Adoption

To be entitled to Ordinary Adoption Leave (OAL), you must:

• Have been matched with a child to be placed with him/her by an adoption agency
• Where the child is to be adopted by a couple jointly, have chosen to be treated as the adopter for this purpose
• Have notified the agency that you agree with the child’s placement, and agree the date of the placement
• Notify your line manager of when you will take adoption leave within 7 days of the date on which your matching notification

To be entitled to Additional Adoption Leave (AAL) a civil servant must:

• Have the child placed with you for adoption
• Have worked continuously for 26 weeks, ending with the week (beginning on a Sunday) in which you were notified of having been matched with the child
• Have taken OAL (which did not end prematurely)

You must tell your manager within 7 days of being notified of having been matched with the child for adoption, unless this is not reasonably practicable.

You can specify the day to start adoption leave:

• no later than the date of the child’s placement and
• no sooner than 14 days before the expected date of placement

Having advised your manager of the date that you wish your Adoption Leave to start, you must give 28 days notice if you subsequently decide to change the date).

More than 1 child placed

If more than one child is placed for adoption as part of the same arrangement, only one period of Adoption Leave is available.

If placement date changes

If the date of placement changes, discuss the situation with your line manager and give appropriate notice to change the start date.

If adoption leave has already begun and the placement is delayed, the leave cannot be stopped and started again at a later date.

Staff member

1. Inform line manager
   You must inform you manager within 7 days of the date of receiving notification of being matched with a child. At least 28 days notice must be given to the line manager in advance of the date adoption leave is to start (or as soon as reasonably practicable).
   
   If you are an employee of the Public Services Commission, you must complete the Statement of Intention at the same time.
2. Statement of intention
   Your Statement of Intention / notification must include:

• the expected date of placement
• the date you intend to start your Adoption Leave
• your intention to return to work for a minimum period of 3 months after your Adoption Leave has ended (MPTC only)

You must also provide your line manager with a matching certificate from the adoption agency.

Line manager

Line Managers, on receipt of the Statement of Intention and notification must:

• retain a copy
• send a copy to the OHR Business Partner Team for onward transmission to the Employment Services Team, Central Administration Team and retention on the employee’s personal file
• advise the employee of their paid and unpaid leave entitlements
• advise the employee of the date their Adoption Leave will end (assuming they will be taking Additional Maternity Leave if entitled to it)
• arrange for a letter of confirmation to be issued within 28 days of receipt of notification

The Office of Human Resources must also be notified of the date of the civil servant’s return to work.

You have no right in law to be paid by your employer while you are on Adoption Leave. However, your employer has certain contractual arrangements in place that are linked to the terms and conditions of your employment.

You may also be able to claim an Adoption Allowance from the Social Security Division of the Treasury.

If you do not return to work on or before the end of your adoption leave entitlement and complete at least 13 weeks paid service, you may be required to repay all adoption leave pay paid to you during that period.

Maternity Pay linked to your Terms and Conditions

The pay that you receive while you are on Maternity Leave is dependent on your terms and conditions and how long you have worked for your employer.

• Civil Service
• Manual & Craft Workers
• MPTC

Public Services Commission Civil Servants

If you have 1 year continuous service:

• 4 weeks at full pay
• followed by 4 weeks at half pay

If you have 2 years or more continuous service:

• 12 weeks at full pay
• followed by 6 weeks at half pay

If you do not return to work after your Ordinary Adoption Leave or Additional Adoption Leave period, for at least 13 weeks, you will be required to repay some of your adoption pay

Public Services Commission Manual and Craft Workers

If you are not entitled to receive Adoption Allowance, you will receive these amounts less what you would have received as Adoption Allowance if you had been eligible.

If you have 1 year continuous service you are entitled to:

• 6 weeks at nine-tenths of a week’s pay
• followed by 12 weeks at half a week’s pay (without any deduction unless combined pay and Adoption Allowance or any dependent’s allowances exceeds full pay)

If you have 2 years or more continuous service you are entitled to:

• 6 weeks at nine-tenths of a week’s pay – the first 6 weeks is payable whether or not you return to work following Adoption Leave
• followed by 12 weeks at half a week’s pay – without deduction unless combined pay and Adoption Allowance or any dependent’s allowances exceeds full pay

If you do not return to work after your Ordinary Adoption Leave or Additional Adoption Leave period, for at least 13 weeks, you will be required to repay some of your maternity pay.

