What is Adoption Leave? A Complete Guide for Employers

In this guide, we'll navigate the essentials of adoption leave, from its duration to eligibility criteria.

What is adoption leave?

Adoption leave is job-protected time off for an employee to welcome a newly adopted child and bond with them. Adoption leave lives inside a broader parental leave and paid family leave framework.
It usually covers the period around the child’s placement, including some pre-placement activities such as court hearings, meetings with agencies and travel. In many policies, adoption leave is now aligned with maternity and paternity leave under one “parental leave” or “bonding leave” umbrella, so adoptive parents are treated in the same way as birth parents. This is why you’ll often see adoption leave described as part of an inclusive parental leave policy rather than a separate benefit.

Key differences by country

This section gives a quick side-by-side view so you can spot which rules apply to your team.

In the UK, adoption leave is a day-one right for employees.
Eligible employees can take up to 52 weeks of Statutory Adoption Leave: 26 weeks of Ordinary Adoption Leave and 26 weeks of Additional Adoption Leave. There is no minimum length of service for the leave itself, but Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) has extra tests for earnings and service.

From 6 April 2025, SAP is paid for up to 39 weeks as follows:
- First 6 weeks: 90% of average weekly earnings (AWE).
- Next 33 weeks: the lower of 90% of AWE or £187.18 per week, with a lower earnings limit of £125 per week to qualify.
Key points for managers:
- Adoption must normally be through a recognised adoption agency; most private adoptions do not qualify.
- Only one person in a couple can get Statutory Adoption Leave; the other may be eligible for paternity leave or Shared Parental Leave.
- Special rules apply for overseas adoptions and surrogacy (where the intended parent may claim adoption leave after a parental order process).
In the US, there is no single federal “adoption leave” law that guarantees pay.
Instead, adoption is covered mainly through FMLA and a growing patchwork of state paid family leave programmes.

Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA):
- Eligible employees get up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for birth, adoption or foster placement and to bond with the child.
- Leave can be taken before placement if needed for the process (for example, court dates, counselling, travel to another country).
- The employee must:
  - Have worked for the employer for at least 12 months,
  - Have at least 1,250 hours of service in the past 12 months, and
  - Work at a site where the employer has 50+ employees within 75 miles.
On top of that, 15 states plus DC now run some form of mandatory disability and/or paid family and medical leave programme, most of which include wage replacement for bonding after adoption.

For example, Massachusetts offers up to 12 weeks of paid family leave to bond with a child after birth, adoption or foster care placement.

Employers then decide what to add:
- Paid parental leave policies that include adoption and foster placements.
- Adoption assistance for legal and agency fees.

Comparison table – UK vs US adoption leave and pay:

Topic	United Kingdom (2025)	United States (2025)
Main law	Employment Rights Act, associated regulations	Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Job protection	Up to 52 weeks Statutory Adoption Leave for eligible employees	Up to 12 weeks unpaid FMLA leave if employer and employee meet eligibility tests
Pay – legal minimum	Up to 39 weeks SAP (first 6 weeks at 90% AWE, then flat rate £187.18 or 90% AWE)	No federal pay; job protection only. Some state PFML schemes provide paid benefits.
Earnings threshold for pay	Must earn at least £125/week on average (from April 2025)	State PFML schemes have their own wage and contribution rules
Service requirement	No minimum service for leave; SAP usually needs 26 weeks’ service with employer	FMLA requires 12 months’ service and 1,250 hours worked
Who funds pay	Employer pays SAP, can usually reclaim most from HMRC	State PFML funded via payroll taxes; employer-paid schemes or top-ups are optional
Adoption scope	Usually agency adoptions; special rules for overseas adoptions and surrogacy	Birth, adoption and foster placement all qualify for FMLA and most PFML schemes

How long adoption leave lasts and how it’s paid

Let's translate the legal rules and market practice into something you can benchmark your own parental leave policy against.

Legal minimums: job protection and pay

In the UK, the legal minimum for employees who qualify is:

Up to 52 weeks of Statutory Adoption Leave, split into 26 weeks of Ordinary Adoption Leave and 26 weeks of Additional Adoption Leave.
Up to 39 weeks of Statutory Adoption Pay, with the rate from April 2025 set at 90% of average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks and then the lower of 90% of AWE or £187.18 per week for the next 33 weeks, subject to an earnings threshold of £125 per week.

In the US, federal law focuses on time, not money:

FMLA provides up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for birth, adoption or foster placement and bonding, which must usually be taken within 12 months of the placement.
There is no federal statutory pay for adoption leave, but employees may receive income from state paid family leave programmes or employer policies.

⚠️For US-based staff, the exact duration of paid bonding leave after adoption depends heavily on the state and any company top-up. Many state schemes offer around 6–12 weeks of partially paid family leave, often at 60–90% wage replacement up to a cap.

Typical employer practice: basic, competitive and leading offers

Statutory minimums are only one part of the picture. Surveys in 2023–2024 show that:

Around one-third of US employers (about 33–37%) now offer paid adoption leave, up from roughly a quarter in 2020.
Around 20% provide financial assistance for adoption costs, such as agency fees and legal expenses.

