The new Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) entitlement will come into effect for both parents of babies born needing neonatal care for seven days or more, on top of other statutory rights such as maternity and paternity leave, if they meet eligibility requirements.
Bliss, the national charity for babies born premature or sick , which led the successful campaign for the legislation, say employees will no longer need to choose between supporting their families’ finances or being with their sick baby in hospital, while employers will benefit from clear guidance and fully focused staff on their return to work.
Caroline Lee-Davey, Bliss Chief Executive, said: “The most supportive employers have always sought to help parents in these circumstances, but without a clear statutory framework they’ve had to rely on measures like sick leave and compassionate leave or other improvised solutions, creating challenges for HR teams to navigate.
“This new entitlement creates a clear and defined statutory provision, recognising that the most important place for both parents to be when their baby is in neonatal care is at their cot side.”
Many prominent UK workplaces have already implemented a neonatal leave policy, recognising the value in supporting employees going through this very difficult experience.
James Goodman, Tesco UK People Director, said: “We were really pleased to introduce paid neonatal leave for the first time in September 2023, ahead of government legislation.
“We see it as an important part of a raft of family-friendly benefits we offer to support colleagues’ wellbeing and to help them to maintain a healthy work-life balance, especially around major life events.”
Nisha Marwaha, Director of Diversity, Equality & Inclusion at Virgin Media O2, said:
“We understand how worrying it can be when a baby is born prematurely or sick and needs to spend additional time in hospital.
“That’s why we’re proud to be one of the first companies in the UK to have introduced paid neonatal leave more than two years ahead of it becoming a legal requirement. This ensures our employees can be away from work with our full support and be there for their family when it counts.”
Kate Thomson, bp’s Chief Financial Officer and executive sponsor of the company’s UK Working Families employee resource group, said: “bp’s UK neonatal care leave policy reflects our commitment to supporting employees during the most challenging times in their lives. By offering up to 12 weeks of neonatal care leave on full pay for all parents, whose newborns require neonatal care, we hope to support our employees to prioritize their families without the stress of financial concerns.
“Since the launch of bp’s neonatal care leave policy in January 2024, I have been moved by the heartfelt stories that bp parents have shared – along with their accounts of how the new policy has helped them and their families. Having a newborn in neonatal care requires strength and resilience from parents, and these babies deserve all the support we can give them.”
Lorren Rea, Head of Employment Policy at University College London (UCL), which introduced its own neonatal leave policy in 2023, said: “UCL’s policy has been welcomed by new parents whose newborn is premature or in a critical condition.
“It is only fair and supportive to give staff extra paid time off when they have endured additional emotional, physical and financial strain on top of becoming new parents. It is great news that this leave will now be a statutory entitlement.”
Elaine Brown, Director of Inclusion at University of Essex where paid neonatal leave was introduced in 2024, said: “As a family-friendly employer we felt that parents should be able to access paid leave whilst their baby was in neonatal care without using their maternity, paternity or shared parental leave and pay. Having a baby in neonatal care can be extremely stressful for parents and we wanted to alleviate the financial and emotional worry at this time.
“We hope to ensure that any employee who has a baby in neonatal care will feel valued and supported by the University. We want to attract and retain the best talent by creating an inclusive culture where employees feel supported to balance their professional and personal lives and to offer extra support when they are facing particular challenges.”
Bliss has developed comprehensive information for parents to help them understand this new entitlement, eligibility rules, and how to claim, which can be found on their website. This will also be useful for HR teams who are implementing this new entitlement and will give them the information they need to ensure that they are supporting employees with a baby in neonatal care in the best way possible.
