Neonatal care leave and pay: all you need to know

From 6 April 2025 eligible employees will have a new statutory right to take neonatal care leave and pay. These changes, brought about by the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023, aim to support parents whose children require neonatal care shortly after they are born. The government expects around 60,000 new parents to benefit.

Here is an overview of the rules and entitlements. The regulations bringing in these rules are not yet confirmed, and it's therefore possible that these may change slightly. We'll let you know if they do. 

What is neonatal care? 

Neonatal care is available for qualifying employees whose child is born on or after 6 April 2025. It includes:

• Medical care in a hospital
• Medical care received elsewhere following a baby's discharge from hospital provided it under the direction of a consultant and includes ongoing monitoring and visits to the child by healthcare professionals; or
• Palliative or end of life care.

The baby must need neonatal within 28 days of their birth and continue, without interruption, for at least seven days.

Who is eligible?

Employees can access Neonatal Care Leave (NCL) from their first day of employment. To qualify for NCL, an employee must be:

• The child’s parent, intended parent (under a surrogacy arrangement), or the partner of the child’s mother at the time of birth.
• The child’s adopter or prospective adopter (or their partner), including cases of international adoption.

Additionally, the employee must have or expect to have responsibility for the child’s upbringing and must take the leave to care for the child. 

How much leave and when can it be taken?

The duration of NCL depends on the length of time the baby needs neonatal care although it is capped at 12 weeks. Parents can take one week of leave for each week the baby receives uninterrupted neonatal care, starting the day after the care begins.

An employee must take NCL within 68 weeks of the baby’s birth or placement. In most cases, it will be added to the end of their family-related leave, such as maternity or paternity leave, to compensate for the time the baby spent in hospital (or otherwise).

There are slightly different rules that apply which depend on when a parent takes NCL. These are known as tier 1 and tier 2:

• Tier 1: If NCL is taken while the baby is receiving care (and up to a week post-discharge), it is classified as a tier 1 period. An employee can take tier 1 leave in non-continuous blocks of at least one week at a time.
• Tier 2: All other leave falls within the tier 2 period and must be taken in one continuous block.

What are the notice requirements?

Employees must notify their employers of their intention to take NCL and provide certain information. During the tier 1 period, they need to give notice before the start of each week of leave - but there is no requirement for this notice to be in writing.

During the tier 2 period, employees must provide written notice 15 days before they wish to take a single week of leave or 28 days advance notice if they want to take two or more consecutive weeks. 

Are all employees entitled to receive statutory neonatal care pay? 

No. To be eligible for statutory neonatal care pay (NCP), employees must have worked for their employer for at least 26 weeks and earn, on average, at least £123 per week. 

NCP will be paid at the same rate as other family-related statutory payments (£187.18 from April 2025). 

Employees must give their employer notice if they wish to receive NCP and declare that they are eligible. 

What protections are available to employees on NCL?

Employers cannot subject employees to any detriment because they took, sought to take, or made use of the benefits of NCL, or because the employer believed the employee was likely to take NCL. 

The extended protections around redundancy for people taking family-related leave also apply. So, if a parent taking NCL is provisionally selected for redundancy during that time, they must be offered suitable alternative vacancy if one exists, even if they are not the best candidate for the role. 

If an employee is dismissed for reasons related to taking NCL, they will be able to bring a claim for automatic unfair dismissal. This includes situations where the employer has dismissed an employee because they believe they are likely to take NCL. 

How to prepare

You'll need to add a policy on taking neo-natal leave to your suite of family-related policies. Please let me know if you'd like help with this. 

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