Parental bereavement

Parliament iStock 000002379030XSmall 146x219The Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Bill had its second reading in the House of Commons on 20 October and its provisions should make life easier for bereaved parents at a very difficult time, writes Fiona Anthony.

The personal stories of loss shared by the MPs who spoke during the second reading of the Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Bill were exceptionally moving and there was a collective wish to make a difference to the lives of others who find themselves in a similar situation.

I know from my own experience that a statutory right to leave, as suggested by the Bill, would have made an enormous difference to my family. My daughter died when she was six days old. The first time I held her was as she was dying, weighing less than a bag of sugar and ten weeks’ premature. She and her twin brother were delivered by Caesarean section in a hospital 80 miles from home as there was no room in intensive care at our local hospital. I had been driven through the snow in an ambulance on a dark January night, my anxious husband following in the car.

My husband stayed with us for our daughter’s lifetime and we had the weekend together before he went back to work, leaving me in hospital with our seriously ill son and no friends or family nearby. During his lunchtimes, he spoke to the funeral director; in the evenings, he would call friends and family to let them know the arrangements. One day, he left work a little early to reach the shops in time to buy the dress my daughter would be buried in – a doll’s dress from a toyshop, as she was so tiny. He took the day off work to attend the funeral which took place just two days after our son had finally been transferred back to our local hospital’s special care baby unit. We had very little time to grieve together.

It would have helped immeasurably if my husband had been entitled to statutory time off work as proposed in the Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Bill. Although entitled to a short period of paternity leave, he wanted to save this for what we knew would be the challenging times when we brought our son home.

We were very grateful that my husband’s employers had allowed him a few days’ compassionate leave on a discretionary basis but he was uncertain how much leave he could ask for, how the request would be received and whether it might affect his career progression. Not all employers are as understanding as his were. At present employees only have a right to take reasonable time off where it is necessary to deal with an emergency which would include the death of a child, but there is no right for this to be paid.

The draft Bill seeks to address this by giving a parent who suffers the death of a child under the age of 18 a statutory right to take two weeks’ leave and, if they have at least 26 weeks' continuous service, to receive, as a minimum, a statutory rate of pay, some or all of which can be claimed back by the employer from the government. In the event that more than one child has died, the parent is entitled to leave (and pay, too, if they meet the relevant conditions) in respect of each child. The leave should be taken within 56 days of the child's death and any agreement to exclude or limit the right to leave or pay is void. Employees taking bereavement leave will be protected from detriment, redundancy and dismissal as a result of them doing so. Further details will be contained in regulations.

Although this is a private member's bill, it has governmental and cross-party support so there is a good chance that it will become law. As lawyers I sometimes think that we don’t always appreciate the impact that legislation can have on people’s everyday lives. Mine is just one story: 5,000 children die each year in the UK. Whilst no-one can take away the pain of losing a child, I am confident that the provisions put forward in this Bill will ease the burden a little.

Fiona Anthony is a professional support lawyer at nplaw. She can be contacted This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..