It’s estimated that every year, 1 in 7 babies born in the UK require neonatal care. Neonatal care can include care that takes place outside of the hospital, as long as it’s provided under the direction of a consultant and includes ongoing medical monitoring arranged by the hospital.
Employees are now entitled, as a ‘day one’ right, to up to 12 weeks’ leave if their baby is receiving or has received such care. Eligible employees are also entitled to statutory neonatal care pay of the lower of £187.18 a week or 90% of their average weekly earnings.
Employers should consider that employees who have taken 6 consecutive weeks of neonatal care leave have additional protections from redundancy for 18 months, including having priority over other employees.
Businesses should therefore ensure that:
- They have a compliant neonatal care policy
- Their staff understand how neonatal care provisions interact with other types of leave, such as paternity leave and compassionate leave
- Their staff are able to navigate redundancy situations without breaching the statutory rights of employees who have taken or are on neonatal care leave
- Their payroll system is updated to calculate and make the statutory payments
If your business in not prepared, please get in touch with Peach Law Limited to find out how we can draft your neonatal care policy and help you navigate this new legislation.
