The 24th May 2024 marked the day in which the Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024 received Royal Assent and was passed into law. The Act is set to guarantee that bereaved fathers/partners, automatically receive the right to immediate paternity leave if the mother (or adoptive parent of the child) dies.
This bill is set to amend the Employment Rights Act 1996 and ensure that a period of paternity leave is available to all bereaved fathers and/or partners whether or not they have been employed for the required 15 ‘qualifying weeks’.
This should make certain that an employee is permitted to take ‘day one’ paternity leave, despite not meeting the usual requirements and regulations. It has also meant that in circumstances where both mother and child die, bereaved partners are still permitted to take leave.
What are the current arrangements for paternity leave?
Currently, employees don’t have the right to ‘day one’ right to paternity leave. This is unlike both adoption and maternity leave, which may be exercised at any point of an individual’s employment (provided they meet eligibility requirements).
As it stands, in order to qualify for paternity leave, an individual has to have been employed for a period of nine months up until the ‘qualifying week’ (by the same employer). This ‘qualifying week’ for paternity leave is currently 15 weeks from the date the baby is expected to be born (or from the date in which adoptive parents were due to have their adoption confirmed).
Who inspired this change?
Aaron Horsey first began this petition, after he discovered he did not qualify for paternity leave following his wife Berndette’s death in childbirth in 2022. This was because his employment period had fallen under the ‘qualifying weeks’ and as a result, he began a two year long campaign that petitioned for a change in this law.
Aaron Horsey was responsible for inciting this change, after he brought his concerns to Labour MP Chris Elmore. Who then, in advocacy of Horsey’s campaign, put forward a Private Member’s Bill and subsequently – the bill received Royal Assent.
However, as of today, more regulations still remain to be put in place before any of the new paternity leave rights under this new act may pass into law and are implemented. And after the recent 4th July General Election, this Act may be subject to change, as the responsibility to apply these regulations now falls to the new Labour government.
How can IDR Law help?
Here at IDR Law, we appreciate just how deeply saddening and heart breaking the topic of this article can be, so please don’t hesitate to contact our legal team if any of the content in this article is affecting you or your family. Contact the IDR Team at:
We know that no-one can understand exactly what your loss feels like to you. But we do understand that it’s sometimes easier to talk to someone outside of your friends and family about grief and the impact of bereavement of your life and this is why we offer the GriefChat service.
GriefChat provides emotional support for bereaved people, access to trained bereavement counsellors and referral into other specialist bereavement services.
GriefChat counsellors are experienced in supporting bereaved people and will listen to your story, explore how your grief is affecting you and help you to find any additional support you might need. GriefChat is a completely free service and is available Monday-Friday, 9am-9pm (except Bank Holidays).
Click here for further support: https://griefchat.co.uk