Description
From 6 April 2025, there will be a new legal right to time off work for employees to care for a child of theirs that requires neonatal care (Neonatal Care Leave (NCL)).
There are some complexities around its operation, but in principle it permits parents, whose child has received medical care starting within 28 days of birth/adoption and that continues for at least seven consecutive days, to be able to take time off. For those with at least 26 weeks continuous employment at the key date (which for natural parents would be 15 weeks before expected week of the birth) and who pay National Insurance on their pay, there is a statutory entitlement to pay. In essence, if the employee qualifies for statutory maternity pay , statutory paternity pay , statutory adoption pay or statutory shared parental pay, they would be eligible.
NCL cannot be taken until after the child has received seven consecutive days of neonatal care and it can be taken at any time up to 68 weeks from the date of birth/adoption. There is a maximum entitlement of 12 weeks per child.