You can roughly benchmark your policy like this:

Level	What this often looks like in 2025 (for adoption)
Basic	Statutory leave only (UK) or FMLA/state PFML only (US). Little or no additional paid adoption or parental leave.
Competitive	6–12 weeks of fully paid parental leave for adoption, usually equal to maternity leave, plus access to PFML where applicable.
Leading	16–26+ weeks of fully or high-rate paid leave for all parents (birth, adoption, foster, surrogacy) and meaningful adoption expense support.

💡The trend is clear: adoption leave is moving into the mainstream of inclusive parental leave and family-forming benefits, not sitting on the margins.

Standard eligibility checks

In most cases you only need to answer two questions: are we covered and does this person qualify?

UK – quick adoption leave and pay checklist

Statutory Adoption Leave (SAL)

Day-one right for employees – no minimum service.

Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) – check that the employee:

Has at least 26 weeks’ continuous service by the matching week.
Earns at least the Lower Earnings Limit (currently £125 per week for 2025–26).
Is adopting through a UK-approved agency or recognised overseas process.

They do not qualify for statutory adoption leave or pay if they:

Arrange a private adoption,
Become a special guardian or kinship carer, or
Adopt a stepchild or family member.

In those cases, other options like unpaid parental leave or time off for dependants may still apply.

US – quick FMLA adoption checklist

For job-protected adoption leave under the FMLA, check that the employee:

Works for a covered employer, and
Has at least 12 months’ service,
Has worked 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months, and
Works at a site where there are 50+ employees within 75 miles.

If they qualify, they can take up to 12 workweeks of unpaid FMLA leave for:

Placement of a child for adoption or foster care, and
Bonding with the child in the 12 months after placement.

FMLA can also cover some pre-placement activities (for example, meetings, court dates and essential travel) if they are required as part of the adoption or foster process.

Managing adoption leave in real life (for HR and line managers)

This section turns the legal rules into day-to-day actions for HR and line managers.

Planning handovers and cover when timing is uncertain

Unlike many maternity cases, adoption timelines can be highly unpredictable.
Employees may go through long assessment phases with no fixed date, then suddenly receive a match with only weeks or days’ notice. Good practice is to treat adoption as a potential long-term absence and start informal planning early, even before a placement date is confirmed.

A simple planning approach is:

Identify critical tasks and who could cover them at short notice.
Build a light handover document the employee updates as the process moves forward.
Use temporary cross-training or shadowing so that at least one colleague can step in.
Update the schedule so cover is visible well before leave starts.

Keeping communication appropriate and non-intrusive

Adoptive parents often deal with sensitive personal history – their own and the child’s.
Guidance from bodies like the Equality and Human Rights Commission and CIPD stresses the importance of focusing on work arrangements, not personal details, when someone takes pregnancy, adoption or maternity leave. As a manager, you should avoid asking intrusive questions about infertility, the child’s past or the legal process; instead, ask what they need from you to manage work, appointments and the transition.

Good communication habits include:

Asking the employee how much information they want shared with the team.
Agreeing how you will stay in touch during leave (for example, occasional check-ins or “keep in touch” days).
Respecting boundaries if they say they do not want to talk about details of the adoption at work.

Supporting the return – flexible work, phased return, performance & pay decisions

Returning from adoption leave can be as demanding as returning from maternity leave, especially where children have additional needs or trauma histories.
CIPD guidance on working parents and return-to-work emphasises that expecting someone to be “back to 100%” on day one is unrealistic; managers should plan a phased transition where possible. UK and EU law also give employees the right to request flexible working, and many employers now treat flexible arrangements as a core part of their parental leave package.

When planning a return:

Discuss options like part-time hours, compressed weeks, temporary remote work or adjusted duties.
Be transparent about how bonuses, pay reviews and promotion processes will be handled so time off for adoption does not unfairly impact progression.
Use regular one-to-ones in the first few months back to adjust workload and provide support.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Legally, in the UK you must provide Statutory Adoption Leave and SAP where conditions are met, but there is no strict rule that contractual adoption leave must be identical to maternity leave. However, CIPD and many DEI strategies recommend aligning adoption, maternity and other parental leave so all routes to parenthood are treated fairly.

In the US, there is no federal requirement to match adoption and birth leave, but treating adoptive parents less favourably may create cultural or retention issues.
Yes, but usually under different schemes.
In the UK, only one parent can take Statutory Adoption Leave, while the other may qualify for paternity leave or Shared Parental Leave so they can be off together for part of the time.

In the US, both parents may take FMLA leave if they each meet the eligibility tests and work for covered employers, although some couples share a combined entitlement if they work for the same employer.
In the UK, statutory rules allow adoption leave to start earlier for overseas adoptions, and employees may also use annual leave or unpaid parental leave around travel.

In the US, FMLA can cover some pre-placement travel and appointments, plus bonding time on return, as long as it falls within the 12-month period following placement and eligibility rules are met.
The key is to keep a clear, consistent record of requests, approvals, dates and leave types.
In the UK this helps show you followed statutory rules on notice, evidence and return to work; in the US it supports FMLA compliance and shows you have not treated someone unfairly because of leave.

Using a workforce management system like Shiftbase to register specific adoption and parental leave types, track balances and store related documents makes it much easier to evidence compliance if a dispute arises later.