Neonatal Care Leave and Pay: the key facts

What is Neonatal Care Leave and when does it apply?

Neonatal Care Leave (NCL) came into force on 6 April 2025. It applies to anyone whose baby is born on or after that date and receives neonatal care starting within 28 days of birth for a period of seven days or more. If care commences after those initial 28 days, NCL cannot be taken.

NCL will allow those eligible to receive leave from work and pay in addition to their existing family leave entitlement.

Neonatal care is defined as medical care received in a hospital (including clinics, maternity homes and outpatient departments), medical care received in any other place following discharge from hospital which is under consultant direction and with ongoing monitoring, or palliative/end of life care.

Who is eligible?

NCL is a 'day one right' for all eligible employees. Under the new regulations, an eligible employee will be someone who satisfies all of the following conditions:

• They are the child's parent/intended parent under a surrogacy arrangement, partner of the child's mother, child's adopter/prospective adopter (or partner of such) at the date of birth
• They are a person who will have/expect to have responsibility for the child's upbringing, and
• They are taking leave to care for the child.

The third of the above requirements does not apply in situations where the baby dies following the commencement of neonatal care or when an adoption placement ceases after NCL has been commenced. The effect of this is that NCL can still be taken by these individuals despite their caring obligations no longer being ongoing.

How much leave can be taken?

An eligible employee can take one week's leave for each week the baby receives neonatal care (as defined) without interruption, capped at 12 weeks. A 'week' begins the day after the care started.

An eligible employee cannot claim more than once in respect of multiple births (eg twins) where their babies are receiving care at the same time. The maximum time permitted remains 12 weeks.

NCL can be taken on in addition to any other leave that the employee may be entitled to (including maternity and paternity leave). NCL must however be taken within 68 weeks of the baby's birth otherwise the entitlement no longer applies.

The timing of NCL is flexible as NCL can be taken while the child is still receiving the neonatal care or later (eg immediately following maternity or paternity leave entitlement), with the caveat that the leave cannot commence before the second week of neonatal care. The effect is that the first week of neonatal care cannot be taken as statutory NCL but, in most cases, that first week will be covered by another form of statutory family leave (e.g. maternity, adoption or paternity leave).

What is the process and notice for taking leave?

With NCL the notice process will likely be the most difficult for businesses and employees to understand. The regulations have put in place a two tiered system whereby the notice requirements differ. Employers and employees may also mutually agree to waive the notice requirements.

In every case, the eligible employee must inform their employer of:

• The date of birth of the baby, (and date of adoption placement or entry into the UK if relevant)
• The commencement date of the neonatal care and the end date if known*
• The date on which the employee would like the NCL to begin
• How much leave they would like to take
• The fact that they are taking leave to care for their child, and
• Their eligibility to take NCL if this is the first notice of the child given to the employer (this would likely apply in situations whereby the second adopting parent has not taken adoption leave or is the mother's partner with no entitlement to other forms of family leave entitlement).

*If the end date of the care is unknown at this time then the information must be provided as soon as is reasonably practicable.

Tier 1

Notice under tier 1 is simpler than tier 2 and applies during the period in which the child is receiving neonatal care or during the week following the neonatal care.

Under tier 1, employees do not have to give their employer as much notice of leave as is for tier 2 and the notice does not need to be in writing. Notice under tier 1 need only be given by the time which the employee is due to commence work on the first day of each week of NCL.

The reason for these relaxed notice rules is that those giving notice under tier 1 are likely to be doing so due to an unforeseen or emergency circumstance. Under tier 1, the leave can be taken either continuously or in non-continuous one week blocks.

In birth cases, taking leave by giving notice under tier 1 is most likely to be used by the child's father or mother's partner (as the mother would likely be on maternity leave at this time). In adoption cases tier 1 notice is likely to be given by the parent not on adoption leave.

Tier 2

Notice under the tier 2 rules will apply to any leave taken outside of the tier 1 period (i.e. to leave after the neonatal care has come to an end). Under tier 2 the notice requirements are less flexible than tier 1.

Employees must give 15 days' notice of one week's leave or 28 days' notice for leave of two or more weeks. Unlike tier 1, this type of leave must be taken in one continuous block.

Why is tier 2 less flexible? This is likely to reflect that those taking leave under tier 2 are likely to already be on maternity or adoption leave and instead opt to add their NCL entitlement to the end of their initial leave. It will therefore be important for employees who want to take NCL immediately following on from maternity or adoption leave to give sufficient notice.

Protections for employees on NCL

NCL provides for similar protections as to those on other types of family leave. This includes the right to return to their original position, enhanced redundancy protections and protections against dismissal and detriment.

Regulation 17 of the Neonatal Care Leave and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2025 extends the protection from detriment under S.47C Employment Rights Act 1996 to include a right "not to be subjected to any detriment by any act, or deliberate failure to act, by an employer because the employee took, sought to take or make use of the benefits of Statutory Neonatal Care Leave or the employer believed the employee as likely to take Statutory Neonatal Care Leave".

Statutory Neonatal Care Pay

Alongside the right to take NCL, those eligible for NCL will also have the right to receive Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (SNCP) if they are eligible for it. The Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (General) Regulations 2025 implement a new entitlement for parents of babies who are born after 6 April 2025 and receive neonatal care to receive SNCP.

How is SNCP calculated?

SNCP is to be paid at the statutory prescribed rate (initially £187.18 from 6 April 2025) or 90% of earnings if lower. This is in line with other statutorily prescribed rates for various forms of family leave such as maternity, paternity and adoption leave.

Whilst NCL itself is a day one right, a length of service requirement does apply to SNCP. To be eligible for SNCP employees must have 26 weeks service and also meet the minimum earnings threshold (£125 per week from 6 April 2025). SNCP may be paid for a maximum of 12 weeks and is payable within the first 68 weeks following the child's birth.

As with other forms of family leave pay entitlement, employers can opt to be more generous if they wish by paying an enhanced level and or waiving the eligibility criteria.

How will these changes affect your organisation?

All employees falling within the definition of 'eligible employee' as above will be entitled to these new rights. The government expects these new regulations to benefit around 60,000 parents each year.

Employers need to ensure that:

• They have a policy covering the right to NCL and SNCP
• Managers are aware of the new rights
• The payroll team is aware of the new entitlement to SNCP.

Here at WBD we can help you in these aspects or to offer any general advice and answer your enquiries on the topic. Please do not hesitate to contact a member of the team.