Statutory Adoption Pay

What is SAP?

If one of your employees adopts a child, they may be entitled to Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP). SAP replaces an employee’s normal earnings if they take time off when the adoption takes place. If an employee is adopting a child with a partner, one of them may be entitled to SAP and the other may be entitled to Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay (OSPP).

If your employee is entitled to adoption leave and SAP, you’ll have to:

• allow them to take up to 52 weeks’ adoption leave
• pay SAP for the first 39 weeks of their leave

If your employee is a member of a couple adopting a child together:

• one member of the couple is entitled to adoption leave and pay
• the other may be entitled to paternity leave and Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay (OSPP)

Criteria for Eligibility

Most employees who are entitled to adoption leave will also be entitled to SAP. To qualify employees must:

• have worked for you continuously for at least 26 weeks into the week that the adoption agency told the adopter they had been matched with a child
• have average earnings at least equal to the Lower Earnings Limit for NICs £123 a week for 2024/25
• give you the right paper work and sufficient notice of when they would like the SAP payments to start.

What do I have to pay?

If your employee is entitled to SAP, the amount you’ll have to pay during the first 39 weeks of their adoption leave:

• £184.03 for pay weeks commencing on or after 6 April 2024
• 90% of their average weekly earnings

You’ll be able to recover at least 92% of the SAP you have to pay.

You can recover SAP by deducting it from your monthly PAYE payments. Or you can ask HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for funding in advance.

If your employee isn’t entitled to SAP, they may be entitled to other financial support from their local authority or from the Department for Work and Pensions. You must provide them with form SAP1 confirming they are not entitled to pay within 28 days of their pay request.