New legislation for the neonatal leave and pay bill

The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act is now law and for the first time, families will have a statutory entitlement to paid leave from work if their baby receives neonatal care for more than seven days before it reaches 28 days of life. However, while this news is very welcome, the new legislation is not expected to be implemented until April 2025.

After many years of campaigning, Bliss, the UK charity for babies born premature and sick, is pushing for the entitlement to be made available sooner for all neonatal families. Caroline Lee-Davey, Chief Executive of Bliss, says: “After so many years of campaigning, we are absolutely thrilled to see neonatal leave and pay finally become law. This will make a huge difference to around 60,000 parents every year and to their babies. It will relieve the additional stress of having to juggle looking after a critically ill baby in hospital with work, ease some of the financial pressure and, by allowing parents to be more involved in their baby’s care, improve the health outcomes of premature and sick babies.

“This law has the potential to transform the experience of both parents and employers but we know for many parents with critically ill babies in hospital right now, this news will be bittersweet. That’s why we’re urging the government to go one step further and bring forward the implementation date so families can start receiving this vital support as soon as possible.’’

Find out more at: www.bliss.org.uk/news/2023/tens-of-thousands-of-parents-with-sick-babies-stand-to-benefit-from-ground-breaking-new-entitlement