Neonatal care leave and pay: further regulations published ahead of April 2025 rollout
The introduction of statutory neonatal care leave and pay is moving forward, with additional regulations made on 24 February 2025 to clarify key aspects of the new right.
These follow the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023, which established a statutory entitlement to paid neonatal care leave for eligible employees.
New regulations
The newly made Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (Administration) Regulations 2025 set out how employers will fund and administer statutory neonatal care pay (SNCP). Employers will be reimbursed for payments made to employees through deductions from income tax, National Insurance contributions, and other payments. Small employers may qualify for full reimbursement, while others will receive 92% of the SNCP paid. Employers will also have record-keeping obligations and must inform employees if their SNCP entitlement is refused or ceases.
The Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (Persons Abroad and Mariners) Regulations 2025 ensure that individuals working abroad, as mariners, or on the continental shelf remain entitled to SNCP, despite the complexities of their employment status. Meanwhile, the Statutory Neonatal Care Leave and Pay (Consequential Amendments to Subordinate Legislation) Regulations 2025 make necessary changes to existing secondary legislation, such as the statutory sick pay and statutory maternity pay regulations.
These regulations will come into force on 6 April 2025, and the final versions of two key draft regulations detailing the operation of neonatal care leave are still awaited. The government has indicated that guidance for employers and employees will be published, which will provide further clarity on how the new entitlement should be implemented.
Policy development
We are in the process of developing a template neonatal leave policy to support employers in managing requests for this new right. However, we are waiting for the government’s guidance before finalising the policy. For a more detailed explanation of the entitlement, please see our previous article on neonatal care leave and pay.