Unpaid leave before adoption leave

[Putmedownforanap]

My husband and I are hoping to adopt for a second time this year. The final court hearing is due in October and if a placement order is granted we will have our matching panel shortly after that and hopefully placement will then be within 4 weeks.

I have been with my employer since September 2017. I will be taking 12 months adoption leave and receiving statutory adoption pay (same as maternity pay). Adoption leave can't start until after the matching panel. I would like to go on unpaid leave from mid October until then, so that I have time to prepare and also because due to the nature of my job I am finding not having a definite finish date very stressful. If all goes the way we hope I would probably be taking around 4 weeks unpaid leave, but if the court proceedings are delayed (as they often are) it is possible this could increase to 2-3 months.

Are there any employment experts out there who can tell me if taking unpaid leave immediately prior to adoption leave will effect my rights to adoption leave or pay?? My employer is happy for me to do this.

I have been trying to get through to the CAB and ACAS for days to no avail and the company I work for is very small with no HR department.

If anyone could tell me, I would be SUPER grateful. The whole process is pretty tricky and at least then I will have an answer to one question and can put a plan in place.

Thank you!

www.gov.uk/maternity-paternity-calculator it also covers adoption pay

Use this calculator with potential dates and it will tell you you need to make sure you earn enough in the reference period to still qualify for pay

Thank you figgy I just tried it and put the matching certificate would be in February, with placement 2 weeks afterwards (thought I'd go for worse case scenario!) I then said I wouldn't be earning anything in November, December and January and the calculator said I would be eligible for full adoption pay. Is that what you meant I should do?? I'm sorry, I find it all really confusing!

Is it literally just about how much money you earned in the time beforehand, rather than whether you went on unpaid leave and for how long?

Did anyone do this with maternity pay? I'm guessing the rules would be the same?

It's literally about whether you've earned enough in the qualifying period

In maternity pay that is 23 weeks before expected week of birth up to 15th week before

I assume with adoption leave it is around date of placement rather than expected date of birth

The qualifying period for adoption pay is based on the matching week (literally the week the matching cert is issued) so it is risky to take unpaid leave prior to the matching panel as it's the 8 weeks prior to the matching week that counts. It might work if all goes to plan but any delays could scupper your adoption pay.

For example, you finish work mid Oct and get matched mid Nov, it's your Sept and Oct pay that will count for calculation purposes. As long as your average pay in this period is over 116 per week you'll get SAP so depending on your earnings, a couple of weeks unpaid leave might not bring you under the threshold but will affect your first 6 weeks at 90% even if you still qualify.

However if things drag out and you don't get matched until mid Dec, now it's your Oct and Nov pay that count for calculation purposes and as you finished work mid Oct, that now only includes 2 weeks wages and 6 weeks unpaid, so could well pull your average under 116 per week.

If you get matched in Jan, then you won't be eligible for SAP as your Nov and Dec pay will be nil as you're on unpaid leave.

Unlike maternity leave, there's no alternative allowance available if you don't qualify for statutory pay from your employer (which is an absolute disgrace but that's a whole other thread!)

You do need to be careful with your dates I'm afraid.

Thank you both, that's really helpful. I'm pretty gutted though, they really don't help us adopters out! I was self-employed the first time round and so couldn't claim anything at all (despite paying tax and NI). I'm finding not having any idea of a finishing date incredibly stressful on top of all the uncertainty and thought this might be a solution. Oh well, at least you explained it to me before I made a big mistake! Many thanks again.

Have you got annual leave you could use instead of taking unpaid leave? You'll continue to accrue annual leave throughout adoption leave, so if your employer is supportive they might even let you use up some of next year's leave beforehand, to save you coming back to work with tons of leave left to use.

It's worth asking the question, but possibly still a risk if there's a delay. Maybe you could start annual leave as soon as the placement order is granted rather than before the court date, so you've still got a date to aim for but if the hearing doesn't go to plan you can hold off a bit longer?

Really depends on how supportive and flexible your employer can be as to what options you might have.