Key takeaways

Subject to Parliamentary approval, the new rights to NCL and NCP will be as follows:

• NCL will be a day one right for employees whose baby is born on or after 6 April 2025, and requires neonatal care of at least seven days in hospital, within 28 days of birth.
• NCL will be up to a maximum of 12 weeks’ leave dependent on how long the baby requires neonatal care and will be in addition to the employee’s other statutory family leave rights e.g. statutory maternity, adoption or paternity leave.
• Eligibility for NCP will be the same as for other statutory family leave pay entitlements – requiring 26 weeks’ continuous service and earnings over the Lower Earnings Limit.

Employers should be prepared to update their policies and internal processes, and deliver staff training on the new rights.

In more detail

Who is eligible?

• At the date of birth, the employee must be the baby’s parent/adopter, intended parent (surrogacy), or partner of the baby’s mother/adopter.
• The employee must have or expect to have responsibility for raising the child and be taking the NCL to care for the child.

Meaning of neonatal care

• Neonatal care is defined as:
  • Medical care received in a hospital
  • Medical care received elsewhere following a hospital stay, which is under the direction of a consultant, and the care includes ongoing monitoring arranged by the hospital’s healthcare professionals, or
  • Palliative or end of life care
• The baby must require neonatal care for a continuous period of at least seven days, which must have commenced within 28 days of the child’s birth.

How to take NCL?

• An employee can take one week of NCL in respect of each full week the baby receives continuous neonatal care, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. The week begins on the day after the neonatal care started. Employees will not therefore be able to take NCL during the first week of neonatal care although they can take (and will likely be taking) other statutory family leave during that time e.g., statutory maternity, adoption and paternity leave.
• NCL can be taken at any time up to 68 weeks from the child’s birth.
• NCL is distinguished between Tier 1 and Tier 2 periods.

Tier 1 period:

• This is the period from the start of the baby’s neonatal care until seven days after it stops.
• NCL during a Tier 1 period can be taken in separate blocks of a minimum of one week at a time.
• Notice for NCL in a Tier 1 period must be given before the first day the employee is due to start work in that week or where that’s not possible, as soon as reasonably practicable.

Tier 2 period:

• This is any period other than Tier 1 during which the employee is entitled to take NCL.
• NCL during a Tier 2 period must be taken in one continuous block.
• Notice for NCL during a Tier 2 period must be given:
  • For a single week of NCL: at least 15 days’ notice.
  • For two or more consecutive weeks’ of NCL: at least 28 days’ notice.

• Notice does not need to be in writing, and the employer and employee can agree to waive the statutory notice requirements.

Employee protections

• As with other statutory family leave entitlements, employees taking NCL will be entitled to the benefit of all their terms and conditions of employment during NCL, except for pay.
• If a redundancy situation arises while an employee is on NCL or during the additional protected period, the employee will have the right to be prioritized for any suitable alternative vacancy. The additional protected period covers those employees who have taken six continuous weeks’ of NCL from the day after that period of NCL ends to when the child reaches 18 months old. However, the redundancy protection rights will not apply where the employee has those rights under their statutory maternity, adoption or paternity leave entitlements. 
• An employee taking NCL will have similar rights to return to the role in which they were employed as those returning from other statutory family leave entitlements. An employee who took an isolated period of NCL will always be entitled to return to the job in which they were employed.
• An employee who took or sought to take NCL will be protected from detriment by the employer, and any dismissal that is connected to taking NCL will be deemed automatically unfair.

Other provisions

• Where the employee is entitled to NCL under the statutory regime as well as their contractual rights, the employee cannot exercise those rights separately but can choose to exercise the more favourable rights.
• There are special provisions dealing with the situation where the employee has more than one child in receipt of neonatal care at the same time, and also the sad circumstances where the child dies or is returned after having been placed for adoption.

NCP

• Employees will qualify for NCP if they are eligible for NCL and meet the same requirements as for other statutory family leave pay requirements – having at least 26 weeks’ continuous service and earnings over the lower earnings limit, currently GBP 123 per week.
• The rate of NCP will be the same as for other statutory family leave payments (GBP 187.18 per week from 6 April 2025).