{"id":15165,"date":"2025-03-31T15:52:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T15:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/?post_type=resources&#038;p=15165"},"modified":"2026-02-17T11:12:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T11:12:50","slug":"neonatal-care-leave-a-practical-guide","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/absence-management\/neonatal-care-leave-a-practical-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Neonatal care leave &#8211; a practical guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-primary-white-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-b5fc8583 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-radius:25px;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7fc3d43a wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:70%\">\n<p class=\"\">Jo Broadbent, counsel knowledge lawyer at Hogan Lovells, and Brightmine senior legal editor Laura Merrylees, discuss the new right to&nbsp;neonatal care leave&nbsp;and look at likely forthcoming changes to family-friendly employment rights in the Employment Rights Bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"listen\" class=\"\">Listen now for actionable insights, expert analysis, and a look at what\u2019s next for HR strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Neonatal care leave - a practical guide\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/3LJbYFDzfmE611riJ6xwqG?si=1f7a66270c164df2&amp;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<details id=\"transcript\" class=\"wp-block-details has-secondary-blue-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-ca6d4614c57647e963567848b5f2efbc is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\" style=\"font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.548), 18px);\"><summary>Read the transcript<\/summary>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore: <\/strong>Hello, and welcome to the Brightmine podcast, formerly known as the XpertHR podcast. Brightmine is a leading provider of people data, analytics and insight, offering employment law expertise, comprehensive HR resources and reward data to meet every HR and organisational challenge and opportunity. You can find us any time of the day or night at <a href=\"\/uk\/\">www.brightmine.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Hello everyone. My name is Robert Shore, and I am delighted to be welcoming to the podcast today Jo Broadbent, council knowledge lawyer in the employment law team at Hogan Lovells. Many of you will know Jo from her work across Brightmine content, and in particular our family-friendly employment law guides. Jo has just written our two new guides on neonatal care leave and neonatal care pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Jo, hello.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent: <\/strong>Hi Robert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore: <\/strong>And also joining us is Laura Merrylees, senior legal editor at Brightmine. Laura, great to have you on board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees:<\/strong> Hi Robert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> So, we are gathered here today to talk about some of the trickier questions arising out of the new neonatal care leave right, in force from 6 April 2025. We\u2019ve had a webinar on this and we didn\u2019t have time to run through all questions that were raised at that, and we\u2019ll be picking on many of those today, and others that we know people are very keen to know more about. We\u2019ll also be flagging what\u2019s in the pipeline on the family-friendly rights front with the forthcoming Employment Rights Bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So, the new right to neonatal care leave has been in preparation a long time, got Royal Assent under the last Government and is now coming into effect under the new Government. There are lots of technicalities to talk through, so let\u2019s get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Jo, to put the rest of our discussion into context, how many parents are likely to benefit from this new right to neonatal care leave?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent: <\/strong>Well, according to Government estimates, around 60,000 employees a year are going to benefit from neonatal care leave. And I also had a look at some statistics that were published by Bliss, which people will know is the charity for babies who are born premature sick. And they say that about 90,000 babies a year need a period of neonatal care. The average stay is around a week but obviously not all babies will need that long. And I think, for example, the typical stay in neonatal care for a baby that\u2019s born at term is four days. Babies that are sick or premature are typically going to need care for a longer period, and it\u2019s really parents of those babies that are going to find the new right so helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees: <\/strong>Yeah, \u2018cause as we know, neonatal care leave is only going to kick in once a child has spent at least seven days in neonatal care. So Jo, which employees are going to be most affected by that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> I think that\u2019s likely to be a particular issue for fathers or for the mother or adopter\u2019s partner. And that\u2019s because in almost every case a baby\u2019s mother is going to be on maternity leave while the baby\u2019s receiving neonatal care, and in an adoption situation the primary adopter is generally going to be on adoption leave. As listeners will know, it\u2019s very uncommon in practice for a mother or an adopter to have returned to work at that stage, or to have curtailed their maternity or adoption leave at an early stage and be taking shared parental leave during the first weeks of a child\u2019s life. Although someone may have curtailed their maternity or adoption leave from a future date so that the second parent can access shared parental leave, typically they won\u2019t actually have brought their own leave to an end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees: <\/strong>Okay. So what\u2019s the position then for fathers or partners? Are they going to be able to take any leave during that first week of neonatal care?