Along with Easter and the school holidays, April has brought about the new Neonatal Care Leave (NCL) legislation.

This is a massive deal for those who require extra support when their babies need specialist neonatal care after birth.

Here’s what you need to know as an employer:

🤎 NCL is available to all employees whose baby requires neonatal care within 28 days of birth.

🤎 Employees are entitled to one week of NCL for each full week of neonatal care, for a maximum period of 12 weeks.

🤎 NCL is available on top of any other leave the employee is entitled to, such as maternity and paternity leave

🤎 If you have employees who meet the lower earnings limit (and who have been employed for the requisite minimum period of time) they will also be entitled to NCL paid at the flat statutory rate.



🤎 NCL will be paid at a flat rate of £187.18, which is set by the government, or 90% of the employee’s weekly earnings if that is lower. However, some employers may want to pay more than this.

Changes in employee rights aren’t always easy to get your head around, so this link will help if you want a bit more clarity: 👇

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/neonatal-care-leave-and-pay-right-for-thousands-of-new-parents