The Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Bill, introduced by Kevin Hollinrake MP, will give a day-one right to parental bereavement leave for any employed parent who loses a child under the age of 18.
Employees with a minimum of 26 weeks’ continuous service will be eligible for statutory parental bereavement pay, for which employers will be able to reclaim some or all of the cost.
The bill will receive a second reading in Parliament on 20 October, with the aim of it becoming law in 2020. The proposals first emerged in the Conservative party manifesto earlier this year.
There is currently no legal requirement for employers to provide paid time off for grieving parents, although many do. Under the Employment Rights Act, employees have a day-one right to take a “reasonable” amount of unpaid time off work to deal with an emergency involving a dependant, which could include making arrangements following the death of a dependant.
Announcing the new bill’s publication, Margot James, business minister, said: “We want parents to feel properly supported by their employer when they go through the deeply distressing ordeal of losing a child. That’s why Government is backing this bill which goes significantly further than most other countries in providing this kind of workplace right for employees.”
Hollinrake added: “Sadly I have had constituents who have gone through this dreadful experience and while some parents prefer to carry on working, others need time off.
“This new law will give employed parents a legal right to two weeks’ paid leave, giving them that all-important time and space away from work to grieve at such a desperately sad time.”
The Bill was first introduced to parliament in July.
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