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> That\u2019s really going to depend on how they\u2019ve chosen to take any paternity leave to which they might be entitled, and also the point at which the baby\u2019s admitted to neonatal care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">One thing that\u2019s really caught in confusion is the fact that there are such a wide variety of different scenarios that employers may have to deal with. I should also say at this stage I\u2019m going to concentrate on birth situations today because adoptions at birth are relatively uncommon, and that means that employers are much more likely to be dealing with neonatal care leave in the context of birth, I think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees:<\/strong> So what happens then if the father or mother\u2019s partner has chosen to take a period of paternity leave which starts when the child is born?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> So, in that case the paternity leave is going to start at birth as planned, and the parent will then be on paternity leave if the child\u2019s admitted into neonatal care at, or shortly after, birth. So they\u2019ll be on leave but it\u2019s going to be paternity leave, not neonatal care leave. And if the baby then remains in care for that first complete week,<br>they\u2019ll be able to take the accrued neonatal care leave after the paternity leave ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees: <\/strong>Okay. So looking then at the other scenario, what happens if the employee has chosen to start their paternity leave on a particular date from birth, so sort of almost an advanced booking of paternity leave so it doesn\u2019t coincide with the birth itself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> Yeah, and that\u2019s obviously a more complicated situation where the parent\u2019s chosen to start their paternity leave at a different time. In that case, they may want to vary the date on which they want their paternity leave to start, in order to bring it forward. That normally requires 28 days\u2019 notice but there is an exception if it\u2019s not<br>reasonably practicable to give the notice in that timeframe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Employers may therefore find that employees are asking to start their paternity leave earlier than they\u2019d originally planned, so that they can then be present during that initial period of neonatal care. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> Jo, Laura, if I can just come back in here. I\u2019ve got a couple of scenarios as well. What about a scenario where the parent isn\u2019t entitled to paternity leave at all, for example, because they haven\u2019t got the necessary length of service? Or \u2013 another scenario \u2013 where a parent doesn\u2019t want to start their paternity leave early for some reason. What happens then?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent: <\/strong>Yeah, that\u2019s a really difficult situation. Although, in relation to the first point you mentioned, Robert, under the Employment Rights Bill the service requirement for paternity leave is obviously being removed, so going forward that will be less of an issue. But in the meantime there are various options that might be available to the employee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So, thinking about their statutory rights, it might be possible for them to take a period of unpaid leave to care for a dependent, say. Now, the right to time off for dependents covers absence to provide assistance in connection with birth or to make arrangements for the provision of care for a dependent who\u2019s ill. The right is to reasonable time off, and most employers in that situation are going to be flexible  about what they regard as reasonable time off. And what that might do is help someone over those first few days before the right to neonatal care leave is triggered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore: <\/strong>Yes. I\u2019m going to ask you a question there about unpaid time off in a second. But actually, just to go back to the Employment Rights Bill there, where you say about the service requirement for paternity leave being removed. Of course, this is going to happen probably at some point in the future because the RB is still being debated, isn\u2019t it? So, as of 6 April there is still the service requirement. That\u2019s right, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent: <\/strong>That\u2019s right. It\u2019s only at some point, probably not until later this year at the earliest that that change is going to be made to paternity leave entitlement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore: <\/strong>Yeah. So anyway, we were talking about unpaid time off there. Is there any paid entitlement?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> No formal statutory entitlement, but an employee could obviously ask to take a period of holiday with immediate effect in order for the leave to be paid. And again, you\u2019d hope that most employers are going to agree to that even without any advanced notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">If the employee\u2019s in a situation where they haven\u2019t got sufficient holiday to cover the absence \u2013 for example, they\u2019ve only recently started work \u2013 they\u2019re normally going to have to rely on the employer\u2019s goodwill. Large employers in particular are often going to have policies that allow someone to take a period of paid time off in that situation. That might be a carers\u2019 leave policy, it might be some form of compassionate leave, for example. And most employers are going to want to help an employee while they\u2019re supporting their partner and sick child, I would have thought. And even if there\u2019s no policy allowing for paid leave, you\u2019d expect that employers are going to be willing to give someone a short period of unpaid leave until the right to neonatal care leave begins to apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees: <\/strong>We\u2019ve talked about paternity leave and the right to time off for dependents. But one thing we certainly noticed with questions that were coming through in our recent webinar, and that\u2019s been causing a bit of confusion, is how the new right interacts with shared parental leave. How does that work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent: <\/strong>So, I think the basic principle to hang onto is that they\u2019re two completely different types of leave. A parent is entitled to neonatal care leave and they may also be entitled to shared parental leave if they meet the eligibility criteria and either the child\u2019s mother has curtailed their maternity leave or the adopter has curtailed their adoption leave. And the fact that the neonatal care leave has got to be taken within 68 weeks of birth means that someone\u2019s going to be able to