Government consults on bereavement leave


The government has announced a consultation into parental bereavement leave and pay.


Its aim is to help shape the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Bill, which is currently being considered in parliament. The Bill, which proposes two weeks’ paid leave for bereaved parents, was first published in parliament in October 2017.


The initial Bill proposed that employees with a minimum of 26 weeks’ service would be eligible for a statutory rate of parental bereavement pay, for which employers would be able to reclaim some or all of the cost.


The consultation will focus on the definition of a bereaved parent, how and when parents might take leave, and what kind of notice or evidence they might have to provide.


One question it proposes, for example, is whether stepparents should be covered by the right, or “others who have a long term relationship with a child which is parental in nature, but who are not the child’s legal parents”.


The consultation closes on 8 June.


www.personneltoday.com/hr/government-launches-consultation-into-parental-bereavement-leave-and-pay


www.gov.uk/government/consultations/parental-bereavement-leave-and-pay