Impact assessment

New Entitlement to Statutory Neonatal Care Pay: screening equality impact assessment

Published 10 June 2025

Project objectives

In 2019 the 바카라 사이트 consulted (and then committed in their manifesto) on a proposal to introduce a new Statutory entitlement to Neonatal Care Leave and Pay (SNCL) to allow employed parents to take time off work in circumstances where their baby is admitted into neonatal care.

This entitlement, which was implemented on 6 April 2025, is in addition to other existing entitlements which the parent may be eligible for (maternity, paternity, adoption leave and pay).

This leave and pay is subject to meeting a minimum 바카라 사이트˜qualifying stay바카라 사이트™ in neonatal care which is at least 7 full days in length and continuous. Qualifying parents will receive a week of leave and pay, if eligible, for each week that their baby spent in neonatal care 바카라 사이트” capped at 12 weeks. These provisions only apply in Great Britain.  

The policy objective is to support parents of babies in neonatal care to look after their baby whilst retaining a connection to the labour market and is likely to set a foundation for an easier and more sustainable return to work. This is important because this group of parents are vulnerable to falling out of the labour market. The Department for Business and Trade currently receives the existing shared data on statutory payments via email from HMRC and this will form a new requirement of shared data from HMRC to The Department for Business and Trade. 

Please note that this screening Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) is only related to the operational delivery of the measure

Customer groups affected

The affected Groups are:

• employers
• payroll software providers
• charities

What customers will need to do

What customers need to do as a result of the change

Employees:

• can claim Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (SNCP) through their employer who will work with them on entitlement and payment
• can submit a dispute to HMRC if their employer believes they are not entitled to SNCP but they believe they are
• employees may contact HMRC for general queries about entitlement

Employers:

• can advise HMRC when an employee is claiming SNCP though Real-time Information (RTI)
• can request money back from HMRC through RTI
• can make an online request or in writing for advance payment when they are a small business or have a small turnover
• employers may contact HMRC to discuss entitlement and pay submissions

Payroll software provider:

• update their software to allow SNCP to be claimed though RTI 

How customers will access this service

Employees:

• via their employer for initiating payment
• in writing or telephone to HMRC

Employers:

• SNCP submissions/repayments are though HMRC바카라 사이트™s RTI system
• can make an online request for advance payment when they are a small employer via a form
• in writing or telephone to HMRC

Payroll software provider: 

Liaise with HMRC Digital Teams to test and deploy their software changes. HMRC are only responsible for adding data necessary items to an existing Application Programming Interface (API) and not the functionality of the third party software. 

When customers need to do this

The Statutory payment for both employers and employees is only available from 6 April 2025. They can make a request at any time from that date through their employer.

Assessing the impact

We assessed the equality impacts on all the protected characteristic groups in line with the Equality Act and Public Sector Equality Duty; and Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act:

• sex
• gender reassignment
• sexual orientation
• age
• religion or belief
• political opinion (for Northern Ireland only)

There is no evidence to suggest any specific impacts on those customers within any of the protected characteristic groups (listed above). Extra support will be provided as required.

For employers who are exempt from online payroll reporting due to being unable to use a digital channel, written guidance will be provided as well as extra support services as required. These employers may be unable to use digital channels due to a disability, their age or their religion or belief. It should be noted that only the guidance for paper return filers has been impacted and an existing paper form.

The below characteristic groups may be impacted:

Race

The SNCP population will be made up of diverse racial groups. The payment is applicable to both males and females irrespective of age, religion, marital status or first language 바카라 사이트” there is no evidence to suggest any specific impacts on those customers within this protected characteristic group.

Disability

The only part of this process where the customer directly contacts HMRC is if they dispute non-payment of SNCP. This can be done by telephone, in writing or via HMRC digital services.

Extra Support Team are also available for customers with additional needs.

Pregnancy and Maternity

A positive impact, the Statutory Neonatal Care Pay directly affects this protected characteristic group if they have a child that is born and subsequently requires neonatal care.

Marriage and Civil Partnership

Statutory Neonatal Care Pay can be claimed by both parents of the child in neonatal care, irrespective of marital status.

People who use different languages (including British Sign Language or where English is a second language)

For those customers whose first language is not English, alternative arrangements can be made for friends or family to interpret or speak on their behalf.

HMRC is working with groups such as the Royal Association for Deaf people (RAD) to co-develop support material for people who do not use English as a first language (for example, British Sign Language) to explain how to communicate with HMRC using digital services.

Welsh language

Guidance on 바카라 사이트 will be available in Welsh and English. Employer/Employee forms will be available in both English and Welsh from 바카라 사이트. They can also be requested in alternative formats for accessibility if necessary.

Opportunities to promote Equalities

We have considered opportunities to promote equalities and good relations between people in each of the protected characteristic groups and those outside of that group.

None have been identified.

A Full Equality Impact Assessment is not recommended.