take the  maximum amount of shared parental leave as well as the maximum amount of neonatal care leave, even if the baby in fact spends the full twelve weeks in hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees:<\/strong> Okay. So that\u2019s the basic principle. But one quick point of clarification. Is neonatal care leave a shared entitlement in the same way as shared parental leave, or is it more of an individual right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> No, it\u2019s definitely an individual right. Each parent accrues neonatal care leave in relation to the child, and can choose when to use it. It\u2019s not a right to a certain number of weeks\u2019 leave split between the parents. And as we\u2019ve mentioned already, the parents may well be taking neonatal care leave at different times. So the father, or the partner of the child\u2019s mother or adopter, is more likely to be taking leave while a child\u2019s receiving care, while the mother or adopter will typically be taking the leave at a later date once their maternity or adoption leave has finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees: <\/strong>So, just returning then to shared parental leave and how it might interact with neonatal care leave, say that a mother has curtailed her leave so that her partner can take shared parental leave at the end of their paternity leave, and the child needs neonatal care. What happens in that scenario?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> Okay. So, as you\u2019ve said, her partner is going to be on paternity leave for the first couple of weeks usually. And that\u2019s because at the moment they\u2019re going to lose their paternity leave if they don\u2019t take it before any period of shared parental leave. The shared parental leave is then going to start as planned, and it will last for the relevant period. And the neonatal care leave entitlement will be accruing while the individual\u2019s on their paternity and shared parental leave, and then they\u2019ll be able to take it at any point within 68 weeks of the child\u2019s birth. If they take it during the Tier 2 period \u2013 that\u2019s broadly from a week after the baby leaves neonatal care \u2013 they\u2019ll have to give notice and take all their neonatal care leave in one go. If the baby is still in neonatal care at that point, they\u2019ll have more flexibility about how and when to take the leave, and won\u2019t have to give as much notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees: <\/strong>What would be the position then if the partner was planning to take paternity leave, go back to work for a couple of weeks, and then take some shared parental leave?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> Well, in that situation the father or partner might be part-way through a week of neonatal care leave when the shared parental leave is due to start. Remember that the leave accrues a week at a time. So in the early stages of a child\u2019s life, a parent is probably notifying their employer that they want to take neonatal care leave on a week-by-week basis. So in that example, the father or partner has had two weeks of paternity leave. They\u2019ve then chosen to take some neonatal care leave. And while they\u2019re part-way through that period of neonatal leave, their shared parental leave is due to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Effectively, the shared parental leave is going to start as planned, and the period of neonatal care leave that they\u2019re on at that point is going to be paused. And the neonatal care leave will then resume automatically at the end of the shared parental leave period if they\u2019re still in the Tier 1 period at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">If they\u2019re in the Tier 2 period by then \u2013 a as we said, the baby\u2019s been out of neonatal care for a week a more \u2013 the parent can choose when to take the rest of the neonatal care leave that they were on when the shared parental leave started. But when they take the balance, that\u2019s got to be consecutive with any other neonatal care leave that\u2019s accrued and that they want to take.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> Can I just say, this is all quite complicated, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent: <\/strong>Yeah, it really is. And I think the complexity stems from the fact that someone\u2019s not going to know in advance how long a baby\u2019s going to be in care. So fathers and partners in particular are going to be taking leave quite often as it accrues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The Government also wanted to give employees maximum flexibility to take leave when they need it. But that doesn\u2019t sit terribly neatly with other family-friendly rights, which obviously normally require employees to give employers advanced notice of leave and any changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">It\u2019s really easy to get bogged down in the detail. So I think it might help to think about the underlying purpose of the leave. So, first it\u2019s to allow a parent time off work while their child is receiving neonatal care. But second, it\u2019s also to make sure that a parent can spend as much time at home with the child once it\u2019s discharged, as they would have done if the baby had been able to come home shortly after birth. And that\u2019s really why the parent can be on a different type of leave \u2013 perhaps maternity, adoption, paternity or shared parental leave \u2013 while the baby\u2019s in neonatal care, but can then still take neonatal care leave at a later date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> Yeah. So that is a very useful thing, isn\u2019t it Jo, that actually for HR to think about, which is, \u2018What is the underlying purpose of this leave?\u2019?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent: <\/strong>And I think that just helps you put the rest of how the entitlement works in a bit of context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore: <\/strong>Yeah, I think that\u2019s great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees: <\/strong>If I can then, just sort of finishing off on shared parental leave, could parents who had initially wanted to take advantage of the shared parental leave system in the early stages of a child\u2019s life later opt out if a baby needs neonatal care?