# Foster to adopt/Early permanence - Pay and leave help?



## mafergal (Jul 31, 2013)

Hi all, after some help/advice /experience from anyone who has done this in terms of pay. My SW has told me I am entitled to adoption pay & leave under this scheme since the Apr 2015 changes. BAAF have confirmed this as have first4adoption. 

I am in an ongoing email exchange with HR who are adamant that without a matching certificate I cannot have AL or pay. I work for a govt department so you would think they would be up to date with this. They have updated policy to reflect the shared leave aspect of the changes but not foster to adopt. BAAF confirmed to me that instead of a matching certificate, we would get a letter from the LA stating it proposes to place a child for early permanence under the relevant section of the Children Act.

Has anyone else had issues getting pay & leave like this? And if so how did you get it resolved? I've sent my last email on the subject today & if they still refuse I think my only option is to go through ACAS.

x


----------



## Sq9 (Jan 15, 2013)

Hi. I work for a government department too and in my experience unfortunately they are usually last to up date policies despite being the ones who have made the policy changes  .  Are you a member of a union? If not you can join which would entitle you to immediate advice and assistance and they may have more clout with hr. Hope you get it resolved quickly


----------



## Nicola30 (Jun 13, 2011)

Probably not much help, I work for the NHS and when I enquired about foster to adopt I was told I would have to take the "fostering part" as a career break and then switch to adoption leave once it changed to the usual route.

My Union weren't very much help in the matter either, fortunately we ended up on the usual route with no "fostering" element...


----------



## Handstitchedmum (Mar 24, 2013)

mafergal said:


> Hi all, after some help/advice /experience from anyone who has done this in terms of pay. My SW has told me I am entitled to adoption pay & leave under this scheme since the Apr 2015 changes. BAAF have confirmed this as have first4adoption.
> 
> I am in an ongoing email exchange with HR who are adamant that without a matching certificate I cannot have AL or pay. I work for a govt department so you would think they would be up to date with this. They have updated policy to reflect the shared leave aspect of the changes but not foster to adopt. BAAF confirmed to me that instead of a matching certificate, we would get a letter from the LA stating it proposes to place a child for early permanence under the relevant section of the Children Act.
> 
> ...


Hello Mafergal,

You will need to follow your employer's grievance policy, citing that the existing policies do not comply with legislation. This will enable you to take them to employment tribunal if you are not satisfied with their response, once you have exhausted internal procedures. But, if they obtain legal advice, one hopes they will quickly update their policies rather than subject you to costly and distressing legal proceedings (for which they will owe compensation).


----------



## becs40 (Apr 9, 2013)

No advice from me I'm afraid but handstitchedmums advised seems sensible. So sorry that you're having to battle your employer for this on top of all the other stresses of adoption.
It's disgusting that companies (and downright shameful that government departments!) aren't aware of legislation changes but even more appalling that they ignore it when it's been shown to them. I hope you get it sorted soon.
We did f2a just before the law changed so I had to take it unpaid, I would say it's fantastic the law has changed to recognise f2a now but clearly the message isn't getting through to employers.


----------



## mafergal (Jul 31, 2013)

Thanks everyone for your advice! It's so frustrating that nothing has been updated. Even on the web on every site I've looked at (and I have looked at many), even though foster to adopt is mentioned, in the same breath so is a 'matching certificate' which you obviously don't get until the placement order and I think this is where the problem lies.

I've contacted HMRC, no help and told me I'm not eligible for pay and leave until a matching cert.

I just spoke to ACAS who haven't heard of this before but looked into it for me. Relieving in a way to see they knew nothing of this but a little research and agree with me. They forwarded me this (pages 18 and 19 are the relevant pages for this).

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/419080/bis-15-259-changes-to-adoption-leave-and-pay-from-5-april-2015-technical-guidance-for-employers.pdf

It's clear as day in black and white what the entitlements are and that I am eligible. If they dispute this Handstitchedmum then I will follow your advice.

It's stressful enough dealing with all the uncertainties of foster to adopt without this added stress from employers.

Thanks again everyone! x


----------



## dreamingofabettertime (Jun 12, 2012)

Breathe! .....Part of the foster to adoption process is the tests you will come across along the way. 

It is a difficult process from all corners as it is relatively new for LA let alone employers and because of this many people are unclear about it as the guidelines are woolly and as you have already found their is little information on it.

My advise (having gone through it myself) is to ask your social worker to write a letter from the LA department to your employer to explain the process you are following; this will be the authority they need to process your request.

Wishing you well.
X


----------



## ultrafirebug (Oct 22, 2010)

Does your dw work? My dh got 5 days paid leave from his company for training days that we would of got for scans/antenatal appointments but its at the discretion of the company you work for. Also the 2 week parental leave will start as soon as the child is placed with us. Worth her asking what she will get too if not already done so. DH got an email from our social worker which he forwarded to hr and they were happy with that. I'm not working at the moment. Good luck x


----------

