Background
On 20 March 2025, the government made two sets of regulations implementing the new statutory rights to neonatal care leave and pay:
- The Neonatal Care Leave and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/375)
- The Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (General) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/376)
These regulations follow the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 and will come into force on 6 April 2025. They apply to children born on or after that date.
Key points
Statutory neonatal care leave
- An employee is entitled to one week of NCL for each qualifying week their child spends in neonatal care, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. It must be taken in weekly blocks.
- The neonatal care must begin with 28 days of the child’s birth and last for a continuous period of at least seven days (not including the day on which care starts).
- The employee must have a qualifying parental or other personal relationship with the child. NCL may be taken where a child has been adopted, including from overseas, as well as in parental order (surrogacy) cases.
- NCL may be taken in addition to other types of statutory family leave but must be taken within the first 68 weeks of a child’s birth.
- NCL is a day-one right.
- Employees must comply with the notice requirements.
- Employees have the right to return to the same job (or, in certain circumstances, to return to a suitable and appropriate alternative job).
- Employees are protected from detriment or dismissal relating to NCL.
- Employees who are taking or have recently returned to work from NCL are entitled to be offered suitable alternative employment on redundancy in priority to other employees.
Statutory neonatal care pay
- The employee must have a parental or other personal relationship with a child who is receiving, or has received, neonatal care. This includes adoption and parental order cases.
- The neonatal care must begin with 28 days of the child’s birth and last for a continuous period of at least seven days (not including the day on which care starts).
- The employee must have at least 26 weeks’ continuous service ending with the relevant week.
- The employee must have received normal weekly earnings, for a period of eight weeks ending with the relevant week, of not less than the lower earnings limit.
- SNCP is paid at the same rate as statutory paternity pay or statutory shared parental pay.
- SNCP may be paid for a maximum of 12 weeks and is payable within the first 68 weeks after the child’s birth.
- Employees must comply with the notice requirements.
Policy Objectives and Scope
These measures are intended to ease the financial and emotional pressures faced by families during neonatal care periods. The government estimates that around 60,000 parents per year will benefit from the new entitlements.
The introduction of neonatal leave and pay is aligned with the government’s broader employment reform agenda and its stated aim of improving support for working families.
The regulations come into effect on 6 April 2025.Parents to receive day one right to neonatal care leave and pay.
Parents to receive day one right to neonatal care leave and pay
