{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/paternity-and-adoption-leave-amendment-regulations-northern-ireland-2015/note",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/paternity-and-adoption-leave-amendment-regulations-northern-ireland-2015/note.json",
  "legislation": "nisr/2015/87",
  "legislation_title": "The Paternity and Adoption Leave (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/paternity-and-adoption-leave-amendment-regulations-northern-ireland-2015",
  "path": "note",
  "kind": "note",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Explanatory note",
  "text": "(This note is not part of the Regulations)\nThese Regulations amend the Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 (“the 2002 Regulations”).\nThe amendments:\nremove the requirement for a qualifying period of service of 26 weeks before an employee is entitled to adoption leave, making statutory adoption leave a ‘day one’ right (regulation 7(c) to (e));\nadjust the right to return after paternity or adoption leave to take account of shared parental leave (regulation 6);\nextend to foster parents who are prospective adopters new rights to adoption leave if they have been notified that a child is to be placed with them (‘fostering for adoption’ arrangements) (much of regulation 3 is relevant);\nprovide new rights to paternity leave to the spouses, civil partners and partners of these prospective adopters (again, much of regulation 3 is relevant);\nprovide for an employee’s adoption leave to terminate early if the child’s placement as part of a fostering for adoption arrangement is terminated and the child is returned to the adoption agency (regulation 8);\nprevent an employee from taking paternity leave if the employee—\nhas already taken shared parental leave (regulations 4 and 5);\nhas already exercised a right to take paid time off to attend an adoption appointment in respect of the same child (regulation 5);\nhas already taken paternity leave as part of a fostering for adoption arrangement for the same child (regulation 5);\nprevent an employee from taking adoption leave, if the employee has already done so as part of a fostering for adoption arrangement for the same child (regulation 7(a) and (b)); and\nprotect employees who suffer a detriment or who are dismissed in relation to time off work for ante-natal or adoption appointments (regulations 10 to 13).\nAn impact assessment has not been prepared for these Regulations. These Regulations are part of a package of legislative measures and the relevant impacts were assessed within the document ‘Sharing parental rights, extending flexibility at work – public consultation’, published in May 2013 (www.delni.gov.uk/index/consultation-zone/archived-consultations/archived-consultations-2013/working-parents-rights.htm), and supplemented by a further publication in April 2014 (www.delni.gov.uk/index/publications/equality-good-relations/shared-parental-leave-and-pay.htm).",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2015/87/note",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T01:03:23.709330+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}