On 6 December 2023, the Shared Parental Leave and Pay (Bereavement) Bill was introduced to the House of Commons as a Private Member’s Bill by Chris Elmore, a Labour MP, with support from Darren Henry, a Conservative MP. It enjoyed the support of the government and across party lines.
The bill intended to amend existing employment legislation to ensure that the minimum service requirement was no longer necessary for bereaved fathers or partners wishing to take paternity leave in cases where a child’s mother, adoptive parent, or parent of a child born through surrogacy died in childbirth, or in the following 12 months.
When initially introduced to Parliament, the bill required that the secretary of state for work and pensions introduce regulations to remove the requirement that fathers or partners must have been employed at their place of work continuously for 26 weeks to have the right to take shared parental leave if a child’s mother dies during the period of shared parental leave.
However, towards the end of March 2024, when the bill reached the committee stage in the House of Commons, it was substantially amended by Parliament and renamed the Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Bill.
As amended, the bill proposed to alter the Employment Rights Act 1996 through the mechanism allowing fathers and partners to take leave for a relevant bereavement would now be paternity leave, rather than shared parental leave. This would also apply to adoptive parents and parents of children born via surrogacy and could be utilised even where the 26-week continuity of service condition has not yet been met.
In addition, the current rule stating that a father or partner who has taken shared parental leave cannot take paternity leave would be removed, and the secretary of state would be empowered to make regulations to provide bereaved fathers and partners with the right to stay on paternity leave for a period if a situation arises where the child also dies, or has to be returned after being adopted. The secretary of state could likewise make regulations to protect bereaved fathers and partners from redundancy upon their returning to work from paternity leave, as well as offering keep-in-touch days and the flexibility to work without returning from leave.
On 26 April, Elmore further clarified that Parliament’s intention was for a bereaved father or partner to have 52 weeks of leave available during the first year of their child’s life, from the day on which the child’s mother, or primary adopter, had died.
The bill received Royal Assent and passed into law on 24 May in the form noted above. The Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024, as it is now known, introduces a more generous regime in England, Wales and Scotland for fathers and partners that need to take leave in the event that they face a bereavement relating to the child’s mother, adoptive parent or surrogate parent. It is a welcome and fair solution to a formerly frustrating and challenging employment issue. It is also of note that it relates only to leave, as it is not yet clear if the pay rights will also be implemented.
However, as the act was granted royal assent so close to Parliament’s prorogation prior to the general election in July, it still requires commencement regulations to bring it into force. Given that it has benefited from broad cross-party support during its passage through Parliament, depending on its priorities, it seems likely that the new Labour government will legislate to do so sooner rather than later.
Matthew Bennett is a trainee solicitor at Winckworth Sherwood
