From day one, for the parents who need it

Neonatal care leave: who is in scope on 6 October 2026

Updated 6 October 2026

You have these rights on 6 October 2026, from your first day in the job: A right to up to 12 months of neonatal care leave if your baby needs inpatient neonatal care for seven continuous days or more, beginning within 28 days of birth A right to neonatal care pay for the first 12 weeks of that leave, at the lower of statutory rate and 90 per cent of average weekly earnings The right to start this leave at any point in the 68 weeks after the baby first goes into neonatal care, and to split it into up to three blocks if you and your employer agree Protection from dismissal or detriment because you have asked for, taken, or said you intend to take neonatal care leave Day-one status, so the usual 26 week service rule for ordinary parental leave does not apply to this type of leave Time off for antenatal care for the pregnant person, separately and unchanged, from day one of employment

Who qualifies for neonatal care leave in 2026

You qualify for neonatal care leave if three things line up. You must be an employee with an employment relationship, your baby must be admitted to neonatal care, and that admission must have begun within 28 days of the baby's date of birth. The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 set the framework, and the regulations on the qualifying baby and the seven day admission rule sit in secondary legislation that is now in force.

Your baby is the qualifying baby. In the language of the regulations, the qualifying baby is the child you or your partner have given birth to, or a child placed with you for adoption who meets the medical criteria. The biological parents of the child, the partner of the person who gave birth, the intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement, and the adoptive parents can all be the employee who asks for the leave, as long as they share responsibility for the baby and the baby is in neonatal care within the 28 day window.

Neonatal care means care given in a hospital or other clinical setting, by a registered clinician, where the baby is receiving inpatient or day-case care. Routine midwifery checks, health visitor appointments, and outpatient appointments that do not require an admission do not count. Specialist care units, special care baby units, local neonatal units, and neonatal intensive care units are the kinds of settings that will usually meet the test. A discharge home and readmission within the 28 day window can also count, provided the care runs for at least seven continuous days in total.

The seven day rule is seven continuous days, not seven working days. A bank holiday, a Saturday, or a Sunday in the middle of the admission all count. The clock runs from the day the baby is admitted, and it stops the day before the baby is discharged, so a stay that begins on a Monday and ends the following Wednesday is a stay of eight days. The rules are designed for babies who need real, sustained medical support rather than a short observation stay.

Adoptive parents qualify, but the placement has to happen while the baby is still in neonatal care, or within 28 days of birth. The intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement qualify when they have applied for, or been granted, a parental order. The law was written to make sure that the parents who would actually be at the cot side are the people who can take the leave.

You do not have to be the person who gave birth. A father, a non-birthing parent, or a same-sex partner can take neonatal care leave, as long as the qualifying baby is theirs and the medical criteria are met. You can also take it in addition to your partner, so a couple with a premature baby can both be on neonatal care leave at the same time if they ask for it.

There is no qualifying service period. From 6 April 2025, neonatal care leave was a day-one right for the leave itself, and the pay provisions came in alongside it. The right is to up to 12 months of leave for the qualifying parent, and you can take it in addition to your maternity, paternity, adoption, or shared parental leave. The leave runs alongside the family leave you are already entitled to, not in place of it.

How much neonatal care pay do you get

Neonatal care pay is a statutory payment that runs for the first 12 weeks of your neonatal care leave. It is paid by your employer through the usual payroll, and it is then recovered through HMRC in the same way as statutory maternity pay. Your employer is not allowed to pay less than the statutory minimum, and you are not allowed to be paid more than the cap if the higher rate would apply.

For weeks one to 12, the weekly rate is the lower of the standard statutory rate and 90 per cent of your average weekly earnings. The standard statutory rate is set each April by the government. For 2026, the rate is set in line with the lower of the two rates used for statutory maternity pay in the same tax year. After the 12 week period of statutory pay, the remaining leave is unpaid, and your job is still protected.