Manx Pay Terms and Conditions (MPTC)

Where the child is below age 18 adoption leave and pay will be in line with the maternity leave and pay provisions.

If you work full time or part time, you will be entitled to paid and unpaid Adoption Leave under the contractual Adoption pay scheme if you have 12 months continuous service at the time of matching notification.

Please see Section 12 of the MPTC Handbook for clarification as to what counts towards reckonable service for Adoption (Maternity) Leave.

Assuming you intend to return to work the amount of contractual adoption pay receivable is as follows:

• for the first 8 weeks of absence, you will receive full pay, less any Adoption Allowance (including any dependants’ allowances) receivable
• for the next 18 weeks, you will receive half pay plus any Adoption Allowance (including any dependants’ allowances) receivable, providing the total receivable does not exceed full pay

If you do not return to work after your Ordinary Adoption Leave or Additional Adoption Leave period, for at least 13 weeks, you will be required to repay some of your maternity pay.

To qualify for Adoption Allowance from Social Security you must meet certain criteria in relation to how long you have worked prior to the notification of matching and how much you have earned during this period.

Where this is granted during the period of full pay, the allowance will be deducted from pay. No allowance will be deducted during periods of half pay.

If you normally accrue annual leave, you will continue to accrue annual leave in accordance with your contract throughout the Ordinary Adoption Leave period.

No contractual annual leave may be accrued during Additional Adoption Leave. Public holidays and privilege holidays falling during unpaid leave will be unpaid.

You may wish to agree with your manager how you will take any accrued annual leave, before you go on Adoption Leave, due to the restrictions on carrying forward annual leave into the next leave year.

Should an employee return to work on reduced hours following Adoption Leave, credits of annual leave accrued prior to and during the adoption leave will be proportionate to their contract at the time of leave and will not be reduced in accordance with the newly contracted hours.

If during or following adoption leave, you are unfit for work but there is a reasonable prospect of recovery and return to duty, the normal provisions for paid sick leave will apply.

However, paid sick leave will not be allowed during the period of adoption leave

If your adoption leave begins before the child is placed with you, and then you are told the placement will not be made, your leave will finish 8 weeks after the end of the week in which that happens (unless the period of OAL/AAL ends within that 8 week period).

If during your adoption leave, the child dies or is returned to the adoption agency, the leave will finish 8 weeks after the end of the week in which that happens.

You will be required to give 28 days notice if you are returning to work earlier for one of the above reasons.

You are not obliged to do any work whilst on Adoption Leave, but you can agree to attend for up to 10 Keeping In Touch (KIT) Days if you are in receipt of Adoption Allowance.

These can be a valuable way of easing your return to work and can be used to enable you to keep up to date with training and other events, in addition to doing your usual job. You must agree the arrangements with your manager who will keep a record of the days you work. 

If you work during any period of leave attracting Adoption Allowance then this entitlement will not stop. You will still be regarded as being on Adoption Leave. Any additional payment for Keeping in Touch Days will be paid on submission of an authorised claim form or you may be offered time off in lieu of payment. This should be agreed with your manager beforehand.

You will be eligible to return to work in the same grade and working the same hours at any time before the end of the period of adoption leave. You will normally be employed in the same location and post filled before taking adoption leave, although this may not always be possible.

Permission to return to work

If you intend to return to work earlier than the end of the adoption leave period, you are required to give your line manager at least 28 days notice of the date on which you intend to return. Should such notice not be given, the return date may be postponed by the line manager/department to allow for the appropriate 28 days notice.

Flexible working

You also have the right to request flexible working (such as amended hours or jobshare).

There is some guidance on how to request flexible working. The Office of Human Resources is also available to offer you additional advice.

If you decide not to return to work

If you have decided not to return to work after your Ordinary Adoption Leave or Additional Adoption Leave period, you must confirm this in writing. The length of notice required will be stipulated in your contract of employment.

If you do not return to work after your Ordinary Adoption Leave or Additional Adoption Leave period, for at least 13 weeks, you will be required to repay some of your maternity pay.