Family leave
Neonatal care leave and pay when a newborn is in hospital
A right in force since April 2025 in England, Scotland and Wales: extra weeks for parents whose baby spends a week or more in neonatal care.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
Neonatal Care Leave gives each eligible parent one week of leave for every seven full, continuous days their baby spends in neonatal care that starts within 28 days of the birth, up to 12 weeks. It is a day-one right for employees in England, Scotland and Wales, for babies born on or after 6 April 2025, and it comes on top of maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave. Statutory Neonatal Care Pay for 2026/27 is £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower; it needs 26 weeks of continuous employment by the end of the relevant qualifying week and average earnings of at least the lower earnings limit, £129 a week. Parents already on maternity or adoption leave add the neonatal weeks at the end of it, so the time spent in hospital is not lost. All of it must be taken within 68 weeks of the birth.
Neonatal Care Leave and Pay from the days in care
Neonatal Care Leave
3 weeks
| Neonatal Care Pay a week (if eligible) | £194.32 |
| Pay for all the weeks | £582.96 |
| Must be taken within | 68 weeks of the birth |
How many weeks for how many days
The entitlement grows with the length of the stay, in whole weeks, and stops at 12. The table also shows the pay for an employee earning £540 a week, whose weekly rate is £194.32.
| Full days in neonatal care | Weeks of leave | Pay at £540 a week |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | 0 | £0.00 |
| 7 | 1 | £194.32 |
| 13 | 1 | £194.32 |
| 20 | 2 | £388.64 |
| 35 | 5 | £971.60 |
| 56 | 8 | £1,554.56 |
| 84 | 12 | £2,331.84 |
| 100 | 12 | £2,331.84 |
A stay of six days gives nothing, however serious the illness. Twins in care at the same time give one entitlement, not two; babies in care at different times can each give an entitlement, still within a total of 12 weeks.
Two tiers of leave
The rules distinguish leave taken while the baby is in neonatal care or in the week after (tier 1) from leave taken later (tier 2). In tier 1 you can take the leave in separate blocks of at least a week, and notice is light: on the day you want to start, before your usual start time if you can, by phone, voicemail or text, renewed each week. In tier 2 the remaining leave is taken in one continuous block, with written notice of 15 days for a single week or 28 days for two weeks or more. Tier 1 leave cannot be cancelled; tier 2 can, with the same notice.
With maternity, paternity and shared parental leave
For a mother on maternity leave, or an adopter on adoption leave, the neonatal weeks are added after that leave ends. GOV.UK gives the example of a baby in care for 56 days: eight weeks of neonatal leave are added to the end of the maternity leave rather than lost while the baby was in hospital. For a partner, neonatal leave can come before paternity leave or shared parental leave, or between blocks of shared parental leave booked before the baby entered neonatal care. The rules for paternity leave itself are on the paternity leave page.
Who can claim the pay
The leave needs only employee status. The pay adds three conditions. First, 26 weeks of continuous employment with your employer by the end of the qualifying week: the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth if you also get maternity or paternity pay, the matching week for adopters, otherwise the week before the baby entered neonatal care. Second, average weekly earnings at the lower earnings limit over eight weeks. Third, still being employed in the week before the pay starts. Notice for the pay can be given up to 28 days after tier 1 leave starts, in writing. Employers recover most of it from HMRC, as with maternity pay (92 %, or 109 % for small employers).
What to tell your employer, and when
GOV.UK lists the information an employer can ask for: your name, the baby’s date of birth (and placement date for an adoption), the dates the neonatal care started and ended, when you want the leave to begin and how many weeks you are taking. The first time you claim, you also confirm that you are the baby’s parent, or the mother’s partner, with responsibility for the baby’s care, and that you will care for the baby during the leave. The online declaration form NEO3 does this, but an email or the employer’s own form is enough. Tell your employer the date the baby comes home as soon as you know it, because that date decides when tier 1 ends. If you disagree with a decision on the pay, the HMRC Statutory Payment Disputes Team can decide, provided you contact it within six months of the employer’s decision.
What it adds up to for a family
A couple whose baby spent five weeks in a neonatal unit can each take five extra weeks. If both earn above the threshold where 90% of pay exceeds the flat rate, that is £971.60 each before tax, on top of SMP and paternity pay. Use the calculator above for your own days and earnings, and the maternity pay calculator for the weeks that come before.