The Government issued a press release late last week announcing that the proposed Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay legislation, first trailed in June 2018 has been laid before Parliament to pass into law. These regulations are to be known as ‘Jack’s Law’ in memory of Jack Herd, whose mother Lucy has been campaigning on this issue tirelessly since Jack’s death in 2010 at only 23 months.

The text of the regulations has just been released therefore this briefing details the elements of the regulations which are outlined in the Government proposal.
If, as expected, the legislation is passed the following will pass into law from the 6th April 2020;

• Working parents who lose a child after the 24th week of pregnancy until the age of 18 will have a right to two weeks statutory Parental Bereavement Leave (PBL) which can be taken within 56 weeks of the date of bereavement;
• PBL is a day one right – there is no minimum qualifying service requirement;
• The leave can be taken as one block, or two separate one week blocks;
• A differential is made between ‘Period A and B’ – Period A will refer to the period 56 days of the bereavement; Period B will cover the time period between Day 57 and the end of the 56 week period.
• The regulations will extend to any ‘parent or primary carer’ – this would extend to adopters, foster carers, or any other person who has assumed a parental role in lieu of or alongside birth parents;
• Taking a common sense view, employees may not be required to give a notice period for the initial absence – ‘where it is not reasonably practicable for an employee to give notice they should give notice as soon as is reasonably practicable’ – during Period A; leave taken during Period B must be notified to the employer;
• Provided the parents meet minimum earning requirements (£118 per week), and that the parent has been in employment for 26 weeks, there will be a right to Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBR), which is either matched to Statutory Maternity Pay rate of £148.68 (though likely to increase in line with that rate in April 2020) or 90% of average earnings, whichever is lower.

The Regulations – which are reasonably readable – can be found here : http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2020/9780111192245/introduction

As with Maternity and other statutory leave, our member companies are free to make their own arrangements in excess of the statutory minimum. This is one of a number of material changes for employers to be aware of which will implement in April 2020. Please contact one of our team if you need help, support or guidance.