COMPLIANCE
Like all other types of child-related statutory payments, except for maternity, only backdated pay awards will trigger a recalculation of the employee’s average weekly earnings. This could mean that an employee who wasn’t previously entitled to statutory neonatal care pay (SNCP) due to low earnings may now become entitled to payment, provided the backdated earnings go back to the relevant period. Due to the delicate nature of neonatal care leave, it’s important payroll departments are well versed in some of the special circumstances which may surround taking leave and are prepared to handle them with sensitivity. There may be instances where a child passes away after admission to neonatal care. Leave and pay entitlement which has been accrued after “Due to the delicate nature of neonatal care leave, it’s important payroll departments are well versed in some of the special circumstances which may surround taking leave and are prepared to handle them with sensitivity”
must still have been taken as a continuous period except for the interrupting leave. You may also be wondering what to do with the first seven days of absence if SNCL can only be taken once it has been accrued. This means the first seven days cannot be classed as SNCL. How those days are treated is a matter between the employee and employer. Some choices may include: Taking emergency family leave However, depending on the terms and conditions of employment, this might not be paid. Taking another statutory leave Such as paternity leave, if eligible. But it must be mutually agreed between the employee and the employer to waive the notice requirements for this Using annual leave entitlement It’s worth remembering this must be an employee decision, and they cannot be forced to take their annual leave if they don’t want to do so. Entitlement to both leave and pay is accrued by the parent, not the child. This means that where there are multiple births with several eligible neonatal admissions, eligibility is only triggered if any or all of the babies spend seven or more consecutive days in care. Any overlapping admission between two or more babies will trigger an entitlement. Eligibility doesn’t multiply based on the number of babies in admission.
an eligible stay in neonatal care can still be taken. This means that parents of the child may still take any accrued statutory neonatal care leave and pay within 68 weeks of the child’s birth. Other circumstances could include where the employee carries out work for another employer, or when the employee chooses not to return to work after taking a period of SNCL. Where an employee carries out work for another employer during a period of statutory neonatal care leave and pay, it’s the employee’s relationship with this employer in the week before the child was admitted to neonatal care which dictates whether SNCP should continue to be paid. If the employer is a new employer who they weren’t employed by in the week prior to neonatal admission, then pay must stop from the start of the week in which they carried out work for the new employer. A non-payment of SNCP form must be provided to the employee detailing the reason you have ceased paying SNCP. An employee may choose not to return to work after a period of statutory neonatal care leave and pay. It’s important to note here that one of the eligibility requirements for SNCL is that the individual must be an employee prior to taking leave. If the employee then decides not to return to work, SNCP payments are still eligible to be paid, and the employer cannot ask the employee to repay this. HMRC recently released guidance on this topic, which can be found at https:// ow.ly/9EXg50VvESB. n
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 110 | May 2025
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