Does anyone understand this? Re. adoption leave and pay

[KumquatMay]

Doing (more!) research on adoption leave and pay for DH's work and came across this very confusing set of instructions on the Gov.uk website.

I get the bit about 7 days notice re. leave, but how are you supposed to give 28 days notice of when you want your adoption pay to start if you don't know that far in advance? Like, if you go from matching to leave starting in a fortnight, how does that work with notice and pay etc.

Anyone more experienced/understanding than me able to enlighten me?!

Ooh, I may have just found the answer. Apparently it's 28 days notice of pay unless the time between matching and placement is less than that...in case anyone's interested!

Yeah, that's not helpful is it?

I told my company before we went to matching panel and told them I'd let them know dates when I did but that it was likely to be quite short notice.

And it worked.

No idea where I'd have stood legally if they'd have decided to be picky.

It's just so confusing! According to the leave and pay entitlement info on the Gov.uk website, DH is entitled to 52 weeks leave (6 wks @ 90% pay, up to 33 weeks statutory minimum), but when I use the 'adoption leave calculator' it says he's only entitled to 2 weeks paternity. It doesn't help that his boss is insisting he only gets two weeks and we're trying to prove that he is entitled to much more!

Do you not work Kumquat? Is that what's causing confusion? I can't see anything that says eligibility is based on both partners working but I also can't find anything that says only one partner would be eligible if they were both working, though it seems unlikely the gov would pay for two parents to be home...

Have you tried the Employment Matters board?

That's it tldr - DH's employer seemed to think he's not entitled because I'm not working so could therefore technically look after the children and therefore (they think) he doesn't need the leave. Nothing I've read supports that, and as far as I can see either partner can take the leave as long as it's only one of them, but I want to be as certain as possible before he speaks to them again! Thanks for the suggestion about the other board, not heard of it before.

Possibly because I called it the wrong thing:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/employment_issues

No idea if it has heavy traffic.

I also had a nice chat with ACAS recently (about something unrelated). Might be worth a try.

Does DH have a helpline through work? Lots of big companies seem to have access to those. (I can't remember what they're called - they offer access to legal services and counselling and so on.)

Either partner can take the leave as long as it's only one of them. Spot on.

DH is self employed. He saved up and took 3 unpaid months off when our DC was placed. I took the paid adoption leave to which I was entitled as an employee.

I don't doubt it's an unusual situation for your DHs employers to have encountered but hey, broadens the mind