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> Theoretically they could, if the mother gave her leave curtailment notice before the child\u2019s birth, because in that case she can revoke her leave       curtailment notice within six weeks of birth, as long as she doesn\u2019t that before her maternity leave was due to end. She could then opt back into the shared parental leave system at a later date if she wants to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">However, it\u2019s not quite that simple because the father, or the mother\u2019s partner, may still be required to take shared parental leave if their employer has had less than eight weeks\u2019 notice of the change. If it\u2019s not reasonably practicable for the employer to<br>accommodate the change, it can require the employee to take shared parental leave. So in practice, it may be easier for the employee to take their shared parental leave as planned, and then take their neonatal care leave at a later date. But again, you\u2019d really hope that an employer would be prepared to be as flexible as possible in that situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees:<\/strong> So let\u2019s just move onto a different topic, away from shared parental leave. What can employers ask their employees, if indeed anything at all, to provide in the way of evidence that they\u2019re entitled to neonatal care leave?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> As you would sort of envisage, Laura, not that much. Certainly under the statutory rules an employer can\u2019t ask the employee to provide medical evidence that the baby\u2019s in neonatal care, for example. All they\u2019re entitled to is confirmation of the baby\u2019s date of birth, the date that neonatal care started (and ended, if relevant), how much leave the employee is taking, when it\u2019s going to begin and confirmation that the employee\u2019s taking leave in order to care for the child. The first time an employee takes leave they also have to confirm that they\u2019re the child\u2019s parent, as defined in the regulations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore: <\/strong>Right. And is that different from other types of leave?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> No, not really. Hopefully that gives employers a degree of comfort. For example, if an employee takes carers\u2019 leave employers can\u2019t ask for evidence that the employee\u2019s dependent is disabled or has a long-term care need. In practice that doesn\u2019t seem to have caused too many issues, although clearly carers\u2019 leave is unpaid, unlike neonatal care leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">If an employer was going to offer enhanced pay for neonatal care leave in additional to statutory pay, they could in theory make the entitlement to pay conditional on providing evidence that the child is in neonatal care. In that situation they\u2019d have to think about their obligations when processing special categories of data under the UK GDPR, and I\u2019m not sure many employers will want to impose heavy\u0002handed  requirements for evidence at such a difficult time. It seems fairly unlikely that many employees are going to lie about their child being in neonatal care, so in practice I think most employers are probably just going to take it on trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees:<\/strong> Another area that some employers we know are finding difficult to navigate is the enhanced protection against redundancy, and this is applicable to other statutory rights as well. Can you just explain what the rules are here, in relation to enhanced protection against redundancy in neonatal care leave?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> What the Government\u2019s done here basically reflects the enhanced redundancy protections for employees who have taken a period of maternity, adoption or shared parental leave that were introduced last year, and that recognises that someone could be on neonatal care leave for a relatively extended period, in  contrast to the two\u0002week paternity leave period, for example. So a parent who\u2019s at risk of redundancy while they\u2019re on neonatal care leave is entitled to be offered a suitable alternative vacancy in just the same way as someone who\u2019s on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees:<\/strong> Okay. So that\u2019s while they\u2019re on neonatal care leave. So what\u2019s the position after someone returns to work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent: <\/strong>There\u2019s further protection for an employee that\u2019s taken six or more weeks of neonatal care leave as a single period. So for example, someone whose baby has been born very prematurely, needs six weeks\u2019 of care, and the parent\u2019s taken all their neonatal care leave in one go. If they\u2019re then at risk of redundancy after they return to work but in the 18 months after the child\u2019s birth, they\u2019re also entitled to be offered a suitable alternative vacancy. And that\u2019s the same protection that already applies to parents who\u2019ve taken at least six consecutive weeks of shared parental leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees: <\/strong>And there\u2019s something interesting here, isn\u2019t it, which potentially is going to be a bit of a headache for employers, because these recent changes make it more likely, really, that employers are going to face a situation in which several employees in a redundancy situation have this enhanced protection against dismissal. So does the legislation sort of provide any guidance or direction on how<br>employers should sort of prioritise employees if there aren\u2019t enough suitable vacancies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> The legislation itself really doesn\u2019t cover that point, but there is some quite helpful ACAS guidance on the topic. What that says is that, in that situation, the employer is going to have to decide who\u2019s the most suitable for the roles that are vacant from the group of protected employees. And employers might want to take account of factors such as skills, job knowledge, experience. And the recommendation from ACAS is that they set out in writing which criteria they\u2019re going to use in order to take a decision, and also why they\u2019ve chosen those criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">And then the guidance also says you should meet with any employee who\u2019s not offered a suitable alternative vacancy to explain why that\u2019s the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees:<\/strong> Sorry to interrupt you, Jo. I was just going to say, given that that\u2019s the case, what would you suggest employers do in this type of situation to try and sort of protect themselves?