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New Government Guidance to Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave & Pay

on Friday, 17 April 2020.

Following the implementation of new regulations on 6 April 2020, the government are providing parents with the statutory right to parental bereavement leave and pay.

The government has published an employer guide on the new statutory right to leave and pay, in the event of parental bereavement. Broadly, as confirmed in the guidance, the new entitlements are that:

  • parents who lose a child under 18, or suffer a still birth from 24 weeks of pregnancy, after 6 April 2020, are entitled to take 2 weeks statutory parental bereavement leave within 56 weeks of the death of the child, and

  • depending on the employee's length of service and earnings, there is also a right to statutory parental bereavement pay. However, where the criteria are not met, there is no statutory entitlement to be paid for parental bereavement leave.

The guidance set outs further details relating to the new entitlements as follows:

  • eligibility requirements for parental bereavement leave and pay, including rules around staff to whom the entitlements apply, criteria to be satisfied to qualify for pay (not all parents eligible for leave will be entitled to pay) and rules around when and how parental bereavement leave may be taken

  • employee notice requirements to start and cancel parental bereavement leave (and in the case of pay, the evidential requirements)

  • information on refusal of requests where employees do not meet the eligibility requirements to qualify for parental bereavement pay

  • record keeping requirements in respect of payments made

  • financial support available to employers in respect of bereavement pay which include that employers can reclaim payments from the government and, where employers cannot afford to make payments, they can make an application for a government advance

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Practical Points

Employers should read the complete employer guide and should review their compassionate leave/bereavement leave policies to ensure that policies are up to date in accordance with the new regulations.


For expert legal advice on your organisation's policies, please contact Siân James in our Employment Law team on 07468 698971, or complete the form below.

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