Shared paternity leave

[howmanyusernames]

Hi there, I'm new to this so please be kind! ☺
We went for a meeting last night to get some more information on adoption, and have decided to start the process! So, very early I know.
I work for myself and my husband is an employee for two different companies, how does shared paternity leave work? Can he use the 52 weeks and me use none, as I have a lot of flexibility in my job so in an ideal situation we'd want him to have the paid leave so we could be off together when we hopefully adopt.
I've looked on the government website but it's all very confusing.
And I know I'm months and months ahead of myself, but I would just like as much information as possible.

Hi, good luck with the process, it's all worth it in the end.

We adopted our first in 2015. Both my wife and I had the first two weeks off, then I had the next 12 weeks off and after that she took the remaining 38 weeks.

We're just about to adopt our second and planing on dong something similar again.

It works for us as my wife is a teacher so is off for 6-7 weeks over the summer anyway, so we get all that time together as a family. And my benefits package from my employer is incredibly generous so it makes financial sense too.

You can pretty much divide it up as you wish, so if you both were off for weeks of introductions, then you could effectively pass the remaining 50 weeks to your hubby to use.

Thank you for responding! ☺
The plan would be to have those initial 2 weeks off together, so would hubby have his paternity leave then, and is that included in the 52 weeks?
Then after that, I can work 30-60 mins a day if I need to, just check emails every now and then etc, so the plan was for him to use all of the paternity leave so he would be paid but have the time off, and I can basically have the time off too.
I have my own business, have to do a self-assessment but am PAYE. Even though I'm 'self employed' could hubby could still use the full 50 weeks?
Also, I don't suppose you know if I get the 2 weeks adoption leave from the government, do you?
Obviously it's not about the money, but we would want to claim what we're entitled to!
We just think if we can both be off at the same time, him be paid for it and I can pick up work every now and then, it would be a great chunk of time to bond and do things as a family.

Your hubby either gets 2 weeks leave OR you spilt the 52 weeks between you. I don't think you get 2 weeks if he uses all 52, but I'm unsure. He can use as much as he wants.

You should have a look at how much adoption pay is for hubby through employer (should be same as maternity conditions). After that he will default to statutory. You can always take a few weeks off the end (when he won't get paid anyway) to get some time together.

You might want to get specific advice from your SW (if they are of use). You should also ask about any settling in grant from the LA. You should be able to claim expenses during intros.

One of the perks of adoption is slightly more flexibility in the leave, in that the "maternity" leave is actually "primary adopter/carer" and "paternity" is "secondary carer/adopter". Because there doesn't have to be a post natal woman, the sex of each is not assumed.

So, you can pick who is primary (takes the mat pay/leave) and who is secondary ( takes the pat pay/leave), as to who it is most financially advantageous, rather than on sex. You can then share leave (so the person taking the "maternity" can give some to the "paternity" person.) Should you wish.

The primary carer takes adoption leave, which is equivalent to maternity leave, and the secondary carer takes the equivalent of paternity leave. But who does what is up to you.

Many employers are clueless about parental leave, so ensure you're fully informed, and read all the gov guidance. Don't forget there is "parental leave" which is entirely separate.

Thanks for the responses!
Hubby's company's maternity pay is 6 weeks at 100%, then 18 weeks at 50%. He would add a couple of weeks holiday to the end of the 6 weeks so we could have 2 months off together (him on full pay) through the settling in stage.

My work means I can do minimal work in that time, and work in the evenings if I needed to.
I think I might be getting confused with parental and maternity, but it's what time hubby can have off, and from what you say, as it's 'adoption' he can take the maternity package hopefully! ☺

Not hopefully, he is entitled to complete parity with the maternity package. But, be aware that he gets the paid time off for appointments, not you.

Good luck!

That's fine, I work for myself so I would be the one paying me for the time off for appointments anyway! ;)

Thank you! We're so keen now to get things moving, we've even started planning changes to the house (obviously before anyone moved in), cars, holidays, but I have to learn patience! ☺

I'm not sure if you got a response re stat adoption leave with being a PAYE of your own limited company but if you find out do let us know! We are going through stage 2 at the moment & have had mixed messages on this. We are both freelance, me as a sole trader & DP as self employed ltd company paying himself PAYE. We're still not clear on what either of us are entitled to & each social worker we ask has a different/opposite answer.

The DWP maybe more helpful? Sws won't have a clue.

We have adopted twice. First time I took the 'maternity' and had 52 weeks off and he took 'paternity' and had two weeks plus two weeks a/l. The second time we swapped and he took the full 52 weeks and I took two weeks plus a/l. Then I went part time. We had to do it that way because we adopted number three about 1 month after I went back to work so would have only been entitled to sap whereas he could get the full enhanced package.