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> Yeah. I think the sort of key point is going to be making sure that employers keep accurate records of employees who are entitled to the additional protection. That\u2019s going to allow an employer to know who\u2019s in that priority redeployment pool, and then go on to identify suitable alternative vacancies at an early stage of any redundancy process. They can then implement a fair selection process if that\u2019s necessary in order to decide who should be offered those vacancies.<br>And transparency\u2019s likely to be the key so that employees really can understand the basis for any decisions, and hopefully that in turn is going to reduce the risk of claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> Yes. Talking about the risk of claims, can you remind us of some of the other employment protections that employees who take neonatal care leave will have?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> Those really reflect the normal protections for employees taking any <br>form of family leave. So an employee\u2019s entitled not to be subjected to a detriment for taking or seeking to take neonatal care leave. Dismissing an employee for taking or seeking to take that leave is also going to be automatically unfair. And normal terms and conditions of employment apply during any period of leave, except for the terms relating to remuneration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees:<\/strong> And Jo, what about protection under the Equality Act? Is there anything new that\u2019s coming in there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent: <\/strong>No, there\u2019s nothing specifically relating to neonatal care leave in the Equality Act. But mothers obviously can\u2019t be discriminated against because of pregnancy and mustn\u2019t be treated unfavourably because they\u2019ve taken maternity leave. So employers could potentially face a pregnancy and maternity leave claim, although it\u2019s fair to say that a detriment claim under the neonatal care regulations are going to be a more obvious route where a complaint relates specifically to neonatal care leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees:<\/strong> Yeah. And what about fathers or the mother\u2019s partner? Is there any discrimination risk there for employers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> It might be possible for a father or a partner to bring a direct sex discrimination claim if a woman whose child needed neonatal care would have been treated differently. But it\u2019s going to be difficult to use a woman who\u2019s on maternity leave for that point as a comparator for a claim in many cases because they\u2019re going to be viewed as being immaterially different circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">If the child that needs care is disabled, it may be possible to bring an associative direct discrimination claim. That would involve arguing that the father or partner has been less favourably treated than someone else would be because their child has got a disability. Now, there are real practical issues around those claims because it\u2019s more likely to be the fact that the father needs time off that results in less favourable treatment, not simply the fact that the baby\u2019s disabled. And you can\u2019t bring an associative discrimination arising from a disability claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">We may also see people trying to bring associative indirect discrimination claims. But to succeed in those, an employee\u2019s going to need to be able to show that their employer has applied a provision criterion or practice that puts people who share a protected characteristic at a disadvantage, and that the claimant is also put at that disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Now, evidentially that might be difficult. It won\u2019t necessarily be enough to demonstrate that something an employer did put the claimant at a disadvantage because they were the parent of a disabled child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> Yes. There\u2019s quite a lot to take on board there, isn\u2019t there? But Jo, before we finish, can we actually cover even more? So there\u2019s even more to take on board! Could you give us a quick recap on what else is on the way on the family-friendly front?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> Yeah, of course. And I think these are probably a bit easier to get your head around than some of the very complex things we\u2019ve just been talking about. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So, the first changes we\u2019re likely to see are the ones that are going to be introduced through the Employment Rights Bill. Paternity leave and ordinary parental leave are going to become Day One rights, and that\u2019s unlikely to give rise to too many practical difficulties. In addition, in future an employee\u2019s going to be able to take a period of paternity leave after a period of shared parental leave, and that simply corrects what\u2019s always looked a bit of an odd restriction that stops paternity leave being taken after shared parental leave. Again, no real issues there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">But proposals around enhanced protection against dismissal for employees taking family leave may be a bit more problematic, and that\u2019s not least because we don\u2019t know exactly what they\u2019re going to look like at the moment. So, the Bill gives the Government a regulation-making power allowing them to introduce the additional protection in due course. What the Government said is that it intends to give employees protection from dismissal while pregnant, on maternity leave and within six months of returning to work. Similar protections are going to apply to employees who are on, or who have returned to work from, adoption, shared parental or neonatal care leave. And it seems likely that an employer\u2019s only going to be able to dismiss protected employees in specified situations. That\u2019s going to reflect the high levels of protection that are already available to employees taking maternity leave in quite a lot of European jurisdictions, although it\u2019s probably worth saying that family leave lasts much longer in the UK than it typically does in Europe. So the protection is likely to last for a longer period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore: <\/strong>And employers should also be watching out for the changes to the flexible working regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> That\u2019s right. That\u2019s going to tighten up the