👶 Terms and Conditions of Employment

Commons Chamber

🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️

New regulations granting paid leave for parents of newborns in neonatal care were approved, offering up to 12 weeks of leave starting in April 2025. The move, supported across party lines, aims to reduce the stress on families during a critical time, with an estimated 34,000 parents annually benefiting. Critics pointed out the delay in implementation and called for further support, including travel and mental health services for affected families. The government acknowledged the need for continued improvement in neonatal and maternity services.

Summary

  • New Regulations Approved: The UK Parliament approved the Neonatal Care Leave and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2025 and the Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (General) Regulations 2025. These will come into force in April 2025.

  • Purpose of Regulations: These regulations implement statutory entitlements for neonatal care leave and pay, supporting employed parents whose newborns require more than seven continuous days of neonatal care within the first 28 days after birth.

  • Eligibility and Benefits: Around 60,000 parents annually may be eligible, with about 34,000 expected to take up paid leave each year. Eligible parents can take between one to twelve weeks of leave, in addition to other parental leave entitlements.

  • Payment Details: Statutory neonatal care pay will be available to employees with 26 weeks of service and average earnings of at least £125 per week. The weekly pay rate for 2025-26 will be £187.18 or 90% of average earnings, whichever is lower.

  • Employer Responsibilities: Employers will administer payments on behalf of the government. Small employers can recover 103% of payments, while larger employers can recover 92%.

  • Flexibility and Tiers: The leave and pay are divided into two tiers. Tier 1 allows for immediate, short-notice leave while the baby is in care and for one week after. Tier 2 can be taken after the baby leaves care with more notice required.

  • Redundancy Protection: Parents on neonatal care leave are protected from redundancy. Those taking six continuous weeks of leave are protected until the child reaches 18 months.

  • Business Impact: The regulations are expected to have a net annual recurring cost of around £22.5 million for businesses, with a one-off familiarisation cost of £4.7 million. However, family-friendly policies are believed to benefit businesses by retaining skilled employees.

  • Consultation and Support: The government consulted extensively with stakeholders. Guidance will be provided to employers, and parents can access information through the charity Bliss.

  • Political Support and Criticism: The regulations received cross-party support, but there were criticisms regarding delays and the government’s broader employment and health policies.

  • Personal Stories and Calls for More Support: MPs shared stories from constituents about the challenges of neonatal care, advocating for further assistance such as travel support funds and better mental health support post-neonatal care.

Divisiveness

The session on ‘Terms and Conditions of Employment’ exhibits a moderate level of disagreement among the speakers. The core of the session revolves around approving the Neonatal Care Leave and Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2025 and Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (General) Regulations 2025. While overall support for these regulations is evident, there are specific areas of contention highlighted by the speakers, primarily from the opposition and the Liberal Democrats, which merit the session being rated as showing moderate disagreement (level 2 on a 1-5 scale).

  1. Political Partisanship and Credit: The session indicates disagreements tied to political partisanship, particularly around who gets credit for the initiative. Greg Smith (Con) criticizes the current Labour government for not including neonatal care leave in their manifesto, claiming it as a Conservative idea. This reflects a subtle disagreement pertaining to policy origins and political credit.

  2. Implementation Timelines and Employment Rights: Greg Smith raises concerns about the timing of the regulations’ introduction, suggesting the government has waited too long, leaving businesses with less time to prepare. He also questions whether this might be a rollback on day one rights, indicating a disagreement on policy implementation and its implications for workers’ rights.

  3. Economic Impact and Growth Tests: Smith critiques the absence of a growth test for the policy, implying a lack of economic consideration, which the government might have overlooked, showing disagreement on the economic analysis and policy impact assessment.

  4. Health Policy and Priorities: There is a clear disagreement on broader health policy priorities, as mentioned by Smith when he critiques the government’s decision to drop women’s health targets. This suggests a broader ideological disagreement outside the immediate scope of the regulations but still linked to them.

  5. Further Support and Adequacy of Measures: Jen Craft (Lab) and Liz Jarvis (LD) both mention that while the regulations are a step in the right direction, they are insufficient without broader support, such as a travel support fund and better mental health support after neonatal care. This expresses a disagreement on the completeness of the government’s approach to supporting families post-neonatal care.

However, it is important to note that despite these disagreements, the session ends with all parties agreeing to support the regulations, indicating a level of consensus on the central proposals. The disagreements are specific to certain aspects of the policy rather than opposition to the policy itself, which is why the session is rated at a moderate level of disagreement rather than higher.