New Employment Bill focused on Neonatal Care and Carer’s leave to enter legislative branches

Proposed changes to employment legislation in the Isle of Man relating to the provision of neonatal care leave and carer’s leave are due to be introduced to the House of Keys next week.

As part of the ongoing efforts to modernise and strengthen employment legislation, the Department for Enterprise is proposing amendments to the Employment Act 2006 through the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2025. This is the second of two Bills that the Department committed to producing under the legislative programme published in the Island Plan.

The Bill, if approved, would allow the Department to subsequently bring forward secondary legislation to introduce the following proposals:

Neonatal Care Leave

Where a child receives care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, eligible parents will be able to claim up to 12 weeks of additional parental leave, linked to the duration of care. This proposal directly supports working families experiencing difficult situations at the start of their child’s life.

Carer’s Leave

A new two-tier statutory provision will allow employees to take leave from the workplace if they are unpaid carers. Firstly, for eligible carers, a period of one week of leave would be available each year, and secondly a longer-term leave provision would be available for those carers seeking to take extended leave from employment to help manage their caring responsibilities.

While there will be no obligation for these leave periods to be paid by the employer, the Department is working closely with Treasury to develop options for eligible individuals to access financial assistance during their period of leave.

Tim Johnston MHK, Minister for Enterprise commented: ‘Bringing forward this new legislation is a step further in the Department’s commitment to supporting working families during difficult times and those who have care responsibilities whilst balancing their employment. These provisions assist in enabling people to stay in work in the long term and provide practical frameworks for employers, delivering wider socio-economic benefits for the Island.

'Throughout this administration, we have worked hard to balance the needs of a changing workforce with those of employers, while keeping pace with developments in neighbouring jurisdictions.

‘We are committed to working with stakeholders in the future developments of the details of these new provisions and look forward to bringing these through the Tynwald branches.’

The Bill will have its first reading in the House of Keys on Tuesday 2 December.

Further details on the Bill can be found here – gov.im/employmentrights