All staff who are the parent of a child who has died before they turn 18 are entitled to take up to two weeks leave. Staff who have had a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy can also take up to two weeks leave.
The leave can be taken as 2 weeks together, 2 separate weeks, or only one week of leave. A week is the same number of days as you normally work in a week.
The leave can start on or after the date of the death or stillbirth, and must finish within 56 weeks of the same date.
If you’re taking another type of statutory leave (for example, maternity leave or paternity leave) when the child dies or stillbirth happens, your Parental Bereavement Leave must start after the other leave has ended but does not have to be taken immediately after. This includes if the statutory leave is for another child.
If your Parental Bereavement Leave is interrupted by the start of another type of statutory leave, you can take your remaining entitlement to Parental Bereavement Leave after that other leave has ended.
Your remaining Parental Bereavement Leave must still be taken within 56 weeks of the date of death or stillbirth.
You can take Parental Bereavement Leave between blocks of shared parental leave that you booked before the child died. This includes if the shared parental leave is for another child.
Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay
You’ll be able to get either £184.03 a week or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower) if you’re eligible.
Any money you get is paid the same way as your wages, for example weekly or monthly, along with deductions for tax and National Insurance.
To get Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay, you must have been continuously employed by your employer for at least 26 weeks up to the end of the ‘relevant week’. The ‘relevant week’ is the week (ending with a Saturday) immediately before the week of the death or stillbirth.
You must also:
- continue to be employed up to the day the child dies or is stillborn
- earn on average £123 a week before tax (gross) over an 8 week period