Neonatal care leave and pay – employer’s technical guidance

On 22 August 2025, the government published technical guidance to assist employers in understanding the eligibility, notice and information requirements for neonatal care leave and pay. The guide covers more complex situations, such as where there are multiple children in neonatal care and if a child is readmitted into neonatal care.

The right to neonatal care leave and pay came into force on 6 April 2025. This is a ‘day one’ right, meaning it is available to employees from their first day of employment.

Neonatal care leave is available to parents of babies who are admitted into neonatal care up to 28 days old and who have a continuous stay in hospital of seven full days or longer. Eligible parents (including adoptive parents) are entitled to one week of neonatal care leave for each qualifying week their child spends in neonatal care, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. This includes fathers and partners of birth parents. Each eligible parent will be entitled to a separate amount of leave which is on top of any other leave, including maternity and paternity leave.

Employees may also be eligible for neonatal care pay if they have a minimum of 26 weeks continuous service and earnings that meet the national insurance lower earnings limit.

A link to the technical guidance can be found here.

Acas previously published guidance on neonatal care leave and neonatal care pay in April 2025. The guidance contains practical advice for employers and employees. A link to the Acas guidance can be found here.

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