A new right for employees with new-borns: Neonatal care leave and pay

From the 6 April 2025, neonatal care leave and pay will be introduced, and this is expected to benefit around 60,000 people. This change is being introduced alongside the many reforms to employment rights included within the Employment Rights Bill.

The right to neonatal care leave and pay will grant parents the peace of mind they need, given it will enable them to take leave when their newborn babies are poorly. Parents will no longer have to use their annual leave to spend time with their child, or attend work through this difficult time.

When will an employee be able to exercise this right?

Some employers have already offered this protection to their employees for a while. However, this entitlement will now become available to all eligible employees from day one of their employment. It can be exercised where an employee’s baby is put into neonatal care (from birth up to 28 days old) and remains in such care for a minimum of 7 full continuous days or longer. The leave can start on day nine of the neonatal care and must be taken within 68 weeks of the baby’s birth.

This right will entitle eligible employees to 12 weeks leave, in addition to maternity and paternity leave. Whilst on neonatal care leave, the employees’ rights continue. However, they are not entitled to pay unless they have 26 weeks continuity of service and earn a minimum of £123 a week. If an employee meets these requirements, they will qualify for statutory neonatal care pay.

For an employee to be able to take neonatal care leave, the child must be born on or after 6 April 2025 and the individual must be either one of the baby’s parents, the baby’s intended parents (such as via surrogacy), or the partner to the baby’s mother. However, in the latter scenario, the partner must be living with the family in an enduring family relationship and be expected to have responsibility for raising the child.

Neonatal care is deemed to encompass any of the following types of medical care: any medical care received in hospital, medical care received elsewhere following discharge from hospital under the direction of a consultant and includes ongoing monitoring and visits to the child by healthcare professionals or palliative/end of life care.

The type of neonatal care leave and notice requirements

The way in which the right is exercised is allocated into two different tiers. If the baby is currently receiving neonatal care and the leave is taken during this time, this is deemed to be a tier 1 period. The leave here can be taken in non-continuous blocks, with a minimum of one week at a time. On the other hand, where an employee is entitled to take leave outside of a tier 1 period this is known as a tier 2 period. Leave taken in a tier 2 period must be taken in one continuous block of a whole number of weeks.

However, if an employee has twins that are both in neonatal care, they cannot take double the amount of leave, even where both babies are in hospital during the same period.
When an employee takes this leave, they are required to give notice to their employer of their intention to take this. When giving notice they should provide the following details:

• their name;
• the baby’s date of birth;
• the start date of neonatal care;
• the date in which it ends if known;
• the date they wish the leave to start;
• the amount of weeks they expect to take it for;
• that the purpose of the leave is to care for their baby; and
• they will need to provide confirmation of their eligibility to take the leave.

The timing of when notice should be given is slightly different depending on whether it is within a tier 1 or tier 2 period.

Considerations

Whilst employees are expected to give notice of their intention to take neonatal care leave, employees and their employer can mutually agree to waive these requirements. Therefore, the above may not necessarily apply. However, if notice is required to be given, employers should handle this matter carefully as the baby’s medical records will be protected through data protection laws. Consequently, there is no obligation on the employee to disclose the medical condition, and this decision should be respected if an employee decides not to.

Any dismissal for an employee using this leave will be deemed automatically unfair. Moreover, employees who have taken this leave for over 6 weeks will have priority status for suitable alternative vacancies where they are facing a potential redundancy situation. Furthermore, there is a fair level of protection awarded to the employee for exercising this right.

Due to the complexity of the entitlements to this right, it is recommended that employers incorporate neonatal care leave into a company policy and that is made clear what details will be required from the employee when giving notice of their intention to take neonatal care leave.