The Employment Rights Act 1996 (Application of Section 80B to Adoptions from Overseas) Regulations 2003

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Section 80B of the Employment Rights Act 1996 contains the powers under which the Secretary of State may make regulations entitling an employee to paternity leave. These Regulations, made under section 80B(8) of that Act, provide for section 80B to have effect, with modifications, in relation to an adoption from overseas. This means the adoption of a child who enters Great Britain from outside the United Kingdom in connection with or for the purposes of an adoption which does not involve the placement of the child for adoption under the law of any part of the United Kingdom.

Children who are adopted from overseas are not placed for adoption. In England and Wales they are treated as privately fostered under section 66 of the Children Act 1989 or as protected children under sections 32–37 of the Adoption Act 1976. In Scotland children who have been brought into Great Britain from overseas for the purpose of adoption are treated as privately fostered in terms of the Foster Children (Scotland) Act 1984. Accordingly, where section 80B refers to the placement of a child, it is modified by these Regulations to refer to the entry of the child into Great Britain. Where section 80B refers to the person with whom a child is placed, it is modified to refer to the child’s adopter.