The Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024 passed into law on 24th May 2024.
This Bill makes provision regarding Paternity leave in cases where a mother, or a person with whom a child is placed or expected to be placed for adoption, dies. It will grant working fathers and non-birthing partners automatic day one rights to paternity leave in these circumstances.
Under the current law, paternity leave only lasts for a maximum of two weeks and bereaved partners can only take statutory paternity leave if they satisfy minimum service requirements.
The new Act amends the Employment Rights Act 1996 after a Labour MP, Chris Elmore, put forward a Private Members’ Bill when he was approached by Aaron Horsey, from Nottingham, who found that he did not qualify for shared parental leave when his wife, Bernadette, died while giving birth to their son and he was not eligible, as he had just started new employment.
We are yet to have a date when this will be implemented but we will keep you updated when we know more. The exact implementation date and future plan may change as government develops after the election, however due to the nature of this Bill, it has support across all parties and is expected to be introduced at the earliest convenience.
Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024 (legislation.gov.uk)
