Neonatal Care Pay and Leave

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1. Overview

You and your partner may be able to get paid time off work if your newborn baby is premature or sick and needs neonatal care.

바카라 사이트˜Neonatal care바카라 사이트™ is the name given to care for newborn babies which starts in the first 28 days after birth. This may be for:

• hospital care
• medical care after leaving hospital - this must be under a consultant and include ongoing visits or checks arranged by the hospital where your baby was treated
• palliative or end of life care

You may be able to get:

• Neonatal Care Leave
• Statutory Neonatal Care Pay

You can get one week바카라 사이트™s leave for every 7 full and continuous days your baby is in neonatal care, for up to 12 weeks.

You get Neonatal Care Pay and Leave in addition to other parental pay and leave entitlements. If you바카라 사이트™re already on maternity leave or adoption leave, Neonatal Care Leave must be taken at the end of that entitlement.

There are rules about when you can take your leave and how to claim.

Employment rights when on leave

Your employment rights are protected while on Neonatal Care Leave. This includes your right to:

• pay rises
• build up (바카라 사이트˜accrue바카라 사이트™) holiday
• return to work

2. What you can get

You may be entitled to Neonatal Care Leave, Statutory Neonatal Care Pay, or both.

You can get one week바카라 사이트™s leave for every 7 full and continuous days your baby is in neonatal care.

Neonatal Care Leave

You can get up to 12 weeks바카라 사이트™ Neonatal Care Leave if you바카라 사이트™re classed as an employee. It does not matter how long you바카라 사이트™ve been with your employer.

You must take the leave within 68 weeks (just under 16 months) of your baby바카라 사이트™s birth date.

The notice period you must give your employer will depend on whether you바카라 사이트™re taking leave:

• while your baby is in neonatal care, or up to a week after leaving (this is sometimes called 바카라 사이트˜tier 1바카라 사이트™)
• more than a week after your baby has left neonatal care (this is sometimes called 바카라 사이트˜tier 2바카라 사이트™)

How you take the leave

While your baby is in neonatal care, or up to a week after leaving, you can take leave in separate blocks of at least one week at a time.

After this, you must take leave in a single continuous block.

If you바카라 사이트™re already taking maternity or adoption leave

If your baby enters neonatal care while you바카라 사이트™re on Statutory Maternity Leave or Statutory Adoption Leave, you must take your Neonatal Care Leave after your maternity or adoption leave is finished.

Example

Your newborn baby gets sick and has to stay in neonatal care for 56 days. You바카라 사이트™re already taking Statutory Maternity Leave.

Instead of losing 56 days (8 weeks) of leave, you add the Neonatal Care Leave to the end of your 39 weeks of maternity leave.

If you바카라 사이트™re taking Shared Parental Leave or Statutory Paternity Leave

You can take Neonatal Care Pay and Leave either:

• before you start Statutory Paternity Leave or Shared Parental Leave
• between blocks of Shared Parental Leave that you booked before your baby started neonatal care (this includes if the Shared Parental Leave is for another child) 

If you바카라 사이트™re using your leave and pay at least one week after your baby leaves neonatal care, you must take all of it in a single block. You can do this before or after your Shared Parental Leave or Statutory Paternity Leave.

Statutory Neonatal Care Pay

If you claim Neonatal Care Leave, you may also be able to claim Statutory Neonatal Care Pay if you바카라 사이트™re eligible.

You바카라 사이트™ll get either £187.18 a week or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower).

Any money you get is paid the same way as your wages, for example weekly or monthly, along with deductions for tax and National Insurance.

If you have more than one baby in neonatal care

If your babies are in neonatal care at the same time (for example, if you have twins), you can only claim Neonatal Care Pay and Leave for one of them, up to a maximum of 12 weeks.

If your babies are in neonatal care at separate times, you바카라 사이트™ll be able to claim for each of them - up to a maximum of 12 weeks in total.

3. Check if you're eligible

You may be able to get up to 12 weeks바카라 사이트™ Neonatal Care Pay and Leave if:

• your baby was born on or after 6 April 2025
• your baby spends 7 days or more in a row in neonatal care
• you바카라 사이트™re the baby바카라 사이트™s parent or partner of the baby바카라 사이트™s mother, and have caring responsibility for the baby
• you바카라 사이트™re taking the leave to care for the baby

You must also meet the eligibility criteria as an employee.

