How do I add adoption pay?

Summary

The following article explains how to enter and keep track of an employee's Adoption pay.

More Information

If you are unsure whether to pay Statutory Adoption Paternity Pay, please refer to the information you will have been provided with by HMRC explaining the rules governing statutory pay or visit the HMRC web site here.

Entering the Adoption Pay record

To allow the Payroll system to calculate SAP, the SMP/SAP/SPP flag on Page 3: Statutory Payments of the employee record, should be set to 'Yes'.

When the system starts to pay Adoption Pay, you will have to zero out the Hours Worked/Basic Salary to ensure they only receive their Adoption Pay and any other additions/deductions to/from their pay.

Go to " Systems Payroll Run Payroll Period"

Enter <Y> against the employee's pay frequency or click the [Down arrow] and select [Yes] then click the [OK] button to go into the payroll.
Find the relevant employee and press <Ctrl+F8> to take you through SMP/SAP/SPP Entry.
Choose [Adoption].

This will take you to the following screen:

Date Child Expected
Date Match Notified
Average Weekly Earnings
Date Child Placed
Adoption Leave Begins

The lower part of the screen is headed "SAP Entitlement (Based on initial rates)". This shows a display (i.e. it is not editable) of information and totals based on the information added at the top of the screen and shows headings as follows:

Adoption Pay Period
Earnings Related Rate
Standard Rate
Totals
Keeping in Touch Days
SAP Diary

Date Child Expected

Enter the date the child is expected to be placed for adoption. This is as shown on the matching certificate.

Date Match Notified

Enter the date when the adopter (employee) was notified of being matched with a child - as shown on the matching certificate. This date is used as the reference point when calculating the employee's average weekly wage.

Average Weekly Earnings

Enter the employee's average weekly wage based on their pay over the 8 weeks previous to the Matching Week.

Date Child Placed

Enter the date when the child was actually placed for adoption, as notified/certified to the employee. ONLY enter this date if the employee intends to work up to the date the child is placed.

Adoption Leave Begins

Enter the date Adoptive Parents leave is to start. This should be the first FULL day of absence from work.

Completing the Adoption Pay Entry

When you have entered all the relevant details for the Adoption Pay record, the SAP Entitlement section will display the Adoption Pay Period and the amounts to be paid over this period.

Press [Escape] and [Enter] to accept the record.

Checking Previous Adoption Pay Entries

When a record has been created you may view a weekly diary which details the amount of Adoption Pay paid per week. You may also stop pay for a period e.g. if the employee works during a Adoption leave period they are not entitled to SAP for that period.

Pressing <F2> will bring up an SAP Diary, that shows the following fields:

Week
SAP
SAP Paid
Total

Week

This column lists the number of weeks of Adoption Pay and displays the weekly end date.

SAP

This column allows you to designate a week to be unpaid/excluded from Adoption Pay.

<> - Leave the field blank to allow Adoption Pay to be paid for the SAP Period.
<W> - If the Employee has worked for one or more days in the week, they will not be eligible for Adoption Pay. Entering 'W' will tell the system the employee is not to be paid SAP for that week. If you wish to record a note e.g. worked 2 days, press <Enter> to jump to the Notes field.
<E> - If the Employee is excluded from a Adoption Pay Period, entering 'E' will prevent them from being paid any SAP in the specified period. Press <Enter> to jump to the Notes field if you wish to record a note for why you have excluded them for that week.

SAP Paid

This column shows the amount of Adoption Pay which is paid during each Adoption Pay period.

Total

This column shows a running total of SAP paid to the employee.

Press <Esc> to exit the SAP Diary.