What do the new types of family leave mean for employers?

The Government has recently introduced two new types of family leave, which introduces the statutory entitlement to neonatal care leave and carer’s leave. To date, employees have not had any statutory entitlement to either of these types of leave.

This article discusses what is currently known about both types of leave and what actions employers may need to take once these new types of leave are introduced.

What is neonatal care leave?

The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 will introduce statutory paid leave for eligible employed parents whose newborn baby is admitted to neonatal care. The eligible employees will be entitled to take 12 weeks paid leave, in addition to any other relevant leave entitlements such as maternity and paternity leave.

Subsequently, the definition of neonatal care is yet to be specified, but the general requirement is for the newborn to receive seven days of medical or palliative care within the first 28 days of birth.

The right to neonatal care leave will be a day one right requiring no set length of service. However, the right to receive statutory neonatal care pay requires 26 weeks of service and earnings on average of at least £123 a week, the same as maternity pay.

Additionally, parents who qualify for neonatal leave will be afforded the same employment rights and protections as parents taking other relevant family-related leave, such as protection from detriment or discrimination arising from them taking, or seeking to take, neonatal leave.

What is carer’s leave?

The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 will introduce a new entitlement to one week’s unpaid leave each year for employees who are providing or arranging care for a dependant.

In regards to carer’s leave, a dependant may include a spouse, civil partner, child, parent, someone living in the same household or any person who reasonably relies on the employee for care.

This leave will be available to employees only and will be available from the first day of employment.

Additionally, any employees taking carer’s leave would have the same protections from dismissal or detriment, as they would if they had taken other types of family-related leave.

What do these changes mean for my company?

It is important for employers to support any employees whose newborn children are receiving neonatal care and those who have care responsibilities outside of work.

Neonatal leave will ensure that employees have the time they need to care for their newborns and recover from childbirth. Additionally, carer’s leave will help those employees with care responsibilities to remain in the workplace and feel supported by their employer.

Both of these new types of leave are intended to be the minimum that an employer must provide. However, employers can provide a greater entitlement if they wish.

While all employers will need to comply with these requirements when they are implemented, they may wish to put procedures in place to provide for self-certification of these types of leave and to create a policy explaining the right and processing for exercising it.

When will these changes come into force?

The Government’s press release regarding these new Acts states that “the Government will lay down secondary legislation in due course to implement these new entitlements”. Therefore, there is no specified date as to when these Acts will come into force.

However, the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 24 May 2023, but it is likely that the new rights will not come into force until April 2025.

Additionally, the Carer’s Leave Act 2023 became law on 24 May 2023. However, it requires further regulations from the Government setting out precisely how the entitlement will work. It is anticipated that this right will come into force sometime in 2024.

Next steps

Once these new types of leave are introduced, our Peace of Mind Team can provide specific advice on how to manage these types of leave and our document audit team can draft compliant policies for the new types of leave for you. Contact out Employment Law Team today by emailing employment@warnergoodman.co.uk or calling 023 8071 7717.