The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill, which has just completed its second reading at the House of Lords, will introduce a new type of paid leave for employees with responsibility for children receiving neonatal care in hospitals or other settings. The bill, which is backed by the Government, is likely to become law in the next few months and, in preparation, employers should be ready to update their policies and contracts of employment.
What is the Neonatal Care Leave (NCL)?
An estimated 100,000 babies every year are admitted to neonatal care in the UK. Many of those will spend prolonged periods on a neonatal care unit whether due to prematurity or other health conditions. Currently parents rely on their statutory leave entitlements to spend time with their babies in neonatal care, which means a large proportion of their maternity/shared parental/adoption leave may be used while the baby is still in hospital.
The purpose of the Bill is to provide employees whose baby requires neonatal treatment with additional leave. Once introduced, NCL will give employees up to 12 weeks' extra leave to be taken within a period of at least 68 weeks (approximately 16 months) starting from the date of the child's birth.
Parents taking NCL will have the same employment protection as those on other forms of family-related leave, including protection against dismissal or detriment as a result of having taken leave. Employers will not be able to contract out of NCL.
Who will benefit from it?
NCL will be a day-1 right for all employees with parental or other personal relationship with a child who is receiving, or has received, neonatal care and who is admitted to hospital up to the age of 28 days, provided neonatal care continues without interruption for a period of 7 days or more.
This captures fathers and partners as well as mothers and adoptive parents.
Neonatal Care Pay (NCP)
Employees who have been continuously employed for at least 26 weeks and whose earnings are not less than the Lower Earnings Limit (currently £6,396 per year) will be eligible for NCP, provided that they meet the other required conditions for NCL.
NCP will be paid at the statutory rate of £156.66 (increasing to £172.48 from 6 April 2023) or 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is the lower.
The duration of NCP is expected to be no less than 12 weeks. In line with other entitlements to paid statutory leave, the Bill allows provision to be made for employers to reclaim payments from the Government.
What should employers do?
Employers who have already adopted a neonatal care leave policy should ensure that it is updated and in line with the new provisions, once definitively approved. Those who don't yet have such a policy should start drafting it and update their contracts of employment when the new rules come into force.
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