Adoptive Leave Acts 1995 & 2005
The Adoptive Leave Act 1995 and 2005 covers all adopting mothers or sole male adopters who are in employment. The Act also covers employed adopting fathers in the event of the adopting mother’s death occurring following the adoption during the period of adoptive or additional adoptive leave. Under this act an employee is entitled to a minimum of 24 consecutive weeks’ adoptive leave and an optional 16 weeks’ additional adoptive leave.
An adoptive parent must give their employer at least 4 weeks written notice of the expected date of placement of the child, and confirm this as soon as possible. A certificate of placement (available from the Adoption Authority of Ireland or HSE) must be given to the employer no later than 4 weeks after the date of placement.
Adopting parents are entitled to time off during working hours without loss of pay to attend preparation classes and pre-adoption meetings with social workers/ health board officials required during the pre-adoption process.
There is no set period of the retention of adoptive leave records, however claims can be made within 6 months of employers being informed of an issue giving rise to a dispute or extended to 12 months in exceptional circumstances which employers must be aware of.
Bright Contracts' handbook includes each family related leave policy including adoptive leave under the 'Leave & Benefits' section of the handbook. If you'd like to download a trial of our software to preview these sections click here.
Related Articles:
- Parent's Leave & Benefit Act 2019
- Don't Forget About Fathers: Paternity Leave & Benefit Act 2016
