Stopfords
Stopfords

Parental Bereavement Leave & Pay

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From 06 April 2020, where a parent loses a child under the age of 18 or suffers a still-birth from 24 weeks of pregnancy, they will be entitled to 2 weeks statutory leave and potentially statutory bereavement pay.

The leave is a day-one right for any employed bereaved parent. The leave can be taken up to 56 weeks from the date of the death of the child and doesn’t have to be taken consecutively but must be taken in weeks (not days).

Advanced notice won’t need to be given for any leave taken within a few weeks of the child’s death, but employees will be required to tell their employees they are taking leave for this reason. Informal notice should be accepted. If leave is taken after this initial period, employees must give at least one week’s notice before taking leave. The employer may request a declaration confirming entitlement of the leave, however the employee will not need to provide a written declaration to the leave before taking the time off work.

The government intends to allow a reasonable timeframe for an employee to provide a declaration to confirm entitlement for Parental Bereavement Pay. The pay will be at the lesser of the statutory rate advised by HMRC each year, or 90% of the average earnings. The pay can be recovered by the employer in the usual way, similar to other recoverable statutory payments.

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