If you or your partner are an adoptive parent

You may be eligible if either:

• the baby has been placed with you
• you have the 바카라 사이트˜official notification바카라 사이트™ confirming you바카라 사이트™re allowed to adopt (if you바카라 사이트™re adopting a baby from overseas)

If you or your partner had a baby with the help of a surrogate parent

You may be eligible if:

• you바카라 사이트™re the intended parent and will be responsible for their care
• you바카라 사이트™ll have a parental order within 6 months of the baby바카라 사이트™s birth date

Neonatal Care Leave

To get Neonatal Care Leave, you must:

• be classed as an employee - it does not matter how long you바카라 사이트™ve worked for your employer
• be employed in England, Scotland or Wales
• give your employer notice for Neonatal Care Leave

Statutory Neonatal Care Pay

To get Statutory Neonatal Care Pay, you must have been continuously employed by your employer for at least 26 weeks up to the end of what바카라 사이트™s called the 바카라 사이트˜qualifying week바카라 사이트™.

If you get Maternity or Paternity Pay, the 바카라 사이트˜qualifying week바카라 사이트™ is the 15th week before the baby is due. If you get Statutory Adoption Pay, it바카라 사이트™s the week you were told you바카라 사이트™d been matched with the baby for adoption.

Otherwise, the 바카라 사이트˜qualifying week바카라 사이트™ is the week immediately before the baby enters neonatal care. 

You must also:

• continue to be employed up to the week before you want the pay to start
• earn on average £125 a week (before tax) or more, over an 8-week period

4. How to claim

You claim Neonatal Care Pay and Leave through your employer. You must take it within 68 weeks (just under 16 months) of your baby바카라 사이트™s birth date, including if your baby is adopted.

You must give your employer notice before you take Neonatal Care Pay and Leave.

How much notice you must give depends on when you바카라 사이트™re taking the leave and pay.

If you바카라 사이트™re taking leave and pay while your baby is in neonatal care (or in the first week after)

This is sometimes called 바카라 사이트˜tier 1바카라 사이트™ leave.

You need to tell your employer on the day you want your leave to start, ideally before the time you usually start work or as soon as you can afterwards. You can give notice by phone, voicemail or text message - it does not need to be in writing.

If you need to continue leave and pay for another week, you바카라 사이트™ll need to let your employer know again. You should do this by the end of the previous week.

If your baby is likely to be in neonatal care for a long time, your employer may agree that you can contact them less frequently.

You need to tell your employer the date your baby leaves neonatal care as soon as possible.

You can give notice to your employer for pay up to 28 days after your leave starts. You must give notice in writing - for example, an email or letter.

If you바카라 사이트™re taking leave and pay more than a week after your baby has left neonatal care

This is sometimes called 바카라 사이트˜tier 2바카라 사이트™ leave.

If you바카라 사이트™re taking one week of leave and pay, you바카라 사이트™ll need to tell your employer 15 days before you want your leave and pay to start. If you바카라 사이트™re taking 2 or more weeks바카라 사이트™ leave and pay, you바카라 사이트™ll need to tell them 28 days in advance.

You must give notice in writing - for example, an email or letter.

What you need to tell your employer

To claim neonatal care leave, you need to tell your employer:

• your full name
• your baby바카라 사이트™s date of birth and, if adopted, the date they were placed with you (or the date they entered into Great Britain if adopted from overseas)
• the start and end date of your baby바카라 사이트™s neonatal care
• when you want your Neonatal Care Leave to begin
• how many weeks바카라 사이트™ leave you want to take

For pay and leave, you바카라 사이트™ll also need to confirm:

• you바카라 사이트™ll care for the baby during the period you바카라 사이트™re claiming for
• you바카라 사이트™re the baby바카라 사이트™s parent or mother바카라 사이트™s partner with caring responsibilities for the baby - you바카라 사이트™ll only need to give this information the first time you claim leave and pay

If you have more than one baby in neonatal care

You바카라 사이트™ll need to provide your employer with information for each baby.

If you disagree with a decision on Neonatal Care Pay

Contact your employer if you disagree with a decision on your claim for Statutory Neonatal Care Pay, for example because you think they:

• are paying you the wrong amount  
• have wrongly decided not to pay you statutory pay

If you cannot reach an agreement, you can contact the Statutory Payments Dispute Team. You must do this within 6 months of the date of the decision.

5. Cancelling your leave or pay

You may be able to cancel your Neonatal Care Leave or Statutory Neonatal Care Pay depending on when your leave is due to start.

You can rebook your leave and pay if you give your employer the correct notice.

You cannot cancel your leave or pay if it was due to start while your baby was still receiving neonatal care (or in the first week after).

If your leave or pay is due to start more than a week after your baby has left neonatal care

To cancel your Neonatal Care Leave or Statutory Neonatal Care Pay, you바카라 사이트™ll need to give written notice to your employer. When you need to tell them depends on when your leave or pay is due to start.

If you바카라 사이트™re taking:

• one week바카라 사이트™s leave - you must let your employer know you want to cancel at least 15 days before the start of the planned leave
• 2 or more weeks바카라 사이트™ leave - you must let your employer know you want to cancel at least 28 days before the start of the planned leave