In this series, we’re looking at a number of employment law-related Private Members’ Bills that have received support from the government and are progressing through the House of Commons.
In this blog, our focus is on the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill (“the Bill”). The purpose of the Bill is to provide employees with additional rights in the event that they have a child who requires neonatal treatment. The government’s press release states that this legislation will positively impact thousands of parents by giving them additional paid time off in challenging and difficult circumstances.
What are the main aspects of the Bill?
The Bill seeks to provide statutory leave and pay in the event that an employee’s baby requires neonatal treatment, for example as a result of medical complications or a premature birth.
The main proposals are a day one right to give all employees an entitlement to statutory leave in such cases (likely to be a maximum of 12 weeks), and for those who have completed 26 weeks’ service, a right to receive statutory pay during this period.
We’ve set out what we know about the proposals so far in more detail below:
Neonatal Care Leave
- Employees will have a “day one” right to neonatal care leave (i.e. there will be no requirement for a minimum service period before this right is triggered).
- Neonatal care leave will be available to parents on top of other family- related leave (e.g. maternity leave) for parents of babies in neonatal care.
- To be eligible to take the leave:
- an employee’s baby must be or have been receiving neonatal care (of a medical or palliative nature); and
- that neonatal care must have started before the end of a period of 28 days starting with the day after the child’s birth and must last for a continuous period of at least 7 days starting with the day after the care starts.
- Leave must be taken before the end of the period of at least 68 weeks (approximately 16 months) starting with the date on which the child was born.
- The minimum period of leave will be one week, but the maximum has yet to be finalised (see below).
The Bill provides for Regulations to be made to deal with other aspects of the leave. This is expected to include matters such as:
- the giving of notice, supplying of evidence of entitlement to leave and procedures related to the leave;
- rights during and after neonatal care leave
- the maximum amount of neonatal leave that can be taken (which, based on parliamentary discussion, is likely to be up to 12 weeks);
- how that leave is taken;
- the right for employees not to suffer detriment and dismissal as a result of taking the leave.
Neonatal Care Pay
Employees who meet certain eligibility criteria will be entitled to neonatal care pay. Those eligibility criteria include:
- those similar to other types of family leave (i.e. having the required parental or personal relationship with the child; being continuously employed for 26 weeks and earning more than the lower earnings level)
- the neonatal care must last for a continuous period of at least seven days running from the day after the care starts.
The maximum duration of neonatal care pay will be no less than 12 weeks.
As for the leave element of the Bill, the Bill provides for Regulations to be made to deal with various aspects of the pay, including:
- notice and evidence requirements; and
- the rate of pay (which based on parliamentary discussions is likely to be the same standard rate for other types of family- related statutory pay or 90% of their average earnings).
When will this Bill become law?
Like the Allocation of Tips Bill that we discussed in our previous blog, this Bill is also at the Report Stage in the House of Commons before moving on to the House of Lords.
If the Bill becomes law (and that’s more likely given the government is supporting the Bill), it is currently likely to come into force 18 months later, although MPs supporting the Bill are pushing for this to happen sooner.
How we can help you
We know that employers and employees will be keen to follow the progress of this Bill to understand how it will impact them, should it become law, and what they should do to prepare. Whilst all employers will need to comply with these requirements should they become law, many will want to update their policies in advance, or tailor solutions to their own workplace to supplement these statutory rights.
Of course, we’ll be keeping an eye on developments. To receive our updates on this Bill and other legislation, case law and issues that may affect your People and Development issues please subscribe via our website to receive our employment law newsletter and event invitations.
In the meantime, should you have any queries about how you should deal with workplace issues around neonatal care, or how to address this in your current workplace policies, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with a member of our Reproductive Health Team .
