The aim of the new rights are to allow parents dedicated time to spend with their baby while they are receiving medical care, without that eating into their maternity, paternity or shared parental leave. The hope is that this will provide some peace of mind to parents who find themselves in this difficult situation. The government expects the new rights to benefit around 60,000 new parents.

Who is eligible?

Neonatal care leave (‘NCL’) is intended to support employees whose baby is receiving, or has received, neonatal care. In line with changes made to other forms of family leave in the Employment Rights Bill, employees can benefit from NCL from day one of their employment. 

At the birth of the baby, the employee must be one of:

• the baby's parents, 
• the baby’s intended parents (applicable to surrogacy),
• partner to the baby’s mother (who are unrelated and living with them in an enduring family relationship) with the expectation they will have responsibility for raising the child. 

If adopting, similar principles as above apply. 

To qualify for NCL, the baby must be born on or after 6 April 2025. 

NCL must be taken to provide care for the baby. In the very sad circumstances where the baby dies after NCL has been accrued, employees are still able to take the leave as this care requirement is disapplied.

What counts as “neonatal care”?

Neonatal care must have taken place or begun within the first 28 days of birth (counting from the day after the baby is born) and care must continue for a period of at least 7 continuous days (beginning on the day after neonatal care starts). This will be disappointing for some parents who endure a significant hospital admission when problems are discovered after the first few weeks of the baby’s life. 

There are three narrow categories of medical care which will count as “neonatal care”:

1. any medical care received in a hospital;
2. medical care received elsewhere following discharge from hospital. Such care must be under the direction of a consultant and includes ongoing monitoring and visits to the child by healthcare professionals; or
3. palliative or end of life care.

How much leave?

The length of NCL will be dependent on how long the baby receives neonatal care but is capped at a maximum of 12 weeks. Parents will be able to take one week of leave in respect of each week the baby receives neonatal care without interruption.  An uninterrupted week of care begins on the day after care started, which means that the baby must have been receiving uninterrupted care on 8 consecutive days (including the day that care started) for a parent to be entitled to one week of NCL. The earliest NCL can start is the ninth day following the start of the baby’s uninterrupted care.

The week begins on the day after care started.

For parents of twins or other multiple births, neonatal leave cannot be claimed in respect of babies who are receiving care at the same time. For example, if both twins were to receive care for a period of 6 weeks, the parents would only be entitled to 6 weeks of leave. The maximum amount of leave remains 12 weeks. 

When can the leave be taken?

Any leave must be taken within 68 weeks of the baby’s birth (or placement or entry to Great Britain in the event of adoption). The basic idea of NCL is that it will be tagged onto the end of the employee’s family leave. This is because an employee whose baby is admitted for neonatal care is highly likely to be on some other family leave at that time – typically maternity or paternity leave. The idea is then that they would be able to take NCL at the end of their planned family leave, so that the time their baby spent in neonatal care is compensated for.

However, the regime also needs to cater for those emergency situations when the employee isn’t already on leave whilst the baby is in neonatal care. This is most likely to be because a father or partner’s paternity leave has run out while the baby is still in hospital. 

As a result of this effort to provide flexibility and reduced notice requirements, there is a distinction between the time the leave is used, oddly referred to as tier 1 or tier 2 periods. 

If NCL is taken whilst the baby is receiving care (and up to a week post discharge), this will be classed as a tier 1 period. Tier 1 leave can be taken in non-continuous blocks of a minimum of one week at a time. 

All other leave falls within the tier 2 period and must be taken in one continuous block. 

What are the notice requirements?

In line with other parental leave, employees are expected to provide notice of their intention to take NCL stating:

• Their name
• The baby’s date of birth (or date of placement/entry to Great Britain if adopting)
• The start date or dates of neonatal care
• The date neonatal care ended (if applicable)
• The date on which the employee wants to take the leave 
• The number of weeks of NCL the notice is being given for 
• That the leave is being taken to care for the baby 
• Confirmation that the employee is eligible to take the leave due to their relationship with the baby

The required length of notice differs depending on when the leave is taken.

However, employers should note that the employer and employee can agree to mutually waive any notice requirements. 

How much pay?

The right to receive statutory neonatal care pay (‘SNCP’) requires 26 weeks of service and earnings on average of at least £123 a week. This mirrors the entitlement to maternity and shared parental leave pay. 

During NCL

As with other family leave entitlements, employees will remain entitled to the same terms and conditions of employment, with the exception of pay.  There are also similar rules around when an employee will be entitled to return to their original role, which will always be the case for a single period of NCL. 

Employees who have taken 6 continuous weeks of NCL also benefit from the extended redundancy protection rights (if these do not already apply via maternity, adoption or paternity leave), with the right to be offered a suitable alternative vacancy applying from the day after the employee has taken six consecutive weeks of leave and ending on the day after the child turns 18 months old.

Employees will also be protected from detriment and dismissal for exercising their right to take NCL. Dismissal of an employee for a reason connected with their taking NCL will be automatically unfair.

Employer considerations

Whilst there has been a significant lead in time for this legislation, employers now have confirmation that the leave will apply from 6 April 2025. Now that we know the detail of how NCL will work, there are some important considerations for employers to think about:

• Timing: An employee will generally take NCL at the end of their other parental leave entitlement (unless interrupted). Whilst the underlying intention is to extend the overall period of leave that can be taken, employers may find that some eligible employees choose to end their maternity leave once statutory maternity pay ends at 39 weeks and then move to NCL and SNCP for 12 weeks. This would allow for almost a whole year of paid leave (albeit at statutory rates for employers who do not enhance). 
• Notice: There is complexity in determining what level of notice will apply and whether the employee falls within tier 1 or tier 2. As employers have the option of waiving notice requirements, many employers may choose to do so in practice, particularly for employees who are not taking/have already taken other forms of leave. 
• Policies: Employers will need to have a clear policy setting out the statutory right to leave and pay, as well as any enhanced rights. Employers should consider creating a template form for employees to complete for notice requirements. If an employer offers enhanced family leave, it will be necessary to think through the impact of NCL on any of these enhancements. 
• Enhancements: some employers have already announced early implementation of a neonatal leave and pay policy and some will want to enhance their offering now the details of the statutory scheme are known. Many will choose to do this on a discretionary basis.
  
   
• Training: Given the complexities of this new right, this may be a good opportunity for employers to offer refresher family leave training for HR staff, which covers this new right and upcoming changes in the Employment Rights Bill.
• Redundancy: Employers will need to add employees taking NCL of over 6 weeks to the groups of employees who will be entitled to priority status in the event of a redundancy. As the protection continues until the child turns 18 months, it will be important to consider tracking employees who take this type of leave in the same way as other types of parental leave. 
• Data privacy: Details of the baby’s medical conditions are private under data protection legislation. The employee’s wishes should be observed in relation to sharing information with colleagues about the reason and nature of the leave they are taking.
• Absence management: Effects of traumatic birth or a baby spending time in a neonatal intensive care unit could manifest themselves both physically and mentally, possibly resulting in a long-term condition or illness. Employers should be mindful of this in the event of a change in an employee’s performance, behaviour or absence. Approach requests for time off or increased sickness leave carefully, bearing in mind the potential disability discrimination risks.