Picture this…
It’s 7 April 2025. Your employee calls to tell you that his baby was born prematurely and will be receiving medical treatment for the next two weeks. He needs time off to take care of his baby and asks what he can do.
You know about paternity leave, shared parental leave and compassionate leave but the employee has heard he is also entitled to statutory neonatal leave and pay. He asks questions, stressed about the wellbeing of his baby, but you don’t know how to answer.
You don’t have a compliant neonatal policy, your staff haven’t been trained on the new rights for parents and your payroll system hasn’t been updated to calculate and make the statutory payments.
It has now been confirmed that statutory neonatal care leave (“NCL”) and pay (“NCP”) will come into effect from 6 April 2025. Don’t get caught out!
The changes include:
NCL:
- Day one right for employees
- Applies if a child is born on or after 6 April 2025
- The child must receive seven continuous days of neonatal care within 28 days of birth
- Subject to notice requirements, which can be waived by employers
- Leave must be taken in blocks of one week for every uninterrupted week of neonatal care, up to a maximum of 12 weeks
- Must be taken within 68 weeks of the child’s birth
- Same employment protections as other statutory family leave, including right to return to the same job and protection from detriment or dismissal because of taking NCL
NCP:
- Applies if a child is born on or after 6 April 2025
- Employees must have 26 weeks of continuous employment with that employer, ending with the ‘relevant week’
- Pay is according to the statutory prescribed rate (£187.18 from April 2025) or 90% of earnings if lower (same as statutory paternity or shared parental leave)
- Employers can recoup 92% SNP or 100% if they qualify for small employers’ relief
