REWARD
Statutory parental bereavement leave and pay
The CIPP policy and research team outlines a significant change to employment rights which took effect this year
F rom 6 April 2020, a new day-one right to two weeks’ of leave and – subject to eligibility – pay, for parents who have either lost a child under the age of eighteen or suffered a stillbirth from 24 weeks of pregnancy. The Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Bill, which was initially laid before Parliament in July 2016 receiving Royal employment right was introduced that provides employees with a Assent in September 2018, and the Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay Regulations give ‘Jack’s law’ legal force with effect 6 April 2020. Lucy Herd, Jack’s mother, had campaigned tirelessly for mandatory leave to be provided for grieving parents. Prior to 6 April workers had no statutory entitlement to time off work for bereavement. It is suggested that the support will benefit approximately 10,000 families in England, Wales, and Scotland. At the time of writing, nothing had been confirmed as to whether the right to statutory parental bereavement leave (SPBL) and pay (SPBP) is to be replicated in Northern Ireland. Historically, Northern Ireland has mirrored much of the legislation relating to statutory leave and payments in Great Britain. Employees will be able to take two
weeks of unpaid SPBL as a ‘day-one’ right, and, subject to certain meeting eligibility criteria, may receive pay for this leave. Payments will be aligned with other statutory parental payment amounts, such as statutory maternity pay, statutory paternity pay, statutory adoption pay, and shared parental pay, which are currently set at the lesser of 90% average weekly pay or £151.20 per week for tax year 2020/21. Employers can reclaim 92% of SPBP from their monthly or quarterly payments to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and report via an employer payment summary each pay period. Employers that qualify for small employers’ relief can claim 100% of SPBP plus 3% compensation, which also mirrors the treatment of other statutory parental payments. In order to qualify for the pay element, the employee will need to have at least 26 weeks’ of continuous employment at the ‘relevant week’, and have earned at or above the lower earnings limit for class 1 National Insurance contributions in the ‘relevant period’. The ‘relevant week’ is the week ending with a Saturday before the week in which the child dies, and the ‘relevant period’ is the period of eight weeks that ends with the ‘relevant week’. The leave must be taken within 56
weeks of the date that the child died. It can be taken in two separate blocks, each a week in length, or the two weeks can be taken in one continuous, unbroken block. By granting parents a 56-week period in which to take the leave, it recognises that they may wish to take a week’s leave immediately following the death of the child, when they are most likely to need it, and a further week around the time of the anniversary of the child’s death. The employee who wishes to take the leave and/or pay will need to be an eligible parent who could include: • the child’s or baby’s parent – (the biological, adoptive or parent of a child born to a surrogate) • the partner of the child’s or baby’s parent. In addition to eligible parents and individuals considered as ‘primary caregivers’ of the child, employees could also be eligible if they had responsibility for the child, and if the child had been living with them for a minimum period of four continuous weeks prior to the death and they had day-to-day responsibility for the child. The exception would be where the child’s parent or anyone with parental responsibility for the child was living in the same household; so, for example, a grandparent who looked after the child but lived in the same house as the child’s parent would not be eligible. Employees will not need to provide any form of written declaration to be able to take leave, where they are not eligible for pay. They can give notice informally by phone, text message or email.
...unpaid SPBL as a ‘day-one’ right, and, subject to certain meeting eligibility criteria, may receive pay for this leave...
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | November 2020 | Issue 65 32
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