Neonatal care leave and pay to be in force from 6 April 2025

At a glance

• The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 will come into effect on 6 April 2025.
• Parents of babies admitted to neonatal care within 28 days of birth and staying for seven or more days can take up to 12 weeks of leave (and pay, if eligible).
• The leave applies to children born on or after 6 April 2025 and must be taken within 68 weeks of birth.
• Neonatal Care Leave is a day one right, but statutory pay requires 26 weeks' service and notice to the employer.
• The regulations provide a framework for how this leave interacts with other statutory leave, and extend protections against redundancy, detriment, and dismissal.

The government has laid regulations before Parliament to bring into force the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 with effect from 6 April 2025, nearly two years after the legislation received Royal Assent.

Neonatal Care Leave will apply to parents of babies who are admitted into neonatal care up to 28 days old and who have a continuous stay in hospital of seven full days or longer. These measures will allow eligible parents to take up to 12 weeks of leave (and, if eligible, pay) on top of any other leave they may be entitled to, including maternity and paternity leave. Neonatal Care Leave will apply in respect of children who are born on or after 6th April 2025. The entitlement does not increase in the event of multiple births.

The right to Neonatal Care Leave will be a day one right, but employees will only be entitled to statutory neonatal care pay (at the same rate as statutory paternity pay) if they have 26 weeks’ service and give notice to their employer.

The leave must be taken before the end of 68 weeks beginning with the date of the child’s birth.

The Neonatal Care Leave and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2025 set out a detailed framework governing how Neonatal Care Leave will interact with other forms of statutory leave, extending protection against redundancy for employees taking Neonatal Care Leave, and providing for protection against detriment and dismissal and notice requirements.