New Neonatal Care Leave and Pay Entitlements Expand Parental Rights: What schools need to know

On 20 January 2025, the government confirmed that the new entitlements to neonatal care leave and pay will take effect from 6 April 2025 and are expected to benefit around 60,000 new parents.

Many working families in the UK are currently having to return to work while their newborn babies are unwell in hospital. These measures aim to support parents by enabling them to stay with their child rather than having to exhaust their annual leave, return to work whilst their baby is still unwell, or otherwise suffer financially by taking unpaid leave.

The new entitlements passed under the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 (‘the Act’) will provide parents with a day one right to take neonatal care leave (‘NCL’).

On 17 January 2025, the government published two sets of regulations to accompany the Act:

• The Neonatal Care Leave and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2025 (the ‘Misc Regulations’), detailing the eligibility and notification requirements and entitlement.
• The Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (General) Regulations 2025 (the ‘Pay Regulations’), setting out the detail for payment during periods of neonatal leave.

Subject to Parliamentary approval, the Misc Regulations and the Pay Regulations will also apply in respect of children who are born on or after 6 April 2025. Schools and trusts should be aware of the following key points set out below.

What counts as neonatal care?

Regulation 4 of the Misc Regulations defines ‘neonatal care’ as:

• Medical care received in a hospital.
• Medical care received in any other place which satisfies the following criteria:
  • the child was an impatient in hospital and the care is received upon that child leaving hospital;
  • the care is under the direction of a consultant; and
  • the care includes ongoing monitoring by, and visits to the child from, healthcare professionals arranged by the hospital.
• Palliative or end of life care.

How much leave?

Up to 12 weeks of NCL will be available, which employees can take when their child is receiving neonatal care or at another time before the end of 68 weeks beginning with the date of the child’s birth. The Regulations set out two distinct phases of NCL that can be taken:

• Tier 1: begins the day the child starts receiving neonatal care and ends with the 7^th day after the child stops receiving neonatal care. During this phase leave can be taken in non-continuous blocks of at least 1 week.
• Tier 2: the remainder of the 12 weeks of leave available within the 68-week period after deducting any Tier 1 leave taken. For example, if 1 week of Tier 1 leave has been taken then up to 11 weeks of Tier 2 leave could be taken at a later date within the eligible period. Tier 2 leave must be taken in one consecutive block.

The provisions mean that employees will be able to add NCL to the end of other forms of statutory parental leave that they may be entitled to therefore extending the amount of time that they can currently have off.

Who is eligible?

Under Regulation 5 of the Misc Regulations, NCL will apply to employees who have:

1. a parental or other personal relationship with a child who is receiving or has received neonatal care that started within 28 days of birth; and
2. a baby who requires a minimum period of 7 days of neonatal care (this means a continuous stay in hospital for a period of at least 7 full days, beginning the day after the day on which the care starts).

Notice requirements

An employee is required to give their employer notice of their intention to take NCL.

Within the notice, the employee should state:

• their name
• the baby’s date of birth
• the start date or dates of neonatal care
• the date neonatal care ended (if applicable)
• the date on which the employee wants to take the leave
• the number of weeks of NCL is being given for
• that the leave is being taken to care for the baby
• confirmation that the employee is eligible to take NCL due to their relationship with the baby (if it is the first notice in respect of that child)

Notice requirements differ for Tier 1 and Tier 2 leave:

1. Tier 1: Notice must be given each week before the employee is due to start work on the employee’s first day of absence from work or, if this is not practicable, as soon as reasonably practicable.
2. Tier 2: Written notice must be given:
   1. Single week of leave: 15 days before the first day of NCL.
   2. Multiple weeks of leave: 28 days before the first day of NCL.

An employer and employee can mutually agree to vary the notice requirements. Employer flexibility is encouraged due to the sensitive nature of the leave.

Neonatal Pay

Employees may also benefit from up to 12 weeks’ neonatal pay if:

1. they have continuous employment of at least 26 weeks; and
2. are earning more than the lower earnings limit (currently £123 per week for 2024-2025).

The rate of pay is the same rate of pay as other statutory rates for family leave. Currently, this is £184.03 a week but will increase to £187.18 a week in April 2025 when the regulations will take effect.

Redundancy

Regulation 4 of the Misc Regulations includes provisions requiring alternative employment to be offered in the event of a redundancy while the employee is on neonatal leave or in the additional protected period, if there is suitable alternative employment available. This reflects the current provisions providing priority in respect of redeployment to employees on maternity, adoption and shared parental leave, as well as pregnant employees.

The additional protected period:

• begins with the day after the employee has taken six consecutive weeks of neonatal care leave;
• continues during any period of continuous employment that includes the neonatal care leave referred to (a); and
• ends immediately before the relevant day which is the day after a period of 18 months beginning with the day on which the child was born/placed for adoption.

Practical Considerations

Schools and trusts should remain aware of the following considerations in preparation for the introduction of NCL on 6 April 2025:

1. Given the timing limitations around maternity leave, and that NCL can be taken before the end of the 68 weeks from the date of the baby’s birth, it is likely that employees who qualify for NCL will take NCL after their other parental leave entitlements have been exhausted. While the aim of the leave is to extend the total leave period available, some employees may choose to end their maternity leave early, such as when their occupational or statutory maternity pay ends, and transition to NCL with statutory (or occupational if available) neonatal care pay for 12 weeks. This could result in nearly a full year of paid leave, albeit at statutory pay rates where employers do not provide enhanced occupational benefits beyond the statutory minimum.
2. In terms of treatment of employees taking neonatal leave, as with other statutory leave entitlements, employers cannot penalise any employee for taking NCL once it is brought into force. Dismissal of an employee for a reason connected with their taking of the leave will be automatically unfair.
3. Schools may wish to consider whether they will provide enhanced entitlements beyond the statutory minimum, both in respect of the amount of leave and the level of pay.
4. Schools will need to introduce a clear policy and training to line managers on neonatal care leave and pay, ahead of 6 April 2025.
5. The usual data protection and confidentiality requirements will apply to the details of the baby’s medical conditions particularly as medical information constitutes special category data. Care will also need to be taken in discussing with the employee what they would prefer to be said to colleagues about the reason for their absence.
6. Schools and trusts are reminded of their duty of care to employees. It is important that staff whose baby requires neonatal care or admission to hospital feel supported during what can be one of the most difficult times that they may go through as parents. As such staff should be directed to sources of support such as your Employee Assistance Programme, their trade union or any other workplace initiatives relating to employee health and wellbeing

If you require further advice or assistance including with preparing a neonatal care leave and pay policy, updating your existing parental or family leave policies or with any other schools HR or employment law matter, please contact the Schools HR team on schoolshr@wslaw.co.uk or 0345 026 8690.