Right to parental leave on death of a child 


Parents who are employed and have suffered the death of a child would receive statutory paid leave to grieve, under a new law being supported by the government.


The Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Bill will seek to ensure grieving parents in employment receive paid leave to grieve away from the workplace, delivering on the government’s pledge to “enhance rights and protections in the workplace”. Currently there is no legal requirement for employers to provide paid leave for grieving parents.


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, including making arrangements following the death of a dependant. However, what is “reasonable” depends on the circumstances. In practice, the length of time off will be agreed between the employer and their employee.


Business minister Margot James said: “The loss of a child is a traumatic experience for any parent. For parents holding down a job at the same time as dealing with their grief it can be doubly stressful.


“We want parents to get the support they need at this deeply upsetting time that is why government is supporting this Private Members Bill which will introduce statutory paid bereavement leave for employed parents.”


In 2014, the Acas employment service published a good practice guide for employers on managing bereavement leave. 


https://www.gov.uk/government/news/parental-bereavement-pay-and-leave-bill-introduced-today

http://m.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/0/m/Managing-bereavement-in-the-workplace-a-good-practice-guide.pdf