Neonatal leave: How to support employees in hard times

It’s not the start to new parenthood that anyone wants or imagines. But it happens, and it’s all-consuming. Around 1 in 7 babies born in the UK require neonatal care after birth. For their parents, it’s an incredibly stressful and emotionally taxing time, and the world outside of the hospital room blurs into non-existence. Or at least, they’d like it to.

Until recently, parents have had to use holiday or parental leave to look after a baby receiving neonatal care, and there was no specific neonatal care leave or pay. It was either that or go straight back to work and wait to begin parental leave at the planned time. This is not really an option for the mother and not an appealing one for their partner.

Now, a long-promised but notably absent piece of legislation has finally been passed, giving parents new rights that will allow them to be by their baby’s side while receiving medical care without using up their precious parental leave.

Table of Contents

• The Neonatal Care Act UK
• Why do we need it?
• How will this work?
• Beyond the basics – being a compassionate, caring employer
• A personal note
• Key takeaways

The Neonatal Care Act UK

The law change is due to come into effect next year. As of April 2025, parents will have a ‘day one’ right to take up to 12 weeks of paid neonatal leave under the new Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act. Importantly, this is in addition to other existing parental leave entitlements, such as maternity pay, paternity pay, and shared parental leave.

The neonatal leave UK eligibility is expected to mirror that for maternity, paternity and shared parental leave – so the baby’s parents, or those responsible for raising the child. The leave itself will be available to all employees (sadly nothing for the self-employed as yet) from day one of their employment, and statutory neonatal pay will be available to those with 26 weeks’ service and earnings over the NI threshold. This applies in England, Scotland and Wales – Northern Ireland has separate employment law.

Why do we need it?

Parents of babies face a broad scope of challenges, and this new Act is sorely needed to alleviate some of them.

One of the most important things it does is free up the mother’s partner to provide the care and support – emotional, logistical and physical – that she and the baby will need in these difficult first weeks. While some neonatal stays may be shorter than two weeks, many are not. With statutory paternity leave being just two weeks, this can leave mum (who will be unable to drive if she’s had a C-section) stuck doing hospital visits alone when she is still recovering from what may have been a traumatic birth. Not everyone has a support network that can provide food, transport and emotional support.

Not only have these parents been robbed of the fairytale start to parenthood that they’d no doubt imagined, up to now they’ve also been robbed of a big chunk (likely all, for the partner) of their parental leave. With it, they lose those precious early weeks together at home, getting to know the new baby.

For a single parent, missing out on weeks of parental leave can have a massive financial impact. Neonatal leave can extend their parental leave by up to 12 weeks, which when you consider the cost of childcare in the UK, is a huge help. The last thing they need is added financial stress.

Anyone who knows someone who has had a child in NICU will have heard of the practical, emotional and financial challenges they’ve faced and the horribly unfair choices they’ve been presented with. These are not sacrifices that anyone should have to make.

How will this work?

For employers

For employers, the new law will require an update to your existing leave policies which will sit alongside your maternity, paternity and parental leave, as well as pay policies. If you have an HR department, give them a heads up ASAP so that they can start raising awareness of the upcoming changes – leave policies are only effective if there is uptake!

If you’re worried about cost and business impact, don’t be. The percentage of babies needing neonatal care at birth is low, so thankfully this is not something you would expect to see a lot of. The average length of a neonatal stay in the UK is just seven days, so the number of parents who would require the full 12 weeks will be even lower.

In essence, the impact of this new obligation on your business will be minimal, especially in comparison to the positive impact it will have on the parents. Of far more concern will be the emotional wellbeing of the staff member affected, and any issues in that regard are likely to be much more detrimental to your business (in terms of lower productivity or higher absenteeism) than the cost of the neonatal leave.

The best thing you can do for your employees, and in turn your business, is to welcome the new policy, make sure everyone knows about it and, should anyone need to use it, support them in any way you can.

For employees

For employees, if you are unfortunate enough to require neonatal care for a new baby, you can at least put work worries to the back of your mind. Your place is at the hospital, not the office, and you can forget about working from your laptop in the canteen. Your parental leave is now protected, ready for you to take when you actually get your baby home – or whenever you had planned to take it. This is particularly beneficial for fathers/partners, as statutory paternity leave is woefully short in the UK.

Beyond the basics – being a compassionate, caring employer

While the new law makes it a legal obligation for employers to offer neonatal leave, an unfortunate necessity, there is more you can do if you want to. As a reader of our blog, you’ll know by now that we at Leave Dates are big advocates for employers doing more than the bare minimum when it comes to leave and flexible working.

A neonatal stay is a rough start to life, and even when they get home some babies may require ongoing medical care or hospital visits. Partners could be needed at home more than they would have in normal circumstances, whether to care for mum or to taxi to appointments. To support them during this time, you could offer a phased return to work that allows them to juggle their work and carer role. Be sure to have return-to-work interview, where you can discuss any ongoing flexible working arrangements they might need if health issues are ongoing.

If you want to send something to show your support, a handwritten card is enough. But if you’d like to send a gift, food is your best bet. Flowers won’t be seen if they’re spending their days in hospital, and just give them something else to take care of. They’ll be tired and hungry but won’t have the time or energy for a weekly shop. Chances are they’re getting by on hospital food and snacks. Food will always be appreciated – a voucher for take away or food delivery services avoids means they can choose meals and delivery times that suit them.

While it is fine to send your best wishes, be careful not to overstep or intrude. Remember, you are their employer not their friend, and any contact from you will remind them of work when they should be thinking about family. Keep communication to a minimum, asking as little of them as possible. Don’t try and chat or ask questions beyond the essential – their social battery will be limited and they’ll want to use it on family and friends. When considering any contact, first ask yourself – is this essential, and can it wait?

A personal note

This is a topic close to our hearts at Leave Dates. Our founders have experienced for themselves just how hard it is to navigate work and leave when a child is born unexpectedly early and requires a neonatal unit stay.

When Liz went into labour early, and inconveniently far from home, they found themselves in a predicament. Their son needed neonatal care and Liz could stay in hospital with him, beginning her maternity leave early, but Phil had a difficult choice to make. They would be in hospital for longer than his paternity leave – would he stay and use it all up before they could come home? Or work throughout their stay, with a gruelling two-hour commute between work and the hospital, in order to still get a full two weeks when they came home?

It was a horrible dilemma and not something you expect to have to factor in to the already emotional and demanding event of childbirth. Phil and Liz were able to find a balance that enabled them to get through a challenging time, but it wasn’t the experience they’d hoped for and not something they’d want their own employees to have to deal with, so they welcome the new law.

Key takeaways

Welcoming a new baby is an incredibly tiring, stressful and expensive experience at the best of times. If that baby needs neonatal care, these challenges are multiplied. The last thing that worried, understandably distracted new parents need is the added financial and mental stress of navigating leave and pay. The new law is a much-needed step forward in putting family first.

To further support your employees if they find themselves in this unenviable position, remember your role – you should be aiming to support through your absence, not your presence. As the employer or manager, you are not there for emotional support. The best, most helpful thing you can offer is freedom from any need to think about work. Give them time and space and take work off the long list of stresses they’re dealing with. In time, they’ll thank for you it.