Neonatal care leave UK: an employer guide to leave and pay

Neonatal care leave is a statutory right created by the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023. It applies in England, Scotland and Wales to babies born on or after 6 April 2025. It sits on top of maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave, so parents do not have to use up those entitlements while their baby is in hospital.

Neonatal care means hospital, medical or palliative care for a newborn baby that starts within the first 28 days after the birth. The baby must spend at least 7 consecutive full days in that care before any leave is earned.

Employees get one week of leave for every 7 consecutive full days the baby spends in neonatal care, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. Only full weeks count: part weeks are not rounded up. All neonatal care leave must be taken within 68 weeks of the baby's date of birth.

Leave and pay have separate tests. Leave is available from the first day of employment to employees who are the baby's parent (including adoptive parents and intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement) or the partner of the baby's mother, and who have or expect to have responsibility for the child's upbringing. Workers who are not employees do not have the right to the leave.

Statutory Neonatal Care Pay needs more. The employee must have been employed for at least 26 weeks up to the end of the qualifying week, earn on average at least £125 a week before tax over an 8-week period, and still be employed in the week before the pay is claimed. The qualifying week is the 15th week before the expected week of birth if the employee is already entitled to maternity, paternity or adoption pay; otherwise it is the week immediately before the baby enters neonatal care.

GOV.UK splits the leave into two periods with different rules. The first period (often called Tier 1) runs while the baby is in neonatal care and for one week after discharge. Leave in this period is taken in blocks of at least one week, and it can be interrupted by other pre-booked parental leave such as paternity or shared parental leave, with the remaining neonatal care leave added straight after.

The second period (Tier 2) is any time more than one week after discharge, up to 68 weeks from the birth. Leave in this period must be taken as one continuous block, before or after any other parental leave, and cannot be interrupted. Employees cannot take two types of statutory leave at the same time, and neonatal care leave must come after any statutory maternity or adoption leave.

Notice depends on the period. In the first period the employee should tell you as soon as possible, ideally before they would normally start work, and notice can be given by phone, voicemail, text or in writing. If leave continues week to week, they give notice again by the end of the previous week unless you agree another arrangement.

In the second period notice must be in writing (email or letter): 15 days for one week of leave, or at least 28 days for two weeks or more. Notice for Statutory Neonatal Care Pay must always be in writing, within 28 days of the start of first-period leave, or with the same 15 or 28 days for second-period leave.

Statutory Neonatal Care Pay is £194.32 a week or 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. Pay it through payroll and deduct tax and National Insurance as usual. Your own policy can pay more, but not less, to an eligible employee.

Employers can reclaim 92% of Statutory Neonatal Care Pay from HMRC, or 109% if they qualify for Small Employers' Relief by paying £45,000 or less in Class 1 National Insurance in the relevant tax year. Claim it through your Employer Payment Summary (EPS).

An employee's rights to pay rises, holiday and returning to their job are protected during neonatal care leave. Annual leave keeps building up, so record neonatal care leave as its own absence type rather than as sickness, unpaid leave or holiday.