Neonatal care leave and pay – a new right from 6 April 2025

The Government has confirmed that it intends to introduce paid neonatal care leave on 6 April 2025. This will give new parents the right to additional time off work if their baby is in neonatal care for at least seven days. It is expected that take-up of the leave, especially by fathers and partners, will be significant. UK employers need to make sure they are ready.

Each year approximately 100,000 babies are admitted to neonatal care.  Until now, parents and partners have had to rely on other types of leave, such as paternity and maternity leave as well as holiday, to care for these babies in hospital.  All too often, parents and partners have exhausted their paid leave before the baby even comes home, and may have to make painful decisions about their jobs at a time when they are still very concerned about their child's survival. The hope is that neonatal care leave will change this.  So how will it work?

The basics of the right to leave

Recently published regulations, which have yet to be fully approved by Parliament, confirm that:

• The leave (but not pay, on which see details below) is a 'day one' right, meaning employees benefit from the start of their employment.
• It applies to parents and partners (who live with the mother / adopter in an enduring family relationship), as well as intended parents of babies born by surrogacy.
• The right is triggered if the baby (born on or after 6 April 2025) is admitted to neonatal care within 28 days after birth.
• Any period of a week during which the baby receives uninterrupted neonatal care is a 'qualifying period'.  For each qualifying period, an equivalent one week period of leave may be taken, up to a cap of 12 weeks. Leave may only be taken in blocks of a week.
• The leave may be taken within the period of 68 weeks after the child's birth (but not until the baby has been in uninterrupted neonatal care for at least a week).  The regulations divide this period into two distinct periods called 'tier 1' and 'tier 2'.  The rules regarding the timing of leave differ depending on the tier - see 'Timing' below.  
• As with other statutory leave, notification requirements apply.  Again, these depend on whether leave is to be taken during the tier 1 or tier 2 period.  See 'Timing' below.
• There are the typical protections for employees who take the leave (including regarding returning to work, redundancy, detriment and automatic unfair dismissal).
• Special provision is made for multiple births, disrupted adoptions / surrogacy arrangements, and neonatal deaths.

The basics of the right to pay

Statutory neonatal care pay ('SNCP') is payable for up to the full 12 weeks.  It is paid at the same rate as some other statutory leave pay (£187.18 per week as at 6 April 2025 or, if lower, 90% of normal weekly earnings) and, similarly to other statutory leave pay, the employee needs to have been continuously employed for a minimum period to qualify.

Timing

Neonatal care leave will not interrupt other types of leave, such as maternity or paternity leave.  There are therefore perhaps two typical scenarios when it might be sought: 

1. A partner wishes to take neonatal care leave because they have exhausted their paternity leave but their baby is still receiving neonatal care. Typically, this will be in a hospital, but the definition is wider and includes, for example, consultant led outpatient care and monitoring after a hospital stay.
2. A mother has used a significant portion of her maternity leave caring for her baby in hospital.  She wishes to tag neonatal care leave on to the end of her maternity leave to compensate for this lost time and ensure her baby is sufficiently developed and healthy for her to return to work.  Her partner also wishes to take neonatal care leave once the baby is back home.

A key distinction between these scenarios is that, in the first, the baby is still receiving neonatal care (as defined).  In the second, they are not.  The Government recognises this distinction by introducing the concept of 'tier 1' and 'tier 2' periods.

The 'tier 1 period' is the period of the baby's stay in neonatal care, plus the seven days after discharge.  The 'tier 2 period' is any other time during the 68 weeks in which the right to take neonatal care leave lasts.  

The reason for distinction is that:

1. Neonatal care leave taken during the tier 1 period may be taken in non-consecutive weeks.  So, in scenario (1) above, the partner might choose to rotate between weeks of working, and weeks of neonatal care leave, throughout the baby's hospital stay (up to the cap of 12 weeks total leave).  
   
   It must be remembered however that, although leave accrues during the first week of the tier 1 period, it may not be taken until after the end of that first week.  This is unlikely to present a problem for many employees, who will already be taking paternity (or maternity/adoption) leave during this first week.
2. Neonatal care leave taken during the tier 2 period must be taken consecutively.  So, in scenario (2) above, the mother and partner who wish to take their neonatal care leave when the baby is home will need to take it in a single block.

It is of course up to the employee to decide whether (and when) to take their leave during the tier 1 and/or tier 2 period.  However, the notification requirements are much shorter for tier 1 than tier 2, reflecting the urgent nature of most neonatal hospital admissions. 

For tier 1 leave, notice need only be given on the day the leave starts (or as soon as practicable thereafter) and need not be in writing. For tier 2 leave, at least 15 days' written notice will be needed for one week's leave and at least 28 days' written notice for a period of two weeks or more.

Policies and procedures

The new rights are complex. Please contact us if you need any further explanation or assistance updating your policies and procedures to reflect (or enhance) the new rights.