New right to statutory neonatal care leave: supporting parents and families
From 6 April 2025, the Government will introduce a new statutory right to neonatal care leave. The purpose of this is to provide additional support for parents who need to take time off work to care for their newborn baby who requires extended hospital care. Subject to certain eligibility requirements, neonatal care leave may be paid.
We have been writing about neonatal care leave for a while and the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 (the Act) was a measure introduced by the previous Government.
On 20 January 2025, the draft Neonatal Care Leave and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2025 were published. These come into force on 6 April 2025 and apply where a baby is born on or after 6 April 2025. With the publication of the draft Regulations, we now have the details of how the new right will work in practice and the draft Regulations cover key issues including the definition of neonatal care, the categories of parents entitled to it and the notice requirements. Also published on 20 January 2025 were the draft Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (General) Regulations 2025.
This new statutory right is set to be a significant step forward in supporting parents throughout an emotionally and financially challenging time. It is expected that around 60,000 new parents will benefit from the new right.
What is neonatal care leave?
The Act introduces a day-one right for employees to take neonatal care leave where a neonate, (a baby who is 28 days old or less) is admitted to hospital for care for seven continuous days or more. This right applies to each parent separately. The Act also introduces an entitlement to statutory neonatal care pay (SNCP) where the employee meets service and earnings criteria, which are a minimum of 26 weeks continuous service and earnings of an average of at least £123 a week (the Lower Earnings Limit).
What is neonatal care?
Draft Regulation 4 defines this as:
- Medical care received in a hospital
- Medical care received in any other place which meets the following criteria:
- (i) the child was an inpatient in hospital and the care is received upon that child leaving hospital;
- (ii) the care is under the direction of a consultant; and
- (iii) the care includes ongoing monitoring by, and visits to the child from, healthcare professionals arranged by the hospital.
- Palliative or end of life care
The right to neonatal care leave will be in addition to maternity, adoption, paternity and shared parental leave. The purpose of neonatal care leave is to address the unique needs of parents who face the sudden emotional and practical challenges of caring for a newborn receiving neonatal care.
Why is neonatal care leave necessary?
The NHS reports that 1 in 7 babies in the UK need neonatal care, with the most common causes being premature birth, low birth weight or complications from birth. Most babies in a neonatal care unit require weeks or months of care before they can leave hospital.
Having a baby in a neonatal care unit is incredibly stressful for parents. Currently, parents who need to take extended time off work to be with their newborns needing care, have to use up other leave such as maternity or paternity leave unless they have supportive employers who provide the time off. There are often financial concerns too unless there are separate contractual arrangements providing for paid leave in these circumstances. The introduction of neonatal care leave addresses the gap, allowing parents to focus on their newborn rather than worrying about their job and financial concerns. However, because of the eligibility requirements, mentioned above, many parents will not be entitled to SNCP and so, the financial worries aren’t in fact alleviated.
Even so, the new right to neonatal care leave is to be welcomed. Maternity and paternity leave are designed to support parents during the early weeks and months after birth. Neonatal care leave on the other hand focuses on newborns who require extended hospital care and it is available in addition to existing statutory family leave.
Eligibility for neonatal care leave
Qualifying parents are parents of newborns who are admitted into hospital up the age of 28 days old and require a continuous stay in hospital of seven full days or more. The leave is available to both parents who are employed. Draft Regulation 5 contains the entitlement provisions for different categories of parent or intended parent (as in a surrogacy arrangement). These include the child’s parent, the child’s prospective adopter and the partner of the child’s mother or prospective adopter where they are living together in “an enduring family relationship”.
Accordingly, fathers, partners, same-sex parents and adoptive parents are all entitled to neonatal care leave if they have or expect to have responsibility for the child’s upbringing.
As for SNCP, the rate will be the same as other statutory rates for family leave. Currently, this is £184.03 a week increasing to £187.18 in April 2025.
Duration of leave
Parents can take up to 12 weeks of neonatal care leave (paid leave if parents meet the service and earnings requirements) with a minimum entitlement of one week. As mentioned above, neonatal care leave is in addition to other leave entitlements such as maternity and paternity leave. Neonatal care leave is provided from the day the newborn is admitted to a neonatal unit. It can be taken at any point during the first 68 weeks following the baby’s birth or adoption placement, offering flexibility for parents during a challenging period. A parent is already likely to be on family leave, such as maternity leave, at the time the need for neonatal care leave arises and the new right effectively means that a period of neonatal care leave is added onto the end of maternity leave.
Note however that the draft Regulations refer to two different periods of neonatal care leave and how it can be taken. The Tier 1 period begins with the day the child starts receiving neonatal care and ends seven days after the day neonatal care ends. Neonatal care leave can be taken in non-continuous blocks of a minimum of one week during Tier 1. The remainder of the 68-week period is called the Tier 2 period and neonatal care leave must be taken in one continuous block. The notice varies depending on whether it is Tier 1 or Tier 2 (with reduced notice for Tier 1) but the employer and employee can mutually agree to waive the notice requirements.
What does this mean for employers?
Now that the draft Regulations have been published employers can prepare for the introduction of neonatal care leave, both in terms of policy implementation and internal processes.
Employers will need to prepare a neonatal care leave policy with details of who is eligible, when the right applies and notice requirements for example. Unless they already provide for contractual neonatal care leave and pay, employers will need to decide whether or not to enhance the statutory right, for example, by paying more than SNCP for a specified period. They may be inclined to do so if they already provide for other contractual enhanced family rights. The draft Regulations make it clear that where there are contractual rights to neonatal care leave in addition to the statutory right, when taking it, the employee may “take advantage of whichever right is, in any particular respect, the most favourable”.
If there is an existing neonatal care leave policy, this needs to be reviewed and updated (if necessary) to meet the threshold of the statutory entitlements.
Employers will need to inform employees about the new policy (or any updates to an existing policy) and ensure that employees understand the process for taking neonatal care leave. Training for managers may also be helpful in dealing with applications for neonatal care leave and of course in supporting the employee at a very stressful time. Don’t forget that even after neonatal care has ended, the child may need ongoing medical treatment for quite a while. This will be another stressful time for the parent so employers could consider whether more flexible working patterns would be helpful and they should ensure that any wellbeing initiatives and EAPs are publicised.
As with other types of family leave, employees will continue to benefit from their terms and conditions of employment except for remuneration and there will be protection from detriment and unfair dismissal. Where the employee has taken six consecutive weeks of neonatal care leave, they will also have enhanced redundancy protection.
Looking ahead
Introducing neonatal care leave is a welcome development and is another measure which, the Government says, shows its commitment to supporting families’ workplace rights. As the implementation date approaches on 6 April 2025, detailed Government guidance is expected on the new right.
For now, parents have the comfort of knowing that they will receive additional support should their newborn baby require extended hospital care.
Please find below links to charities which support families with newborns receiving neonatal care.
Useful links:
- The Smallest Things Charity: The Smallest Things
- Bliss Charity: Bliss
- Working Families: Working Families
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