existing framework and make it harder for an employer to refuse flexible working requests. In future it\u2019s only going to be possible to refuse a request if it\u2019s reasonable to do so. And employers are also going to have to tell employees both which statutory reason for refusing they\u2019re relying on, and also why they think that their refusal is reasonable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore: <\/strong>Okay. So as you say, that\u2019s mostly about sort of tightening up existing things, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent: <\/strong>Indeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> So finally, though, employers will need to prepare for an extended right to bereavement leave too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent: <\/strong>Yes. That\u2019s going to be a Day One right to a week\u2019s bereavement leave if any employee loses a close relative. The details once again are going to be confirmed in the regulations in due course, and that includes which relationships are going to be covered by the new right. But we do know that the existing right to two weeks bereaved parental leave is going to remain in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore: <\/strong>Yes. So as you say, the actual relationships that will be covered by this extended right still need to be defined. And then bereavement leave covers, I think, pregnancy loss?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent: <\/strong>Yes. And that\u2019s something that\u2019s only been confirmed reasonably recently. It\u2019s another situation where we don\u2019t have the detail as yet, including whether or not any period of leave would be paid. But the Government has confirmed that it accepts the principle of bereavement leave for pregnancy loss, and it\u2019s said that it\u2019s going to amend the Employment Rights Bill before it becomes law in order to reflect that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> Well, I think that\u2019s probably as much as we can cover in a single podcast, I think. Jo, thank you so much for your time today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Jo Broadbent:<\/strong> Nice being with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> And Laura, thank you so much as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Laura Merrylees:<\/strong> Thanks Robert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> At Brightmine we have on the website lots of supporting materials on all of these subjects, in large part written by Jo. We\u2019re very lucky about that. We also have the webinar which you can watch, where we covered some of this as well. So, if you go to <a href=\"\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/absence-management\/statutory-neonatal-care-leave-webinar\/\">www.brightmine.com<\/a> you will find it there. And beyond that, I can just say, until next time.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"speakers\">Brightmine host<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6c531013 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-thumbnail is-resized is-style-rounded\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/17154338\/Robert_Shore-150x150.webp\" alt=\"Robert Shore, HR Market Insights Editor at Brightmine\" class=\"wp-image-10115\" style=\"object-fit:cover;width:100px;height:100px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong>Robert Shore<\/strong><br>HR Markets Insights Editor, Brightmine<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Guest speakers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6c531013 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized is-style-rounded\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/01\/13144636\/speaker-avatar.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14506\" style=\"object-fit:cover;width:100px;height:100px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong>Jo Broadbent<\/strong><br>Council Knowledge Lawyer, Hogan Lovells<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6c531013 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-thumbnail is-resized is-style-rounded\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"130\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/10\/07033610\/laura-merrylees-headshot-130x150.webp\" alt=\"Laura Merrylees, Senior Legal Editor, Brightmine\" class=\"wp-image-9318\" style=\"object-fit:cover;width:100px;height:100px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong>Laura Merrylees<\/strong><br>Senior Legal Editor, Brightmine<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column lnrs-hide-block-on-mobile is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"border-left-color:var(--wp--preset--color--secondary-gray);border-left-width:2px;padding-left:10px;flex-basis:30%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained wp-container-3 is-position-sticky\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-secondary-gray-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-db4c44a6 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-radius:14px;padding-top:10px;padding-right:10px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:10px\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-4b827052 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p style=\"margin-bottom:5px;font-style:normal;font-weight:400\" class=\"\">In this resource:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-459ffb2a7b3dc338c93226d3be8270c8\" style=\"margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3\"><a href=\"#listen\">Listen now<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-53b045a32da828cda288ce2a72946a2d\" style=\"margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3\"><a href=\"#transcript\">Transcript<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-71518ad09f03d83428d3713a9cbb6f21\" style=\"margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3\"><a href=\"#speakers\">Speakers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-bleach-white-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a36fa716 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-radius:14px;padding-top:10px;padding-right:15px;padding-bottom:15px;padding-left:15px\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Navigate HR complexity with confidence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">With Brightmine, you can build powerful people strategies, implement best practices and set your organisation up for a brighter future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Learn how our tools, resources and automation can empower you and