Neonatal Care (and Leave and Pay) Act 2025

Raised under the previous government, the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 is being progressed.

The act is expected to provide parents with a right to up to 12 weeks' leave and pay when their baby requires neonatal care in addition to existing parental leave entitlements.

People professionals and management should note that the right to neonatal care leave is a statutory day one right. However, the right to statutory neonatal care pay will require 26 weeks of continuous service and earnings on average of £123 a week (£125 a week from 6 April 2025).

Many of the provisions of the bill are still being drafted. Early indications state that the statutory right will apply when the child is placed in neonatal care for a week or more, in the first 28 days and up to the first 68 weeks of the child’s life.

Issues such as what happens when weeks of neonatal care are separated, the type of care that falls under the act, and the terms when more than one child is in neonatal care, are still to be addressed.

It is expected that the right will be in place from April 2025 and therefore managers and HR people professionals may wish to start accounting for the matter in advance of this date.

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