The new Neonatal Care Leave and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2025, subject to parliamentary approval, set out the rules relating to this new type of statutory leave and pay.

Neonatal Care Leave and Pay will be available for parents of children born on or after 6 April 2025. There is no qualifying service for this leave, however there are special rules relating to eligibility for pay.

To qualify, neonatal care must start before the end of 28 days beginning with the day after the child’s birth.

This includes palliative or end of life care, or medical care received in a hospital or another place where the child was an inpatient in hospital and the care is received upon leaving hospital; and 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.

To be entitled to take the leave, employees must be taking it to care for the child, give notice and be either the child’s parent, intended parent, or the partner of the child’s mother at the date of birth.

In cases of adoption they must be the child’s adopter, prospective adopter, or the partner of either at the date the child is placed, or in the case of an overseas adoption, the date the child enters Great Britain.

Employees can take one week of leave for each ‘qualifying period’ of neonatal care, which is any period of seven days during which the child receives care without interruption. In adoption cases, qualifying periods must be after the date the child is placed.

A maximum of 12 weeks leave and pay is available to be taken before the end of 68 weeks beginning with the child’s date of birth.

There are two tiers of periods of neonatal care leave.

A ‘tier 1 period’ is a period of leave beginning with the day the child starts receiving care, ending with the seventh day after it stops. Leave during this period can be taken non-consecutively, starting the day after the first qualifying period.

A ‘tier 2 period’ means any period of leave which is not a tier 1 period.  Any leave not taken as tier 1 leave can be taken in the tier 2 period but must be taken consecutively.

Notice is needed to take the leave and pay, which must include confirmation that the employee is eligible for the leave, amongst other details. For tier 1 leave, notice must be given before the employee is due to start work on the first day of absence, unless it’s not reasonably practicable to do so.

For tier 2 leave, notice is needed no later than 15 days before the first day of leave to take a single week of leave. For two or more consecutive weeks, notice must be given no later than 28 days before the first day of leave.

Special rules apply to how neonatal leave interacts with other forms of statutory leave and depend on whether the employee is in the tier 1 or 2 period.  

The protections during and after neonatal care leave are the same as for other statutory family related leave types, including protections against redundancy, dismissal, detriment and the right to return to the same or a similar job on no less favourable terms and conditions after the leave.  

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