What is neonatal care leave and pay?
Neonatal care leave lets eligible parents take up to 12 weeks off, from their first day of employment, when a baby born on or after 6 April 2025 enters neonatal care within 28 days of birth and stays for at least 7 consecutive days. Statutory Neonatal Care Pay needs 26 weeks' service.
How the leave works
Parents employed in England, Scotland or Wales get one week of leave for every 7 consecutive full days the baby spends in neonatal care, up to 12 weeks. All leave must be taken within 68 weeks of the birth, and after any maternity or adoption leave.
While the baby is in neonatal care, or in the first week after, leave can be taken in blocks of at least a week, and notice can be given by phone, voicemail or text as soon as possible. Later leave must be one continuous block, with 15 days' notice for one week or 28 days' notice for 2 or more weeks.
Statutory Neonatal Care Pay
From 6 April 2026, the rate is £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. Employees need 26 weeks' continuous employment up to the end of the qualifying week and average earnings of at least £129 a week. Employers can reclaim part of the payments from HMRC.
Employer obligations
- Protect terms and conditions, including pay rises and holiday, during the leave.
- Tell an employee within 28 days if they are not eligible for pay, for example using form NEO1.
- Keep pay records for 3 years from the end of the tax year they relate to.
The law
“the neonatal care continues without interruption for a period of at least seven days…”
“before the end of a period of at least 68 weeks beginning with the date of the child's birth…”
Sources
- Statutory Neonatal Care Pay and Leave: employer guide · GOV.UK
- Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 · GOV.UK
- What the law says - Neonatal care leave and pay · Acas
General information for employers in Great Britain, not legal advice. Check the official sources for your situation.
- Neonatal care leave and pay available for babies born on or after this date
Future dates are expected dates and depend on Parliament.
What employers can do
- Publish a neonatal care leave policy alongside other family leave policies.
- Let managers accept short notice by phone or text while a baby is in neonatal care.
- Check each employee's service and earnings for Statutory Neonatal Care Pay.
- Plan how neonatal care leave fits with maternity, paternity or shared parental leave.
- Keep the employee declaration and pay records for HMRC.
Related answers
- What paternity and unpaid parental leave are employees entitled to? Since 6 April 2026, eligible employees can take up to 2 weeks' paternity leave and up to 18 weeks' unpaid parental leave per child from their first day of employment. Statutory Paternity Pay is £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, and still needs 26 weeks' service.
- What protection do pregnant employees and new mothers have? Pregnant employees are protected from unfavourable treatment because of pregnancy, pregnancy-related illness or maternity leave, and dismissal for those reasons is automatically unfair. They have paid time off for antenatal care, a right to an individual risk assessment and priority for suitable alternative vacancies in a redundancy. Enhanced dismissal protections are expected from October 2027.