Neonatal Care Leave

Qualifying care starts the entitlement

Neonatal Care Leave applies in Great Britain when a baby is born on or after 6 April 2025, qualifying care starts within 28 days of birth and the care lasts for at least seven full continuous days. Eligible employees with a caring responsibility have the leave as a day-one right.

Qualifying care includes hospital care, specified consultant-led care after discharge with hospital-arranged monitoring, and palliative or end-of-life care. It does not cover every medical appointment. The employer guide explains the care and relationship tests.

Count one week for every seven days of care

The employee earns one week of leave for every complete seven-day period of qualifying care, up to 12 weeks. The leave is additional to maternity, paternity or adoption leave and must be used within 68 weeks of birth. Someone already on maternity or adoption leave takes Neonatal Care Leave afterwards.

Statutory Neonatal Care Pay has separate continuity and earnings conditions. Do not treat day-one leave entitlement as proof of pay entitlement. Use the current employer guidance rather than adding an old rate to a policy.

Match notice to Tier 1 or Tier 2

Tier 1 covers leave taken while the baby is receiving care and during the following week. It allows short notice and non-consecutive weeks. Tier 2 covers later leave, which requires advance written notice and is normally taken consecutively.

Record the birth, placement or overseas-adoption date, care start and end dates, complete weeks, relationship and any separate pay declaration. Avoid collecting medical detail you do not need. The claim guidance sets out each tier's notice and required information.

Northern Ireland's proposed Employment Rights Bill includes similar rights, but the latest Assembly answer says the draft Bill was still awaiting Executive agreement in August 2026. Neither right is currently in force there, and no commencement date is set.