Forthcoming Introduction of Parental Bereavement Leave

Caroline Cobain
Legal Director
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The government has this week announced that it has laid the draft Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay Regulations before Parliament (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/parental-bereavement-pay-and-leave-bill-introduced-today).

From 6 April 2020, employees who lose a child under the age of 18, or who suffer a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy, will be entitled to 2 weeks of statutory leave. It is anticipated that this leave will be taken in a single block or in two separate blocks of a week at a time.

It has been announced that employees with at least 26 weeks’ service, who meet certain other criteria, will also qualify for Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay at a prescribed rate.

We will update you further in relation to how the leave will work in practice when the draft regulations are available for review.

Bereavement can obviously and understandably have a notable impact on employees in a number of ways. It is therefore important that employers approach the handling of such situations carefully, sensitively and lawfully. We will, of course, be on hand, to guide you through doing so, but ACAS has also published helpful guidance on how to manage bereavement in the workplace, which can be accessed here:- https://www.acas.org.uk/absence-from-work/time-off-for-bereavement

If you have any questions on this, or any other employment law matter, in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the team on 0141 331 5150.

Topics: Parental Bereavement Leave