Neonatal (Leave and Pay) Bill Backed by Government
A Private Members' Bill was put forward on 15 July 2022. The Government has now announced it is backing the Bill.
The topic of parents spending time off work to be with a baby in neonatal care has been on the Government's agenda for some time. We were expecting it to be included in the long-awaited Employment Bill, which was absent from the Queen's Speech in May 2022.
A Private Members' Bill has now been put forward in order to introduce the right to up to 12 weeks leave for parents whose baby is in neonatal care. Under the Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament, neonatal care leave will be a day one right applying to parents of babies who are admitted into hospital up to the age of 28 days, and who stay in hospital for at least seven days. The right would be in addition to other paid family-related leave rights, such as maternity and paternity leave, and parents taking neonatal care leave would be entitled to statutory neonatal care pay.
We will keep you informed of the progress of the Bill as it makes its way through Parliament.