From 6 April 2025, new regulations will be in force providing eligible employees with the right to Statutory Neonatal Care Leave and Pay.
Statutory Neonatal Care Leave (SNCL)
The right to SNCL is a day one right, so eligible employees will be entitled to take this leave from the first day of their employment, in relation to children born on or after the 6 April 2025.
To be eligible to take SNCL, an employee must:
- Be the child’s parent, partner of the child’s mother or be the intended parent (where a surrogacy arrangement is in place) at the date of birth; or
- Be the child’s adopter or prospective adopter (or their partner), which includes overseas adoptions.
The employee must also have or expect to have responsibility for the upbringing of the child, take the SNCL in order to care for the child and comply with notice and declaration requirements.
To be eligible for leave, the neonatal care must commence within 28 days of the birth of the child, and must continue for at least seven days (starting with the day after neonatal care begins).
For the purposes of the new legislation, neonatal care means:
- medical care that a child receives in a hospital;
- medical care that a child receives in any other place providing:
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- the child was previously admitted to a hospital as an inpatient and needs continuing care after leaving the hospital;
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- the care is under the direction of a consultant; and
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- the care involves ongoing monitoring and visits from healthcare professionals arranged by the hospital where the child was an inpatient; or
- palliative or end-of-life care.
Employees will be entitled to take one week of SNCL for every week their child has spent in neonatal care without interruption, up to maximum of 12 weeks. In cases of adoption, an employee’s entitlement to SNCL will begin either after the child has been placed for adoption (for adoptions within the UK) or after the child has entered Great Britain (for adoptions from overseas).
Any leave must be taken within 68 weeks of the child’s birth, but can be added on to another type of statutory family leave (maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave or shared parental leave).
SNCL will be available to take in two tiers, which have different notification requirements:
- Tier 1 will be leave taken during neonatal care; this begins when the child starts receiving neonatal care and ends on the seventh day after the child is stops receiving care. This can be taken in one continuous block, or non-continuous blocks (provided a minimum of one week at a time). Employees will need to give notice for each block of leave they wish to take, before they are due to start work on the first day of absence.
- Tier 2 will be leave after neonatal care ends; this commences once the tier 1 period ends and continues for the duration an employee is entitled to SNCL. Tier 2 leave must be taken in one continuous block. Employees will need to give 15 days’ notice to their employer for a single week of SNCL, and 28 days’ notice for two or more weeks.
Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (SNCP)
Although the right to SNCL will be a day one right, employees must have 26 weeks service and earn above the lower earnings limit to be eligible for SNCP.
SNCP will be paid at the statutory prescribed rate, which will initially be £187.18 from April 2025, or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings (if lower).
The notice requirements for SNCP are again split:
- When requesting Tier 1 leave, employees must give notice within 28 days.
- When requesting Tier 2 leave, employees will need to give 15 days’ notice for a single week of SNCP, and 28 days’ notice for two or more weeks of SNCP.
Employers do have discretion to waive the notification requirements for both SCNL and SCNP by mutual agreement.
Given this legislation has been introduced to support families through extremely challenging times, employers also have discretion to extend time off and pay.
Employers must ensure that their handbooks are updated to reflect the incoming legislation. If you would like to discuss Neonatal Care Leave and Pay policies or if you would like support in navigating these changes effectively, please email enquiries@thrivelaw.co.uk to book a call with one of our team.
Disclaimer
Please note this blog is for reference purposes only and is only accurate at which the date it was published. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Specific Legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking or deciding not to take any actions. Please contact us if you have any questions on enquiries@thrivelaw.co.uk.
