Neonatal Care Leave

We understand that having a baby in neonatal care can be an incredibly emotional and challenging time. Our priority is to support you, so you can focus on being there for your child while also taking care of your own health and wellbeing.

If your baby is admitted to neonatal care within 28 days of birth and stays for at least 7 consecutive days, you may be entitled to a period of leave equivalent to the number of complete weeks your child spends in neonatal care, up to a maximum of 12 weeks subject to the eligibility requirements detailed below. Any neonatal care leave must be taken in blocks of at least one week.

Neonatal Care Leave (NCL) is in addition to other leave entitlements, such as maternity, adoption, shared parental, and paternity leave, and can be taken at any point during the first 68 weeks following a baby’s birth or adoption placement. This flexibility allows parents to manage their time during what can be a challenging period. 

For more details on how (NCL) can be taken alongside other types of family leave, please refer to Section 4 of the Neonatal Care Leave Policy.

Neonatal Care includes:

any medical care received in a hospital;
medical care received elsewhere following discharge from hospital. Such care must be under the direction of a consultant and includes ongoing monitoring and visits to the child by healthcare professionals; or
palliative or end of life care.

Eligibility for Neonatal Care Leave

All University employees are eligible for NCL from their first day of employment, provided:

You are the child's parent and have responsibility for their upbringing, or

You are the child's adopter (or prospective adopter in a "foster to adopt" arrangement) and have or expect to have responsibility for their upbringing, or
You are having a child through surrogacy, intend to apply for a parental order within six months of the child’s birth, and have responsibility for their upbringing, or
You are the partner living with the child's birth parent, primary adopter, or prospective adopter, and have main responsibility for the child's upbringing.

Neonatal Care Leave Pay

Our Neonatal Care Leave Policy goes beyond the statutory pay entitlement by offering full pay during your baby’s neonatal admission, ranging from one week up to a maximum of twelve weeks.

To qualify, you must have:

At least 26 weeks of continuous service with the University by the “relevant week”

Average weekly earnings that meet or exceed the lower earnings limit for National Insurance contributions

The relevant week for:

Birth parents/Intended Parents: the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth.

Adoptive parents: the week in which you are matched with your child.

Other cases: the week before neonatal care begins.

Tier 1 and Tier 2 Periods

Neonatal Care Leave is structured into two tiers to provide flexibility and support during this critical period:

Tier 1 Leave:

This can be taken while your child is in neonatal care or within the first week after discharge.

During this time, NCL can be taken in individual week-long blocks with short notice.

Tier 2 Leave:

This is available once your child has left neonatal care and must be taken in one continuous block at any time from your child’s discharge up to 68 weeks after birth.

Notification Process

If you wish to take Neonatal Care Leave, please inform your line manager of your intention and entitlement as early as possible.

Tier 1: Notify your manager by phone or email—ideally before your first day of absence each week, or as soon as reasonably practicable.

Tier 2: Ideally provide at least 15 days’ notice for one week of NCL, or 28 days’ notice for longer periods. If this isn’t possible, give notice as soon as reasonably practicable.

After notifying your manager, please confirm your leave by completing the Neonatal Leave Notification Form via MyView, preferably before your NCL begins.

We understand that this may be a challenging time. To support you, your Line Manager can complete the Neonatal Care Leave notification form on your behalf if that is more convenient.

Managers can refer to the Neonatal Care Leave FAQ'S for detailed guidance on how to complete the form.