your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"\/uk\/solutions\/?intcmp=cta|blog|solutions|learn-more\" style=\"border-radius:25px\">Learn more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group lnrs-hide-block-on-mobile has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ad1af2a0 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-secondary-gray-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-secondary-gray-background-color has-background\" style=\"margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Read more articles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-query is-layout-flow wp-block-query-is-layout-flow\"><ul class=\"wp-block-post-template is-layout-flow wp-container-core-post-template-is-layout-ea1fff98 wp-block-post-template-is-layout-flow\"><li class=\"wp-block-post post-15466 resources type-resources status-publish has-post-thumbnail hentry category-tools topic-policies\">\n<h2 style=\"font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3;text-decoration:underline; margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;\" class=\"wp-block-post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/policies\/model-policies-the-complete-list\/\" target=\"_self\" >Model policies: The complete list<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-15716 resources type-resources status-publish has-post-thumbnail hentry category-c-and-i tag-employment-rights-act topic-employment-law-updates\">\n<h2 style=\"font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3;text-decoration:underline; margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;\" class=\"wp-block-post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/employment-law-updates\/april-2026-employment-law-changes-six-point-checklist-for-hr\/\" target=\"_self\" >April 2026 employment law changes: Six-point checklist for HR<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-15468 resources type-resources status-publish has-post-thumbnail hentry category-guides-how-to topic-learning-development\">\n<h2 style=\"font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3;text-decoration:underline; margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;\" class=\"wp-block-post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/talent-management\/learning-development\/training-guides-and-powerpoint-presentations\/\" target=\"_self\" >Training guides and PowerPoint presentations: The complete list<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\">\n<p class=\"\"><a href=\"#top\">Go back to the top<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-primary-white-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-4b7a3f7f wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-radius:25px;margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You may also be interested in&#8230;<\/h2>\n\n\n<section id=\"resources-search-filter\" class=\"wp-elements-20abf8378c02f10917e837a256b14c1a wp-block-brightmine-resources-filter has-text-color has-primary-black-color has-background has-primary-white-background-color\">\n\n\n<div class=\"ajax-filter\">\n<div class=\"lnrs-resources-search-filter  editor-posts-filtered-topics \">\n\t\t<div class=\"search_terms_bottom\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"bottom_left\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"search_terms_result_count\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"bottom_right\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"loader-container\">\n\t\t<span class=\"loader\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-filter-widget__container\">\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__resource\" style=\"background-color: #E9E7E4\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/employment-law-updates\/labour-government-employment-law-changes-tracker\/\"><div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__resource_image\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/17112605\/Brightmine-employee-rights-bill-qanda-podcast.webp);\"><\/div><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__inner_content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-top\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__categories\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__category\">Commentary and Insights<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"title\" style=\"color: #00728B\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/employment-law-updates\/labour-government-employment-law-changes-tracker\/\">Labour Government employment law changes | On your radar<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"color: #000000\">This resource reviews Labour Government employment law changes that are in the pipeline and how you can prepare &#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__resource\" style=\"background-color: #E9E7E4\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/absence-management\/shared-parental-leave-policy-birth\/\"><div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__resource_image\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/25152950\/family-leaving-house-with-luggage-at-front-door.webp);\"><\/div><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__inner_content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-top\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__categories\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__category\">Tools &amp; templates<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"title\" style=\"color: #00728B\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/absence-management\/shared-parental-leave-policy-birth\/\">Shared parental leave policy (birth)<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"color: #000000\">A model shared parental leave policy setting out employees\u2019 rights to shared parental leave and pay following the &#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__resource\" style=\"background-color: #E9E7E4\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/absence-management\/rest-breaks-and-rest-periods\/\"><div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__resource_image\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/03111425\/creative-team-having-discussion-around-wooden-table.webp);\"><\/div><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__inner_content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-top\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__categories\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__category\">Employment law guide<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"title\" style=\"color: #00728B\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/absence-management\/rest-breaks-and-rest-periods\/\">Rest breaks and rest periods<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"color: #000000\">A guide to workers\u2019 statutory rights to rest breaks and rest periods under the Working Time Regulations 1998, &#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-primary-white-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-0fd240ca wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" id=\"newsletter\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-large-font-size\">Sign up to receive expert HR 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value=\"Mauritius\">Mauritius<\/option><option value=\"Mayotte\">Mayotte<\/option><option value=\"Mexico\">Mexico<\/option><option value=\"Micronesia\">Micronesia<\/option><option value=\"Moldova, Republic of\">Moldova, Republic of<\/option><option value=\"Monaco\">Monaco<\/option><option value=\"Mongolia\">Mongolia<\/option><option value=\"Montenegro\">Montenegro<\/option><option value=\"Montserrat\">Montserrat<\/option><option value=\"Morocco\">Morocco<\/option><option value=\"Mozambique\">Mozambique<\/option><option value=\"Myanmar\">Myanmar<\/option><option value=\"Namibia\">Namibia<\/option><option value=\"Nauru\">Nauru<\/option><option value=\"Nepal\">Nepal<\/option><option value=\"Netherlands\">Netherlands<\/option><option value=\"New Caledonia\">New Caledonia<\/option><option value=\"New Zealand\">New Zealand<\/option><option value=\"Nicaragua\">Nicaragua<\/option><option value=\"Niger\">Niger<\/option><option value=\"Nigeria\">Nigeria<\/option><option value=\"Niue\">Niue<\/option><option value=\"Norfolk Island\">Norfolk Island<\/option><option value=\"Northern Mariana Islands\">Northern Mariana Islands<\/option><option value=\"Norway\">Norway<\/option><option value=\"Oman\">Oman<\/option><option value=\"Pakistan\">Pakistan<\/option><option value=\"Palau\">Palau<\/option><option value=\"Palestinian Territory, Occupied\">Palestinian Territory, Occupied<\/option><option value=\"Panama\">Panama<\/option><option value=\"Papua New\n    Guinea\">Papua New\n    Guinea<\/option><option value=\"Paraguay\">Paraguay<\/option><option value=\"Peru\">Peru<\/option><option value=\"Philippines\">Philippines<\/option><option value=\"Pitcairn\">Pitcairn<\/option><option value=\"Poland\">Poland<\/option><option value=\"Portugal\">Portugal<\/option><option value=\"Puerto Rico\">Puerto Rico<\/option><option value=\"Qatar\">Qatar<\/option><option value=\"Reunion\">Reunion<\/option><option value=\"Romania\">Romania<\/option><option value=\"Russian Federation\">Russian Federation<\/option><option value=\"Rwanda\">Rwanda<\/option><option value=\"Saint Barth\u00e9lemy\">Saint Barth\u00e9lemy<\/option><option value=\"Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha\">Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha<\/option><option value=\"Saint\n    Kitts and Nevis\">Saint\n    Kitts and Nevis<\/option><option value=\"Saint Lucia\">Saint Lucia<\/option><option value=\"Saint Martin (French part)\">Saint Martin (French part)<\/option><option value=\"Saint Pierre\n    and Miquelon\">Saint Pierre\n    and Miquelon<\/option><option value=\"Saint Vincent and the Grenadines\">Saint Vincent and the Grenadines<\/option><option value=\"Samoa\">Samoa<\/option><option value=\"San Marino\">San Marino<\/option><option value=\"Sao\n    Tome and Principe\">Sao\n    Tome and Principe<\/option><option value=\"Saudi Arabia\">Saudi Arabia<\/option><option value=\"Senegal\">Senegal<\/option><option value=\"Serbia\">Serbia<\/option><option value=\"Seychelles\">Seychelles<\/option><option value=\"Sierra\n    Leone\">Sierra\n    Leone<\/option><option value=\"Singapore\">Singapore<\/option><option value=\"Sint Maarten (Dutch part)\">Sint Maarten (Dutch part)<\/option><option value=\"Slovakia\">Slovakia<\/option><option value=\"Slovenia\">Slovenia<\/option><option value=\"Solomon Islands\">Solomon Islands<\/option><option value=\"Somalia\">Somalia<\/option><option value=\"South Africa\">South Africa<\/option><option value=\"South Georgia and the South\n    Sandwich Islands\">South Georgia and the South\n    Sandwich Islands<\/option><option value=\"South Sudan\">South Sudan<\/option><option value=\"Spain\">Spain<\/option><option value=\"Sri Lanka\">Sri Lanka<\/option><option value=\"Sudan\">Sudan<\/option><option value=\"Suriname\">Suriname<\/option><option value=\"Svalbard and Jan Mayen\">Svalbard and Jan Mayen<\/option><option value=\"Sweden\">Sweden<\/option><option value=\"Switzerland\">Switzerland<\/option><option value=\"Syrian Arab Republic\">Syrian Arab Republic<\/option><option value=\"Taiwan\">Taiwan<\/option><option value=\"Tajikistan\">Tajikistan<\/option><option value=\"Tanzania, United Republic of\">Tanzania, United Republic of<\/option><option value=\"Thailand\">Thailand<\/option><option value=\"Timor-Leste\">Timor-Leste<\/option><option value=\"Togo\">Togo<\/option><option value=\"Tokelau\">Tokelau<\/option><option value=\"Tonga\">Tonga<\/option><option value=\"Trinidad and Tobago\">Trinidad and Tobago<\/option><option value=\"Tunisia\">Tunisia<\/option><option value=\"Turkey\">Turkey<\/option><option value=\"Turkmenistan\">Turkmenistan<\/option><option value=\"Turks and Caicos Islands\">Turks and Caicos Islands<\/option><option value=\"Tuvalu\">Tuvalu<\/option><option value=\"Uganda\">Uganda<\/option><option value=\"Ukraine\">Ukraine<\/option><option value=\"United Arab Emirates\">United Arab Emirates<\/option><option value=\"United\n    States Minor Outlying Islands\">United\n    States Minor Outlying Islands<\/option><option value=\"Uruguay\">Uruguay<\/option><option value=\"Uzbekistan\">Uzbekistan<\/option><option value=\"Vanuatu\">Vanuatu<\/option><option value=\"Venezuela,\n    Bolivarian Republic of\">Venezuela,\n    Bolivarian Republic of<\/option><option value=\"Viet Nam\">Viet Nam<\/option><option value=\"Virgin Islands, British\">Virgin Islands, British<\/option><option value=\"Wallis and\n    Futuna\">Wallis and\n    Futuna<\/option><option value=\"Western Sahara\">Western Sahara<\/option><option value=\"Yemen\">Yemen<\/option><option value=\"Zambia\">Zambia<\/option><option value=\"Zimbabwe\">Zimbabwe<\/option><\/select><\/span><\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"form-submit\">\n<button type=\"submit\" id=\"contact-us-submit-button\" class=\"wp-block-button__link wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-submit has-spinner\">Get our latest updates<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n*<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/\" 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