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Government response to neonatal leave and pay consultation published 19 March 2020
Within the ‘Good Work Plan: Proposals to support families’ consultation that was launched by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), one of the sections focused on the topic of neonatal leave and pay. A response to this has now been published, and the next steps have been confirmed. Within the response document, it confirms that the government is committed to providing parents with an entitlement to take extended leave for neonatal care, in order to provide support to those new mothers and fathers who need it during the most stressful times of their lives. The government will: • Introduce leave for parents of babies in neonatal care • Introduce statutory pay for parents of babies in neonatal care • Legislate to implement the entitlement and the relevant commitments in the forthcoming Employment Bil l
The following additional information is also provided in the consultation response:
• The government are intending to carefully consider the question of which care givers should be entitled to neonatal leave and pay, considering the advantages and disadvantages of extending the policy to other groups before defining what a ‘neonatal parent’ is • Parents of babies who are admitted into hospital at 28 days old or less will be eligible for neonatal leave and pay where the admission lasts for a continuous period of seven days or more • Neonatal leave will be available from day one of employment and pay will be available subject to continuity of service and minimum earning factors, in line with other family-related pay rights • The maximum amount of statutory neonatal leave and pay will be for a duration of 12 weeks • The government will ensure that neonatal leave and pay will be available to someone after they have taken maternity leave / paternity leave by prescribing a set period in which the neonatal leave and pay must be taken • Short, informal notice would be acceptable for an employee to take neonatal leave soon after the date of the neonate’s admission to hospital. The proposal is that at least one week’s notice will be required for neonatal leave that commences at a stage where the child has not recently been admitted into neonatal care • Parents who qualify for neonatal leave will be afforded the same employment rights and protections as parents taking other relevant family-related leave. This would mean that they have a right to return to the same job after a period of neonatal leave, or where a period of neonatal leave is combined with other periods of relevant family-related leave. For example, they will have a right to return to the same job if they are absent from work for a total period of 26 weeks or less (excluding periods of Unpaid Parental Leave of up to four weeks)
Please follow this link to read the CIPP’s response to the original consultation.
The update confirmed that further government responses to the other sections of the ‘Good Work Plan: Proposals to support families’ would be published in due course, including ‘Parental leave and pay’ and ‘Transparency of flexible working and family related leave and pay policies.’
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Coronavirus Bill: Statutory Sick Pay 23 March 2020
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
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cipp.org.uk
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