To qualify for the pay, you need to meet the same eligibility test as for statutory maternity or paternity pay, depending on which route you are using. The pay tests sit on top of the leave test. You need to have been continuously employed for at least 26 weeks ending with the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, in the same way as for statutory maternity pay. If you do not meet the pay test but you do meet the leave test, you can still take the leave as unpaid leave.

Average weekly earnings for the 90 per cent calculation are worked out in the same way as for statutory maternity pay, based on your gross pay in the relevant eight week period. Your employer should be able to tell you what the figure is, and you can ask for it in writing. If your normal pay varies because of shifts, overtime, or commission, the calculation captures the normal pattern rather than picking the highest week.

Pension contributions during the paid period continue on the basis of the pay you actually receive, in the same way as for other statutory family leave. Pension contributions during the unpaid period depend on the scheme rules, and you should ask your employer or scheme administrator for the detail. Your continuity of service is preserved throughout, including for the unpaid weeks, so your accrual of holiday, your length of service for redundancy, and your right to claim unfair dismissal all continue to build.

How to give notice for neonatal care leave

Notice for neonatal care leave is built around the unpredictable nature of the admission. The rules allow for a short, pragmatic notice period, because parents of babies in neonatal care are not in a position to give weeks of advance notice. You should still give notice as soon as you reasonably can, and the legal test is one of reasonableness, not one of a fixed number of days.

For leave that starts on the date the baby is admitted to neonatal care, you need to tell your employer before the end of that day, or as soon as reasonably practicable if that is not possible. For leave that starts on a later date, you need to give your employer at least seven days' notice, or as much notice as you reasonably can in the circumstances. If your baby is readmitted after a discharge, the same test applies to the new spell of leave.

Your notice has to be in a way that the employer can reasonably receive it, which usually means an email, a letter, or a message to your line manager or HR. The notice should set out the date the leave starts, the date the baby was admitted to neonatal care, and confirmation that the seven day continuous admission test is met. You can also include the end date of the leave you are asking for, but the leave can be amended later if the discharge date changes.

Your employer can ask for evidence that the baby has been admitted to neonatal care for the qualifying period. The most common form of evidence is a letter from the neonatal unit, a discharge summary, or a note from a registered clinician. Your employer is not allowed to ask for the medical detail of the baby's condition, only confirmation that the admission was for neonatal care and that the seven day test is met. If your employer pushes for more than that, you can refuse, and the Acas code of practice on requests for flexible working sets a useful parallel for reasonableness.

Once you have given notice, your employer has to confirm the leave in writing within 28 days, or before the leave starts if that is sooner. The confirmation should set out the start and end dates, the rate of pay for the paid weeks, and the date the baby was first admitted to neonatal care. If your employer does not respond, the notice you have given stands, and the leave is treated as having started on the date you specified.

If you want to change the dates after you have given notice, you need to give your employer seven days' notice of the change, or as much as you reasonably can. You can split the leave into up to three blocks across the 68 week window, and each new block needs its own notice. Splitting the leave is useful if your baby has a long stay and you want to return to work for a period before going back on leave for a later stage of the baby's care.

What to do in the meantime

If you think you or your partner may need neonatal care leave, do these three things this week.

First, tell your employer that the baby has been admitted. A short email to your line manager and to HR, setting out the date of admission, is enough to start the clock on the notice rules. The leave cannot be backdated, so the sooner the email goes the more leave you preserve.

Second, ask the neonatal unit for a written note confirming the admission date, the discharge date, and that the baby is or was receiving neonatal care. The discharge summary is the usual document, and most units will produce one as a matter of routine. Keep the original, and give your employer a copy if they ask for evidence.

Third, check your own length of service and your average weekly earnings, because the 26 week pay test is the same as for statutory maternity pay. If you have moved jobs in the last 12 months, work out your continuous service with your current employer, and ask payroll to confirm the average weekly earnings figure. If you do not meet the pay test, take the leave as unpaid, because the right to the leave does not depend on the right to the pay.