Neonatal leave changes: what do employers and employees need to know?

Triumphed as another reform by the Labour government in its “upgrading” workers’ rights, it has now confirmed that it will introduce a new right for workers to take time off work for neonatal care. The relevant Bill was in fact introduced by the previous government, and it has now been confirmed that the new Act will come into effect from 6 April 2025.  

Draft regulations have been published for parliamentary approval, setting out the detail of the new rights under the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023.

The government has stated that this measure is expected to benefit around 60,000 new parents.

The draft regulations provide for the following:

• The right to take neonatal care leave applies to children born on or after 6 April 2025 and who are admitted to neonatal care within 28 days of birth (or placement for adoptions) and stay more than seven continuous days.
• The right applies from day 1 of employment and provides for up to 12 weeks of leave.
• Parents who have over 26 weeks’ service and who provide the appropriate notice are entitled statutory pay for up to 12 weeks.
• In order to qualify for statutory pay, the employee’s earnings must also match the “lower earnings limit” (which from April 2025 will be £125.00 per week) averaged over the eight weeks before the relevant date.  
• Leave must be taken within 68 weeks of birth.
• Leave can be taken while the child is still receiving neonatal care (although not starting before the second week of neonatal care) or after other family leave has been taken.  
• The regulations extend protections against redundancy, detriment, and dismissal to mirror the other protections provided to employees on family related leave.

Considerations for employers:

Employers should now be updating their policies to set out this new right.  Some larger employers may also wish to consider whether any statutory pay periods should be enhanced for some, for all of the 12-week period and whether they wish to extend the 12-week statutory period of leave.

They may also wish to provide a simpler method for the employee to provide notice of their intention to take this leave.  The provision in the Act to provide notice are complex and vary depending on when the leave is taken (either a Tier 1 or Tier 2 period).  This may be difficult for employees to navigate at a time when family life will be challenging.

Any new policy should be notified to employee with an explanation of what the entitlements are including any notice requirements. Managers should be equipped with information in order to support employees during these difficult circumstances.