A period of 26 weeks' statutory leave available to an employee newly matched with a child for adoption by an adoption agency. Only one member of a couple who are adopting jointly may qualify. May be followed by additional adoption leave (AAL).

Employees on OAL may qualify for statutory adoption pay, depending on their average earnings and length of service.

For more information, see Practice note, Adoption leave and pay: Ordinary adoption leave (OAL).