Neonatal Care Pay and Leave
What you can get
You may be entitled to Neonatal Care Leave, Statutory Neonatal Care Pay, or both.
You can get one week鈥檚 leave for every 7 full and continuous days your baby is in neonatal care.
Neonatal Care Leave
You can get up to 12 weeks鈥� Neonatal Care Leave if you鈥檙e classed as an employee. It does not matter how long you鈥檝e been with your employer.
You must take the leave within 68 weeks (just under 16 months) of your baby鈥檚 birth date.
The notice period you must give your employer will depend on whether you鈥檙e taking leave:
- while your baby is in neonatal care, or up to a week after leaving (this is sometimes called 鈥榯ier 1鈥�)
- more than a week after your baby has left neonatal care (this is sometimes called 鈥榯ier 2鈥�)
How you take the leave
While your baby is in neonatal care, or up to a week after leaving, you can take leave in separate blocks of at least one week at a time.
After this, you must take leave in a single continuous block.
If you鈥檙e already taking maternity or adoption leave
If your baby enters neonatal care while you鈥檙e on Statutory Maternity Leave or Statutory Adoption Leave, you must take your Neonatal Care Leave after your maternity or adoption leave is finished.
Example
Your newborn baby gets sick and has to stay in neonatal care for 56 days. You鈥檙e already taking Statutory Maternity Leave.
Instead of losing 56 days (8 weeks) of leave, you add the Neonatal Care Leave to the end of your 39 weeks of maternity leave.
If you鈥檙e taking Shared Parental Leave or Statutory Paternity Leave
You can take Neonatal Care Pay and Leave either:
- before you start Statutory Paternity Leave or Shared Parental Leave
- between blocks of Shared Parental Leave that you booked before your baby started neonatal care (this includes if the Shared Parental Leave is for another child)聽
If you鈥檙e using your leave and pay at least one week after your baby leaves neonatal care, you must take all of it in a single block. You can do this before or after your Shared Parental Leave or Statutory Paternity Leave.
Statutory Neonatal Care Pay
If you claim Neonatal Care Leave, you may also be able to claim Statutory Neonatal Care Pay if you鈥檙e eligible.
You鈥檒l get either 拢187.18 a week or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower).
Any money you get is paid the same way as your wages, for example weekly or monthly, along with deductions for tax and National Insurance.
If you have more than one baby in neonatal care
If your babies are in neonatal care at the same time (for example, if you have twins), you can only claim Neonatal Care Pay and Leave for one of them, up to a maximum of 12 weeks.
If your babies are in neonatal care at separate times, you鈥檒l be able to claim for each of them - up to a maximum of 12 weeks in total.