Delivering on neonatal leave for working parents

A new right to neonatal leave comes into force in April 2025. Labour Research looks at how working people could benefit.

From 6 April 2025, parents of babies who are born on or after that date and admitted into neonatal care — the specialised medical attention for premature babies or babies born with low birth weight — may be able to take additional leave to be with them.

If they meet the qualifying conditions, both parents will be allowed up to 12 weeks of paid leave on top of other parental leave entitlement such as maternity or paternity leave. 

Neonatal care leave (NCL) will be available to employees from day one of employment but will not extend to those classed as “workers”. It will apply when the baby is admitted into hospital for medical or palliative care during their first 28 days for a continuous stay of seven full days or more. The leave and pay will be in addition to any other leave the employee may be entitled to, such as maternity and paternity leave. 

The new law is the result of campaigning by charity Bliss, along with 30 other charities and organisations including trade unions Unite and UNISON, to fill a gap in an inflexible parental leave system. 

Under the current law, employees on maternity leave often end up going back to work just a few months after their baby is allowed home and before they feel ready, while fathers or other non-birthing parents are unable to take leave to spend time with the baby while they are in hospital.

It has been several years in the making. While the campaign did result in the Conservatives including a proposal for neonatal leave in their 2019 manifesto, the legislation did not materialise, and Bliss took its campaign to backbench MPs for support. 

The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill was introduced as a Private Member’s Bill by SNP MP Stuart McDonald in 2022. It received Royal Assent on 24 May 2023 to become the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023.

The Act added new sections 80EF to 80EI to the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 96) entitling employees to NCL. But it did not come into force immediately and required regulations to be passed to specify who is entitled to the leave, how much they can take and when it can be taken. 

Those regulations are now here: the Neonatal Care Leave and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2025 take effect on 6 April 2025 and provide the detail on who qualifies for the leave and how it works. 

Qualifying requirements

The key qualifying requirements are that:

• the employee must be the baby’s parent, their intended parent, or the partner of the baby’s mother or main adopter (in which case they must expect to have responsibility for the child’s care);
• the leave must be to care for the baby, except in the sad circumstances where the baby dies, in which case the employee can still take the leave;
• the maximum amount of leave is 12 weeks, and it must be taken by the end of 68 weeks after the birth or placement (or entry into Great Britain in the case of overseas adoption); and
• parents qualify for one week of leave for each full week that the baby receives neonatal care.

There is a distinction between leave that is taken at the time the baby is receiving the care and leave that is taken at a later date. 

The first type of leave is referred to “tier 1” leave and can be taken in blocks of one week and does not need to be continuous. 

The second, “tier 2”, must be taken in one go. This differentiation is to allow for neonatal leave to be added to the end of a period of another type of parental leave but also allow it to be taken separately where that is not the case. For example, an employee who is already on maternity leave when they give birth prematurely can simply add their neonatal care leave to the end of their maternity leave period. 

Employees must give their employer notice of their intention to take leave, although this can be waived if their employer agrees. 

The notice must include the date the baby was born/placed/entered Great Britain, the date of the neonatal care and the dates they want to take the neonatal leave. 

Neonatal Care Pay

To qualify for Statutory Neonatal Care Pay, the employee must have been employed for at least 26 weeks and earning an average of at least £123 per week. 

These requirements are the same as those for receiving Statutory Maternity Pay, and the rate of statutory pay for each is the same. 

In common with other rights under the ERA 96, the right to NCL comes with provisions to protect employees’ terms and conditions when they enforce the right, and to prevent employers treating them adversely for doing so. 

The new leave is expected to benefit around 60,000 parents a year and, while welcome, campaigners don’t believe it goes far enough — Bliss continues to campaign for the right to be extended to “workers” and to self-employed parents.

In the meantime, Labour has promised a review of all parental leave within its first year of government, and this cannot come too soon.