment Policy