HR Expert: Parental bereavement leave

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Q. One of my client’s employees had a still birth last week. She emailed my client saying she is taking sick leave for a while. Does my client have any additional obligations here, apart from SSP? 

A. No doubt, this is an extremely distressing time for your client’s employee so it’s important that your client is clear on how the law applies.

The first step would be to advise your client to review their internal policies and procedures to check if they offer enhanced entitlements in this area. If your client does not offer enhanced entitlements, your client can rely on employment law to establish what support is available to the employee in this situation.

Statistically, one in four people in the UK suffer pregnancy or baby loss. With such high numbers affected, employers need to be aware of the rights of these employees and how to support them, as your client is finding now.

Baby loss can happen at any point from conception to after the birth. Eligibility for the different rights available can depend on when the loss happened, so the laws that apply will depend fully on the facts.

You mention that your client’s employee is on sick leave; this is in fact her only recourse for time off if the miscarriage occurred during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. But the law does prescribe specific legal entitlements if the baby loss occurs after the 24th week of pregnancy.

In this case, the entire 52 weeks of maternity leave can still be taken whether the employee had already started maternity leave or not. Provided the employee satisfies the eligibility criteria, she will also be entitled to full statutory maternity pay.

There are additional entitlements that your client should make the employee aware of.
Employees who are parents to a child under 18 who dies, including stillbirths after the end of 24 weeks of pregnancy, are entitled to two weeks of statutory parental bereavement leave, regardless of their length of service.

Parental bereavement leave can be taken in separate one week blocks but must finish within 56 weeks of the stillbirth. Employees entitled to maternity leave will usually take their parental bereavement leave once maternity leave has finished because it’s not possible to halt maternity leave and start it again.

To be eligible for statutory parental bereavement pay, your client’s employee must have been continuously employed by your client for at least 26 weeks up to the end of the week immediately before the week of the death or stillbirth.

How an individual deals with baby loss will be unique to them. Because of this, it is important not to treat all those impacted by this the same, but instead treat them as individuals and be guided in how they wish to be supported.

Your client should contact the employee, via email if this is her current preferred contact method, and explain the leave types and pay available to her. I would also encourage your client to include any relevant in-house support and or benefits your client offers, such as free counselling.

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