Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay

Who can apply

You and your partner may be able to take time off work if your child dies before they turn 18, or if you have a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

The death or stillbirth must have happened on or after 6 April 2022.

You might be able to get leave, pay or both. You may be eligible for:

• Parental Bereavement Leave
• Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

There are rules about when you can take your leave and pay and how to claim.

Your employment rights are protected while on Parental Bereavement Leave. This includes your right to:

• pay rises
• build up (‘accrue’) holiday
• return to work

What you can get

You may be able to get either or both Parental Bereavement Leave and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay.

Parental Bereavement Leave

You can take two weeks’ leave from the first day of your employment for each child who has died or was stillborn if you’re eligible.

You can choose to take:

• two weeks together
• two separate weeks of leave
• only one week of leave

A week is the same number of days that you normally work in a week.

Example

A week of Parental Bereavement Leave would be two days if you only work on Mondays and Tuesdays.

The leave:

• can start on or after the date of the death or stillbirth
• must finish within 56 weeks of the date of the death or stillbirth

Taking leave with other types of statutory leave

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 £172.48 a week or 90 per cent 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. Parental bereavement leave is a statutory right to time off work to deal with the death of a child under the age of 18 or a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Check if you’re eligible

To qualify for Parental Bereavement Leave and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay, you must meet the criteria both as a parent (including if you had day to day responsibility) and an employee. You might not be eligible for both, depending on your circumstances.

If you were the child’s parent or a parent’s partner

You may be eligible if at the time of the child’s death or stillbirth, you were:

• the child or baby’s parent - either biological, adoptive or parent of a child born to a surrogate
• the partner of the child or baby’s parent

Biological parents of the child or baby will not be eligible for Parental Bereavement Leave and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay after an adoption or parental order was made, unless there was a contact order in place.

Day-to-day responsibility for the child

You may be eligible if both of the following apply:

• the child or baby was living with you at your home for 4 continuous weeks, ending with the date of death
• you or your partner had day to day responsibility for the child or baby’s care during that time

If you or your partner were being paid to look after the child or baby, you do not qualify for leave or pay unless you were:

• a foster parent being paid a fee or allowance by a local authority
• reimbursed for expenses related to caring for the child or baby
• getting payments under the terms of a will or trust for the child or baby’s care

You are not eligible if one of the child or baby’s parents or someone who had parental responsibility for the child was also living in the household.

If you or your partner were an adoptive parent

You are eligible for pay or leave:

• after the adoption order was granted
• before the adoption order was made, if the child was placed with you and the placement was not disrupted (for example, being temporarily placed elsewhere) or stopped

If you or your partner were an adoptive parent of a child from outside the United Kingdom

If you or your partner were adopting a child from outside the United Kingdom and the adoption order had not yet been made, you may still be eligible. Both of the following must apply:

• the child was living with you
• you have an ‘official notification’ confirming you were allowed to adopt

If you or your partner had a baby with the help of a surrogate parent

You are eligible for pay or leave:

• after a parental order was made
• before a parental order was made if you had applied or intended to apply for a parental order within 6 months of the child’s birth and expected it to be granted

To get Parental Bereavement Leave, you must also:

• be classed as an employee - it does not matter how long you’ve worked for your employer
• give your employer notice for Parental Bereavement Leave

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 eight-week period
• give your employer the correct notice and information for Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

Making a claim

You have 56 weeks to take Parental Bereavement Leave or claim Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay through your employer. This starts from the date of the child’s death.

How to claim Parental Bereavement Leave

You can take two weeks leave in one block or as two separate blocks of one week.

The 56 weeks are split into two periods:

• from the date of the child’s death or stillbirth to 8 weeks after
• 9 to 56 weeks after the date of the child’s death or stillbirth

You must give your employer notice before you take Parental Bereavement Leave. How much notice depends on when you’re taking the leave.

• 0 to 8 weeks after the child’s death or stillbirth - you must give your employer notice before you would normally start work on the first day of the week or weeks you want to take off work
• 9 to 56 weeks after the child’s death or stillbirth - you must give your employer at least one week’s notice before the start of the week or weeks you want to take off work

Giving your employer notice

You must tell your employer:

• the date of the child’s death or stillbirth
• when you want your parental bereavement leave to begin
• how much leave you are taking - either one or two weeks

You can speak to your employer by phone, leave a voicemail, send a text message or an email. You do not need to give them notice in writing (for example through a form or letter).

You do not need to give proof of death or stillbirth.

How to claim Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

You must ask for Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay within 28 days, starting from the first day of the week you’re claiming the payment for.

Each time you claim, you must give your employer the following information in writing (for example a letter, email or form):

• your name
• the dates of the period you want to claim Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay
• the date of the child’s death or stillbirth

You’ll also need to give a ‘declaration’ to your employer to confirm you’re eligible because of your relationship to the child or baby. You only need to complete this once when you first ask for pay.

Completing the declaration

You can:

• complete the declaration form online - this takes 5 minutes
• declare in writing you’re eligible because of your relationship to the child or baby
• use your employers own form if they have one

Once you’ve completed your declaration, you’ll need to send it to your employer. They’ll check your information and your eligibility.

Cancelling your leave or pay

You can change your mind and cancel your Parental Bereavement Leave or Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay if you have given your employer the required notice for either taking leave or claiming pay.

To cancel your Parental Bereavement Leave or Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay, you’ll need to tell your employer. When you need to tell them depends on when your leave or pay is due to start.

Cancelling Parental Bereavement Leave

If your leave is due to start within 8 weeks of the death or stillbirth, you must let your employer know about the cancellation no later than the time you would normally start work on the first day of planned leave.

If your leave is due to start 9 weeks or later after the death or stillbirth, you must let your employer know no later than one week before the start of the planned leave.

If you cancel your leave, you can rebook it if you give your employer the correct notice.

Cancelling Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

If your pay was due to start within 8 weeks of the child’s death or stillbirth, you must give your employer notice on the first day of the week you want to cancel.

If your pay was due to start 9 weeks or later after the child’s death or stillbirth, you must tell your employer you want to cancel one week before your pay was due to start.