What is Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay?

Full answer

Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay was introduced in April 2020 to give employed parents a legal right to paid time off following the devastating loss of a child, recognising that bereavement of this kind was not previously covered by any dedicated statutory leave category. **Who qualifies for the leave** Parental Bereavement Leave is available to employees from their first day of employment (there is no minimum service requirement for the leave itself, unlike many other family leave entitlements) if their child under the age of 18 dies, or if they experience a stillbirth after the 24th week of pregnancy. The definition of "parent" is broad and can include not just birth parents but also adoptive parents, parents of a child born through surrogacy in some cases, and others with day-to-day parental responsibility for the child. **How much leave** Eligible parents can take up to two weeks of leave, which can be taken as a single continuous block of two weeks, or as two separate one-week blocks, at any point within the 56 weeks following the child's death. This flexibility recognises that grief and its practical demands (such as attending an inquest, funeral arrangements, or simply needing time later in the process) do not always fall neatly in the immediate aftermath. **Eligibility for statutory pay (as opposed to just unpaid leave)** While the right to two weeks of leave applies to all employees from day one, entitlement to Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP) during that leave requires slightly different qualifying conditions, broadly similar to other statutory family pay: normally at least 26 weeks of continuous employment with the employer by the relevant week, and average weekly earnings at or above the Lower Earnings Limit. Employees who do not meet the pay eligibility rules can still take the two weeks of leave unpaid. **How much SPBP pays** SPBP is paid at the lower of the flat statutory weekly rate (set and uprated annually by the government, and not fixed in this guide since it changes each April -- check the current gov.uk rate) or 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings, calculated over the relevant reference period, mirroring the standard rate used for Statutory Paternity Pay and the later weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay. **Tax and National Insurance treatment** SPBP is taxable employment income and is subject to Class 1 employee National Insurance, deducted through the employer's payroll in the normal way -- there is no special tax exemption for this payment, even though it relates to bereavement. **Enhanced employer schemes** Some employers choose to pay more generously than the statutory minimum during parental bereavement leave (for example, full contractual pay for the two weeks, or additional paid compassionate leave on top), and any enhanced element is taxed in exactly the same way as the statutory element. **Worked example** An employee with average weekly earnings of £450 experiences the death of their teenage child. They take one week of leave immediately and, meeting the eligibility conditions, receive SPBP at the lower of the flat statutory weekly rate or 90% of their average earnings for that week, taxed through PAYE as usual. Several months later, within the 56-week window, they take their second week of statutory leave to attend the inquest, again receiving SPBP for that week under the same rules.

Try the calculator