Bereavement Leave Part 2

Under new regulatory changes, the Government proposes that from April 2020 parental bereavement leave will be made statutorily available to all parents from their first day of employment! Today we continue our breakdown…

Last Tuesday we published part one on our article regarding Parental Bereavement Leave, and breaking down its impact on employers. Today we continue that analysis… Evidencing Parental Bereavement Leave The approach taken so far by the Government in its new proposal is quite generous, with the most the Government expecting the employee to produce at any point is a written statement that they will be taking bereavement leave. During the immediate period, shortly following the child’ death, no written statement is required to be produced, compassionately to allow time for the grieving parent. Although the Government is debating whether longer term, that potentially a written statement may be required to request further periods of leave after the aforementioned immediate period. What may be comforting to know is that nothing more than a written statement is being proposed as a requirement of evidence to take bereavement leave. There is no mention or reference towards producing a child' death certificate or evidence being produced from a doctor connected to the child in question. Statutory Bereavement Pay Entitlement Although parental bereavement leave is being made a “day one” right, statutory bereavement pay is dependant on two items: The employee will require a minimum of 26 weeks’ continuous employment with their employer, and this must be connected with the week that the child in question passes away. This includes the day in which the child passes away, the employee must still be employed. Regular weekly pay for the previous eight weeks leading up to the week before the week in which the child in question passes away; must not be less than the lower earning bracket for national insurance contributions to kick in. Evidencing Statutory Bereavement Pay Entitlement Following suit with the evidence for parental bereavement leave, employees will be required to submit a written statement, declaring that they meet the requirement for statutory parental bereavement pay. In terms of the window of when evidence needs to be submitted, a window of time has not been clarified, but it has been stated that this should be within a ‘reasonable timeframe’. The Government states that the employees’ submission of evidence requesting statutory parental bereavement pay will not impact on their rights to access parental bereavement leave. The Government goes so far as to stress that a grieving parent should not be prohibited from taking leave in the immediate period following the death of their child. Enhancing Statutory Bereavement Like most regulations of these types, the Government restates that these regulations are to establish minimums of which employers must be providing to their employees, and furthermore encourages that organisations should provide enhanced assistance. With the introduction of this regulation in April 2020, PACT HR will be updating their policy on Parental Bereavement Leave closer to the time, and we will endeavour to keep clients up to date both in our regular Briefing Meetings and online. We will be covering a variety of topics in our April 2019 Briefing Sessions, so why not book a complimentary place on one of our sessions, before all the places have gone. PACT HR always seeks to keep their clients up to date, and with regulations, policies, and laws changing and introduced on a regular basis it is important to have a dedicated organisation to keep you aware of what is occurring that will effect your organisation. Along with our regular Briefing Sessions, Workshops, and Specialist Training we cover a wide range of topics to help you organise your Human Resources. Please speak with one of the team on 01274 436644, email us on Pact-HR@bradford.gov.uk , or reach out to us on Facebook or Twitter for more information on how PACT HR may help you.