October 14, 2024
- The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill received Royal Assent on 24 May 2023 and is expected to take effect in April 2025
- It provides a statutory entitlement of up to 12 weeks paid neonatal care leave, in addition to existing leave entitlements such as maternity and paternity leave. Qualifying employees will have a minimum entitlement of one week
- It will apply to parents of babies who are admitted into hospital up to the age of 28 days, and who have a continuous stay in hospital of seven full days or more. More information is expected to confirm the definition of “neonatal care”
Eligibility criteria:
Neonatal care leave:
- The right to take neonatal care leave will be available to employees from day one of their employment
- It is expected that it will be possible to take the leave in non-consecutive periods of at least a week, in the same way as shared parental leave
- The leave must be taken in the first 68 weeks of the baby’s birth. It will always be taken after an employee’s other leave entitlement – for example maternity leave cannot be paused to take neonatal leave and then resumed
- It is expected that there may be a medical evidence requirement before employees can take the leave, similar to the MATB1 requirement for pregnancy
- As with other statutory leave entitlements, employers cannot penalise any employee taking this leave once it is brought into force. Dismissal of an employee for a reason connected with neonatal care leave will be automatically unfair
Neonatal care pay:
- It is expected that in order to qualify for neonatal care pay, employees will be required to have 26 weeks qualifying service; and
- Earnings of at least £123 per week (which is the same requirement as maternity pay)
Practical considerations:
- Policy & training – have a clear policy on Neonatal Care Leave and Pay ahead of the April 2025 implementation date. It is important to train staff/managers, prior to its introduction
- Enhancements – consider whether you want to enhance the basic statutory entitlements (i.e. pay over and above the statutory neonatal pay or allow employees to take more leave), particularly if you do this for other parental entitlements
- Data privacy and confidentiality – details of the baby’s medical condition(s) will be private under data protection legislation. Discuss the employee’s wishes regarding sharing information with colleagues about the reason for absence and the type of leave being taken
If you have queries or questions in relation to the upcoming introduction of the Neonatal Care Act, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the AfterAthena team (part of the Napthens Group) who are able to offer 30 minutes of free advice to QCS members.
