Staff Handbook

10.Time Off to Accompany a Partner to Ante-Natal/Adoption Appointments You are entitled to unpaid time off to accompany an expectant mother or the primary adopter to up to two ante-natal/adoption appointments, where you are: • the baby’s father; • the spouse of the expectant mother/primary adopter, her civil partner, or partner (of either sex) in an enduring relationship; or • entitled to and intending to apply for a parental order in respect of the child carried by the expectant mother in an approved surrogacy arrangement. You are entitled to a maximum of 6½ hours time off for each appointment but you are expected to take only as much time off as is necessary in the specific circumstances. You must present a written request for the time off to your line manager as early as possible. Where requested by your line manager, you must produce a signed declaration to confirm that you meet the qualifying relationship criteria set out above, stating the date and time of the appointment, and to confirm that the appointment has been made on the advice of a registered medical practitioner, midwife or nurse, or by or at the request of the adoption agency. Should you wish to attend more than two ante-natal/adoption appointments, or if you wish to have longer than the maximum 6½ hours permitted, you should consider using some of your holiday entitlement. You would need to follow the normal procedure for booking holiday as set out in the “Holidays” section of this handbook. 11. Adoption Members of staff who are adopting a child have a number of entitlements outlined below. Adoption Appointments You are entitled to paid time off work to attend up to 5 adoption appointments made by or at the request of the adoption agency. You are entitled to a maximum of 6½ hours time off for each appointment but you are expected to take only as much time off as is necessary in the specific circumstances. You should book this time off in advance with your line manager. When requesting time off you may be required to show an appointment card or some other document showing that an appointment has been made.

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