Notice to take Neonatal Care Leave (and Pay if eligible)

Neonatal Care Leave

From 6 April 2025, there is a dedicated statutory right to leave (and in some cases pay) for employees if their baby requires specialist neonatal care after birth. This statutory right is only available to employees. It is not available to other workers, self-employed contractors or agency workers.

If you have a baby born on or after 6 April 2025 who requires neonatal care within 28 days of birth and that care lasts for a continuous period of 7 full days or longer, you will be entitled to a week’s leave for each week of care under the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023. You will be eligible for Neonatal Care Leave if you have a parental or other qualifying personal relationship with the baby (including surrogate and adoptive parents). Your entitlement to Neonatal Care Leave is a day 1 right, so you will be entitled to it regardless of your length of service with your employer.

You can take a maximum of 12 weeks’ leave within 68 weeks of your baby’s birth (in addition to any other leave you may be entitled to, including maternity and paternity leave). You can take the leave when your baby is still receiving neonatal care, or after any other parental leave that you may be eligible for. The leave must be taken in weekly blocks.

Neonatal Care Leave Pay

Eligible employed parents will receive a payment at a prescribed weekly rate subject to annual review (expected to be £187.19 per week from 6 April 2025 – 5 April 2026) or 90% of average earnings, whichever is the lowest. Neonatal Care Leave Pay will be available to you if you have at least 26 weeks of continuous service with your employer and if you meet the minimum earnings threshold.

Notice Requirements

If you wish to take Neonatal Care Leave, you must give your employer notice of your intention to take any absence from work as Neonatal Care Leave specifying:

• Your name
• Your child’s date of birth (NB in the case of adoption, you must give the date your child is placed, or in the case of overseas adoption, you must give the date your child entered Great Britain)
• The date or dates your child started to receive neonatal care
• If your child is no longer receiving neonatal care, the date or dates the neonatal care ended
• The date on which you want your Neonatal Care Leave to begin
• The number of weeks of Neonatal Care Leave you are giving notice to take
• That you are taking the leave to care for the child that received neonatal care
• If it is the first time notice is given in respect of that child, confirmation that you meet the eligibility requirements as to your relationship with the child (including surrogate and adoptive parent).

If you give notice to your employer before your baby has stopped receiving neonatal care, you must inform your employer of the date the neonatal care ends as soon as is reasonably practicable after that date. If your baby starts to receive neonatal care again after you have notified your employer that neonatal care has ended, you must inform your employer of the date that the neonatal care started again and the date when it ends, as soon as reasonably practicable after each date.

Neonatal Care Leave may be taken from the day after the first “qualifying period”, but not before. The first qualifying period is a period of a week during which the child receives neonatal care without interruption starting on the day after neonatal care starts (in other words, days two to eight of neonatal care). The effect of this is that eligible employees are not entitled to take Neonatal Care Leave until day nine. For example, if the baby starts neonatal care on a Tuesday, the first qualifying period starts on the following day (Wednesday), and you are entitled to start Neonatal Care Leave from the Wednesday of the following week. A subsequent qualifying period (after the first) is any period of a week during which the child receives neonatal care without interruption, beginning on the day after the end of the preceding qualifying period.

If you wish to take Neonatal Care Leave during the period between the day after the first qualifying period and 7 days after the day your baby stops receiving neonatal care, notice must be given in respect of each week of leave, before you are due to start work on your first day of absence from work, or as soon as is reasonably practicable. Notice of leave during this period does not need to be in writing (but notice to receive Neonatal Care Leave Pay for the same period will need to be in writing). If you wish to take Neonatal Care Leave after this period, you must give at least 15 days’ notice before the first day of your leave, if you wish to take a single week of Neonatal Care Leave, or at least 28 days’ notice before the first day of your leave, if you wish to take 2 or more consecutive weeks of Neonatal Care Leave. Notice of leave during this period must be in writing and all leave must be taken in a single block, of a whole number of weeks. Any Neonatal Care Leave entitlement not used up in this period will be lost.

Template letter of notice to take Neonatal Care Leave (and Pay if eligible)

Dear [insert line manager name or HR if preferred]

I am writing to give notice of my intention to take Neonatal Care Leave under the Neonatal Care Leave and Pay Act 2023. I wish to take Neonatal Care Leave for [insert number of weeks you intend to take weeks, beginning on insert date you intend to start your period of leave].

I intend to take Neonatal Care Leave in order to take care of my child who was born on [insert child’s date of birth, or replace with the placement date/date your child entered Great Britain in the case of an adoption/overseas adoption and who started receiving neonatal care on insert date(s) your child’s neonatal care began].

[Insert if your child’s neonatal care has not yet ended – My child’s neonatal care is ongoing, and I will inform you as soon as is reasonably practicable when it ends.]

[Insert if your child’s neonatal care has ended – My child’s neonatal care ended on X, they received a total of X full weeks of care.]

[Insert if you are giving notice in respect of this child for the first time – I confirm that I have a qualifying family relationship with my child, entitling me to take this period of statutory Neonatal Care Leave [and receive Neonatal Care Leave Pay for the same period]].

[Include either:

If eligible for Neonatal Care Leave Pay – As you are aware, I have been employed with insert employers name since include start date and as such, have over 26 weeks of continuous employment. I therefore intend to take the Neonatal Care Leave as paid leave.

OR

If you are not eligible for Neonatal Care Leave Pay – I understand that as I do not have over 26 weeks of continuous employment at insert employers name I will take this leave as unpaid leave.]
Please acknowledge receipt of this correspondence and confirm that my [paid/unpaid] Neonatal Care Leave will be appropriately recorded.

Yours sincerely

[Name – if signing the notice, please ensure your name is included too]

This advice applies in England, Wales and Scotland. If you live in another part of the UK, the law may differ. Please call our helpline for more details. If you are in Northern Ireland you can visit the Labour Relations Agency or call their helpline Workplace Information Service on 03300 555 300.

If you have further questions and would like to contact our advice team please use our advice contact form below or call us.

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