Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay (Adoption)

Your employee may be entitled to Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay (OSPP) if their spouse or partner adopts a child. This replaces their normal earnings and helps them take time off to care for the child.

As their employer, whether you have to pay them OSPP depends on how long they have worked for you, how much they earn and the date of adoption. They will also have to provide you with a declaration covering family commitment and give you notice of when they want you to start paying their OSPP.

Payments of OSPP count as earnings. You must deduct tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) from them in the usual way.

You'll normally be able to recover some or all of the OSPP you pay.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE

OSPP for adoption of a child is available to an employee who is:

• someone adopting a child with their partner or
• the partner of someone adopting a child on their own and the adoption is being arranged through an adoption agency in the UK, or for adoption from abroad the adopter has received Official Notification

ENTITLEMENTS

If your average weekly earnings are £102.00 or more (before tax), Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay is paid for one or two consecutive weeks at £128.73 or 90% of your average weekly earnings if this is less.

HOW IT IS PAID

Your employer will pay Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay to you in the same way and at the same time as your normal wages. OSPP is treated as normal pay and is subject to Tax and National Insurance as usual.

Your employee should tell you that they will be taking paternity leave within seven days of the date the adopter has been told they have been matched with a child. They must also give you 28 days' notice of when they want their OSPP to start.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Your employee is entitled to take one or two weeks' paternity leave within 56 days of the date an adopted child is placed with the adopter. They cannot take odd days off and if they take two weeks they must take them together.

If an employee has more than one job, they may be able to get Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay from each employer.

The employer can't pay Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay for any week the Employee is at work.

RECOVERY OF OSPP

All employers are entitled to recover 92% of OSPP they pay, however if the employer qualifies for Small Employers Relief, where the total NIC in the previous tax year was under £45,000, they can recover 100% of OSPP paid plus an additional 3% in compensation for the employer’s share of NIC due on these payments.

CALCULATING OSPP ON BRIGHT PAY

To access this utility, simply go to Payroll> and select the Employee on left:

1)     Under Statutory Pay, click Calendar

2)     On the Calendar, select the start date the employee is taking OSPP

3)     Select Ordinary Paternity Leave (Adoption) from the drop down menu at the bottom  right hand corner

4)     Click once on the Ordinary Paternity Leave (Adoption)button to bring up the ‘Ordinary Paternity Leave(Adoption)’ screen

5)     Enter the Baby Birth/ Due Date

6)     Enter the employee’s Start of Leave date

7)     Choose employee’s Length of Leave from the drop down menu

8)     Select desired Payment Method from the drop down menu – a user can choose between ‘Use Statutory Pay Weeks’ or ‘Align to Normal Pay Period (Part-Weekly)’

9)     Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) - the program will automatically calculate the employee’s average weekly earnings for the purpose of calculating OSPP due.

The user can at their own discretion override the automatic calculation and manually enter an employee’s average weekly earnings. However it is recommended to seek advice from an accountant before doing so. To override the automatic calculation, simply untick the box and enter the amount. 

10)  Click Submit to save. The program will automatically update the calendar accordingly and apply the OSPP due.

OVERRIDING THE ‘AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS’ CALCULATION

 If existing payment records have not been recorded in Bright Pay, the automatic calculation performed by the program after completing the above may be inaccurate. In the event of this occurring, the user may override the AWE by doing the following:

1)     On the main Payroll screen, click Edit icon in the employee’s Statutory Payments section

2)     In Parenting Pay, select the option ‘Use average weekly earnings’

3)     Enter the average weekly earnings amount for the employee, then click out of this box

4)     The program will now calculate OSPP based on the AWE manually entered by the user

EDITING LENGTH OF ORDINARY STATUTORY PATERNITY LEAVE (ADOPTION)

Should an employee wish to extend or reduce the length of their ordinary paternity leave, the length of leave already entered for the employee can be edited as follows:

1)     In Payroll, select the employee’s name on the left

2)     Under Statutory Pay, click on Calendar

3)     On the Calendar, select any date in advance of the current payroll date and which is currently marked as Ordinary Paternity Leave

4)     Within the Ordinary Paternity Leave (Adoption) section that will appear to the right of the calendar, click Edit icon

5)     Amend the employee’s Length of Leave by selecting the number of weeks now applicable from the drop down menu

6)     Click Save Changes

7)     Close the Calendar to return to the main Payroll screen

Further information regarding the operation and calculation of Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay can be found on the HMRC website or by consulting the HMRC Guide E19 (2011) Employer Helpbook for Ordinary and Additional Statutory Paternity Pay.