Having a baby in the neonatal unit can be an emotional and frightening time, and you may be feeling overwhelmed and anxious. Additional pressures from work and finances can add to your fears and concerns at a time when you should be able to focus on your baby or babies. These questions are here to assist parents who are in this position, and for managers or employing MSPs to support staff at this difficult time. Neonatal care leave and pay is available for babies born on or after the 6 April 2025.
Neonatal care - leave is an entitlement to time away from work in addition to other parental leave (maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave)
MSP staff should refer to the following policies on your MSP Staff Employment Pages on the Intranet.
Neonatal care - pay refers to pay that parents/carers who fulfil certain requirements will receive while they are not at work and during their neonatal care leave.
1 in 7 babies born in the UK are admitted to neonatal care, due to being born prematurely (before 37 weeks of pregnancy) or at full-term but are sick.
Neonatal care means any of the following:
Parents/carers will qualify for both neonatal care leave and pay if:
Parents have the options to extend their parental leave by one week for every full week that their baby is receiving hospital care if:
Neonatal care leave is a “day one” right, which means it applies no matter when you started your employment with us. It also offers employment protection rights comparable with other parental leave, for example, the right to paid holidays and the right to return to a job at the same level.
Neonatal care leave is available to staff with a parental relationship to the baby/babies, whether they are the mother or birthing parent, father or other non-birthing parent such as non-birthing mother, spouse, civil partner or adoptive parent.
Neonatal care leave and pay is available to parents/carers that meet additional length of service and earnings requirements. If you have worked for your employer for a minimum of 26 weeks and earn on average at least £125 per week, your leave will be paid at a statutory flat rate of £187.18 per week, or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
The maximum amount of leave that can be taken is 12 weeks, and it must be taken within 68 weeks of the baby’s birth.
In the case of multiple births from the same pregnancy:
There are two time periods for neonatal leave:
In the case of multiple births from the same pregnancy, if more than one child is receiving neonatal care, Tier 1 runs from the first day that any of the children starts receiving neonatal care and ends 7 days after the last child stops receiving it.
You can take neonatal leave while a child is receiving neonatal care or later, however:
You must take neonatal leave in blocks of one or more weeks. You cannot take it as single days or periods of less than a week.
If you take neonatal leave:
Neonatal leave is available in addition to other statutory family leave (such as maternity or paternity leave) and taking neonatal leave does not impact on the amount of other leave available.
You should not stop any adoption, maternity, paternity or shared parental leave that has already started to take neonatal leave – you can take the neonatal leave after the other leave has ended, even if your child is not receiving neonatal care at that point.
You cannot give notice to take neonatal leave during Tier 2 if you know it will be interrupted by other family leave.
If a block of neonatal leave started during Tier 1 and is interrupted by other pre-booked statutory family leave (such as paternity or shared parental leave), your neonatal leave is paused, and you move to the other family leave. If the other family leave ends -
Neonatal care leave and pay is based on a self-declaration, but you will need to provide your manager or employing MSP with some information. For SPS staff, iTrent will need to be updated so the absence can be logged. MSP staff should provide details set out in the process below.
If neonatal leave is to be taken following a period of family care leave, you will need to provide notification of your intention.
To take neonatal leave, you must give notice of:
You must provide notice to your manager or employing MSP before you are due to start work on the first day of each week of neonatal leave (or, if this is not reasonably practicable, as soon as is reasonably practicable). If you give notice on a day when you have already started work, your neonatal leave cannot start until at least the following day. If you need time off work before that, please speak to your manager or employing MSP about your options.
You can give notice verbally at first, but if you want to claim statutory neonatal pay, you must follow this up with written notice within 28 days of neonatal leave starting.
You cannot return to work part-way through a week of neonatal leave – it must be taken in full weeks.
If you wish to cancel future weeks of neonatal leave that you have given notice of, this will be at our discretion, and you should speak to your manager or employing MSP to discuss the situation.
You must provide notice before you are due to start work on the first day of each week of neonatal leave (or, if this is not reasonably practicable, as soon as is reasonably practicable). If you give notice on a day when you have already started work, your neonatal leave cannot start until at least the following day. If you need time off work before that, speak to your manager or employing MSP about your options.
You can give notice verbally at first, but if you want to claim statutory neonatal pay, you must follow this up with written notice within 28 days of neonatal leave starting.
You cannot return to work part-way through a week of neonatal leave – it must be taken in full weeks.
If you wish to cancel future weeks of neonatal leave that you have given notice of, please speak to your manager or employing MSP to discuss the situation.
Please provide the following:
Notice must be in writing.
Yes, so long as you provide notice in writing and:
If you withdraw your notice to take leave, you can then give notice to take leave on different dates, so long as those meet the other conditions within the policy. In some cases, shorter notice of withdrawal may be accepted.
Any abuse or breach of this policy may lead to disciplinary action under the Disciplinary Policy. If you are unsure of your entitlement, you should discuss this with your manager.
In some circumstances it may be appropriate to look at additional periods of leave and this is at the discretion of your manager or employing MSP, and in discussions with People Services. The following polices may also be relevant, and MSP staff are directed to the MSP Staff Employment Pages on the Intranet.
| Flexible Working | If you need to make changes to your working arrangements (on a permanent or temporary basis), please speak to your manager or employing MSP in the first instance. |
| Carer's leave | The Carer's Leave Policy explains the statutory right to carer's leave. |
| Time off for dependents | You are entitled to unpaid time off work to deal with certain emergency situations affecting your dependants. |
| Special leave | Special leave is way of supporting staff to manage personal priorities and deal with unexpected life events. |
| Parental bereavement leave | This policy explains your entitlements in this situation. |
| Maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption leave | You may be entitled to maternity, paternity, shared parental or adoption leave. |
| Family care leave | Eligible staff can take up to 18 weeks’ unpaid leave for each child for the purpose of caring for that child (up to the child’s 18th birthday). |
It is important to understand that parents of premature or sick babies are likely to experience a range of emotions. Communications should be managed in a sensitive way. To support staff during this difficult time, managers and employing MSPs should take a sensitive approach to:
Managers and employing MSPs should signpost the member of staff to their GP, the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) on the Intranet and contact People Services for further advice, guidance and support if required. There are also external organisations who can provide support which can be found on the Intranet.
| Resource | About the resource | Contact Information |
|---|---|---|
| Your doctor |
Your General Practitioner, who has the main duty of care. |
Your local GP surgery |
| For You by You The Charity for Civil Servants |
The charity provides a professional help and advisory service to serving and former civil servants, and their dependents, facing hardship in the UK. |
Freephone help number: 0800 056 2424 Monday to Friday 10am to 3pm |
|
Bliss |
They support parents and families of premature or sick babies. They provide emotional support and information about your neonatal journey. |
|
|
Tommys |
They provide emotional and practical support to families with seriously ill children. |
or call 01372 363438. |