Employment & Pensions Blog: Statutory Neonatal Care Leave and Pay

In our blog at the turn of the year we highlighted that one of the significant changes this year would be the introduction of a new right to neonatal care leave and pay.  The Government has now confirmed that the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 will come into force on 6 April 2025, and with only a few weeks to go, employers are advised to start their preparation now.  

Whilst this comes at a time of increased costs for businesses, it will be welcome news for parents because it gives them valuable time with their baby during periods of neonatal care, without eating into their maternity/paternity/shared parental leave allowance. 

Statutory neonatal care leave

The new law enables employees, whose babies are admitted to neonatal care within the first 28 days after birth, and who require a hospital stay of 7 days or longer, the right to take one week’s leave for every week their baby spends in neonatal care, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. This is in addition to other family leave that they may be entitled to, including maternity and paternity leave.

Neonatal care is defined as being:

• Medical care in a hospital. 
• Medical care in another place, to which the child is moved on leaving hospital, provided the care is under the direction of a consultant and includes ongoing monitoring and visits from healthcare professionals arranged by that hospital). 
• Palliative, or end of life care. 

It will be available to a wide range of parents, including biological parents, adoptive parents, and those in surrogacy arrangements, as well as partners living in a long-term family relationship with the baby’s mother.

Statutory neonatal care leave will be a day one right and won’t therefore require any period of continuous service. However, much like maternity and paternity leave, it will only apply to those engaged under a contract of employment. It won’t apply to workers, or those who are self-employed. 

When can the leave be taken?

Statutory neonatal care leave must be taken within the first 68 weeks of the baby’s birth. So, for example, if a baby needs 12 weeks of neonatal care, the 12-week neonatal care leave should be added to the 52 weeks of statutory maternity leave. 

A point to note is that the employee will also have accrued annual leave during the time that they are entitled to take statutory neonatal care and therefore, taking all these types of leave together, where these situations unfortunately arise, businesses should be prepared for the fact that the employee may be out of the office for a sustained period of time.     

Neonatal care leave is divided into two tiers. Leave taken while the baby is in neonatal care, or up to 7 days after neonatal care ends, is known as ‘Tier 1 Leave’ and it can be taken in non-consecutive weeks. Neonatal care leave taken at any other time is known as ‘Tier 2 Leave’ and it must be taken consecutive weeks. 

In recognition of the unexpected nature of this kind of absence from work, the period of notice that employees have to give to take neonatal care leave is less than is required for other types of family leave. For Tier 1 leave, the notice must be given before the employee is due to start work on the first day of absence, or as soon as reasonably practicable.  For Tier 2 Leave, 15 days' notice is required for a single week of leave, and 28 days' notice for two or more consecutive weeks of leave. 

Statutory neonatal care pay

The eligibility criteria for the pay is slightly different. To be eligible for statutory neonatal care pay, the individual must have been engaged for at least 26 weeks of continuous service as of the relevant week. Much like statutory maternity and paternity pay, statutory neonatal care pay is a right afforded to both workers and employees (but not the self-employed).   

The rate of statutory neonatal care pay will be the same as statutory maternity/paternity/shared parental pay i.e. 90% of average weekly earnings, or £187.18 a week (whichever is lower).  

How can businesses prepare?

With the introduction of neonatal care leave fast approaching, employers should start their preparation now. The starting point is to update your existing family leave policies/Staff Handbook to incorporate the new rights around neonatal care leave and pay. It is equally important to ensure that HR teams and line managers are brought up to speed on what the rights are, and are given appropriate training on how to manage what will always be a very difficult situation for the employee. Requests for neonatal care leave will always come at an incredibly stressful time for the individual, and it is important that line managers know how to manage the situation sensitively. 

If you require any guidance or advice on the upcoming statutory neonatal care leave and pay, please contact a member of our Employment Team.