Parental bereavement leave policy

Parental bereavement leave Policy

Overview

Our commitment to helping grieving parents by enabling them to take parental bereavement leave is outlined in this policy.

Scope

Employees of [Company] who experience the death of a child under the age of 18 or a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy are covered by the policy.

General principles

We acknowledge that while grieving is never easy, losing a child is one of the most traumatic experiences a person can ever go through.

Who is eligible for parental bereavement leave?

Whatever your length of service, you can take this type of leave if you are the parent of the child who has passed away, or the partner of the child's parent, or have parental responsibility for the child.

What leave a bereaved parent can take

You can take two weeks of parental bereavement leave, either as a single block of two weeks or two separate blocks of one week at different times.

You can take the leave at the time(s) you choose within the 56 weeks after your bereavement.

Notice to take parental bereavement leave

If you need to take parental bereavement leave within the first 56 days after your bereavement, you can take the leave straight away. You do not have to provide any notice. Please let your line manager know as soon as you can.

To take leave more than 56 days after your bereavement, please give your line manager at least one week's notice.

Pay during parental bereavement leave

Option 1 - employer pays parental bereavement pay at the statutory minimum rate

To receive statutory parental bereavement pay, you must have:

• At least 26 weeks' continuous employment with us by the week before the one in which your child passed away (and still be employed by us on the date of the bereavement). And
• Normal weekly earnings in the eight weeks up to the week before your bereavement of at least the lower earnings limit for national insurance contribution purposes.

If you qualify for statutory parental bereavement pay, you will be paid during your leave at the rate set by the Government, or at 90% of your average weekly earnings where this figure is lower.

Option 2 - employer offers enhanced parental bereavement pay

We recognise the need to provide bereaved parents with as much support as possible, and we will [continue to pay normal pay during your leave].

Rights during parental bereavement leave

During your leave, all the terms and conditions of your contract [except normal pay] will continue.

Returning to work after parental bereavement leave

When you return to work after some time on parental bereavement leave, you generally have the right to return to the same job.

However, a slightly different rule applies if you return from time on bereavement leave that follows on immediately from some maternity, adoption, paternity leave or shared parental leave (taken in relation to the child who has passed away), and your total time on leave is more than 26 weeks.

In these circumstances, you have the right to return to the same job, unless this is not reasonably practical - in which case you have the right to return to a suitable and appropriate job on the same terms and conditions.

Data protection

When dealing with parental bereavement leave, we will process any personal data collected in accordance with our data protection policy. In particular, we will record only the personal information required and keep the information only for as long as necessary.

This policy [does not] form[s] part of your terms and conditions of employment.

Version: [1.0]

Issue date: [date]

Author: [name, job title]