Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023: new legislation in force
The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 came into effect on 6th April 2025, making Neonatal Care Leave a day-one right. Our employment law solicitors explain how the new legislation will affect employers and employees.
What is the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023?
The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 gives additional leave and pay to parents of babies who require neonatal care; it allows employed parents to be absent from work for a specific period if they have a child who is receiving or has received neonatal care.
Who is eligible for Neonatal Care Leave?
Around 60,000 new parents will benefit from the new right to Neonatal Care Leave and Pay, a legal day-one right which means employed parents can focus on supporting their new family without worrying about keeping their job.
Neonatal Leave only applies to babies born on or after 6th April 2025.
You are eligible for Neonatal Care Leave (NCL) if you live in England, Wales or Scotland and are:
- The mother/birth parent
- The father
- Married to, the civil partner of or partner of the mother/birth parent
- Adopting the child
- The intended parents in a surrogacy
Each eligible parent is entitled to a separate amount of Neonatal Leave.
You must be an employee, and your baby must have been in or have spent at least seven continuous days receiving neonatal care starting within 28 days from their birth
You are unlikely to be considered for Neonatal Leave (or Pay) if you are an agency worker, a casual worker or a zero-hours contract worker.
How much neonatal leave can employees receive?
Employees can take a minimum of one week and a maximum of 12 weeks of paid leave for babies who are admitted into neonatal care up to 28 days old and who have a continuous stay in hospital of seven full days or longer.
Only complete seven-day periods are counted, so if your baby spends three weeks and five days in hospital care, you will accrue three weeks of Neonatal Care Leave. The seven continuous days of treatment begin on the day after your baby starts receiving neonatal care (from 00:01am).
Neonatal care includes babies who are:
- Being monitored at home but receiving visits from healthcare professionals
- Receiving care in hospital, including at the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
- Receiving palliative or end-of-life care
Parents who are self-employed or who have a worker employment status will not qualify.
Neonatal Care Leave cannot be claimed twice by the same employee in respect of multiple births where the babies are receiving care at the same time. The maximum amount of leave for that employee remains at 12 weeks.
Neonatal Care Leave and statutory leave
Employees must give their employers notice for Neonatal Care Leave.
Neonatal leave can be taken on top of any other leave new parents may be entitled to, including maternity and paternity leave; however, the leave must be taken within 68 weeks of your baby’s birth or placement.
If the baby is in neonatal care, or in the first week after they are in care, other types of pre-booked statutory leave, such as paternity or shared parental leave, can interrupt Neonatal Care Leave. The remaining period of Neonatal Care Leave can be added immediately to the end of the other parental leave.
Generally, it is foreseen that employees will tag Neonatal leave onto the end of their parental leave to help compensate for the time the baby spent in neonatal care.
If leave is being taken later than the first week after the baby is discharged from neonatal care, it can only be taken in a single block, before or after any other existing parental leave entitlement.
How much is Statutory Neonatal Care Pay?
Employees must give their employers notice for Statutory Neonatal Care Pay, which should be given at the same time as the notice for Neonatal Care Leave.
To be eligible for Statutory Neonatal Care Pay, you must have worked for your employer for a minimum of 26 weeks. You will receive either £187.18 per week or 90% of your average weekly earnings, whichever figure is the lowest, unless the employer has agreed to offer more than the statutory amounts, which must be made clear and available to staff.
These figures are correct at the time of this blog being published (April 2025).
What do employers need to do?
To ensure employers are up to date in implementing the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 procedures in the workplace, they are encouraged to review and develop appropriate policies, ensuring employees are assisted in understanding how Neonatal Care Leave and Pay interacts with other parental leave entitlements. For example, maternity leave cannot be curtailed and restarted, so it’s likely Neonatal Care Leave will be taken at the end of maternity leave, and probably once maternity leave pay ends.
Guidance published by the Government and Acas is also available.
How our employment law solicitors can help
If you’re unsure how any of these changes will affect you as an employee or an employer, speak to our Employment Law team on 0117 325 2929 or fill out our online enquiry form.
