Neonatal Care Leave Introduces Day One Right

From Sunday 6th April 2025, families with children in Neonatal Care will be entitled to additional time off as a day-one right. Also, families will receive extra pay subject to the baby being admitted to neonatal care within the first 28 days after birth and require a hospital stay of seven full days or longer.

Neonatal Care Rights Currently:

Neonatal care is a type of specialised care newborn babies that are sick or born prematurely require from healthcare professionals in a hospital. At present, thousands of working parents that need neonatal care must rely on statutory leave or compassionate leave at the discretion of their employer, because extra time off or pay is not currently available.

New entitlements:

With the newly introduced rights, both parents can gain access to up to 12 weeks’ extra leave, which is obligatory to take during the first 68 weeks of the baby’s birth. This is additional to other leave they are already permitted to have, including maternity/paternity leave and shared parental leave, as part of the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023.

Employment rights minister Justin Madders said parents of children in neonatal care “have more than enough to worry about, without being concerned about how much annual leave they have left or whether they’ll be able to make ends meet”.

He continued to state that the Neonatal Care Act would provide clear and reliable protections, for both parents and employers which will allow parents to focus on the “one thing that matters most – their newborn baby”.

Expert HR Solutions:

Expert HR Solutions are warning businesses that are already facing significant financial difficulties as a result of the upcoming increase in national insurance payments and the national minimum wage. Chris from Expert HR Solutions says they are working to “add a Neonatal care policy to our standard employee handbook and make it available to interested employers that do not subscribe to our retained services”.

For more information call 01202 611033.