Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP) Rates & Eligibility

Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Act

Bill created: January 2020 and ratified April 2020.

COVID-19: Eligibility is still possible if the employee is furloughed and only earning below the threshold due to the novel coronavirus situation.

When a parent goes through bereavement, it is important that the employee(s) in question receives the correct support and benefits during this extremely difficult time. As a business, working out how much pay a bereaved employee is entitled to, as well as if they meet the eligibility criteria, can be a prolonged process.

Fortunately, IRIS FMP is able to take this process off your hands, as we provide fully managed payroll services that ensure your employees’ Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay is processed and delivered both accurately and on time.

What is Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay?

Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay is paid to employees who have sadly experienced the death of a child or stillbirth in the past 56 weeks. Employees are able to get either £151.97 a week or 90% of their average weekly earnings (whichever is lower) if they are eligible. Any money is paid the same way as their wages, for example weekly or monthly, along with deductions for tax and National Insurance.

Eligibility for Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

The bill not only benefits biological parents, but primary caregivers, or those with the majority of the responsibility for the care of the minor.

There are two elements to eligibility; as a parent and as an employee.

Parental Eligibility for Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

Firstly, to be eligible the child must have been under the age of 18 or have been stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

When defining responsibility for the child, it follows as below.

If, at the time of death, they were:

• the child or baby’s parent – either biological, adoptive or parent of a child born to a surrogate
• the partner of the child or baby’s parent
• the child or baby was living with them at their home for 4 continuous weeks, ending with the date of death
• the employee or their partner had day-to-day responsibility for the child or baby’s care during that time.

When it comes to being involved through payment of the caregiving to the child, employees do not qualify for any benefits unless they were:

• a foster parent being paid a fee or allowance by a local authority
• reimbursed for expenses related to caring for the child or baby
• getting payments under the terms of a will or trust for the child or baby’s care.

Adoptive parent eligibility:

Adoptive parents are eligible for this pay if:

• they were the adoptive parent after the adoption order was granted
• they were the adoptive parent before the adoption order was made, if the child was placed with them and the placement was not disrupted (for example, being temporarily placed elsewhere) or stopped.

If the employee was adopting from outside of the UK, then the following rules apply:

• They had the ‘official notification’ confirming adoption was allowed and

the child was living with them after entering Great Britain.

If the employee was using a surrogate, they are eligible:

• after a parental order was made
• before a parental order was made if they had applied or intended to apply for a parental order within 6 months of the child’s birth and expected it to be granted.

Employee Eligibility for Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

To qualify, you must meet a parental condition and an employee condition. As well as giving notice, varying depending on time from death, the employee must be officially classed as such.

When it comes to payment, to qualify, an employee must:

• continue to be employed up to the day the child died or was stillborn
• continually be employed for 26 weeks up until the week of the child’s death
• earn on average £120 a week before tax (gross) over an 8-week period
• give the correct notice and information for Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

Calculating Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

Pay is based on the Average Weekly Earning (AWE) of the previous eight weeks. Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay for an eligible employee is either £151.20 a week or 90% of their average weekly earnings (whichever is lower).

The below example shows the calculation period for a week’s pay period, up until the relevant week, which is the week the leave begins.

The below example shows a monthly pay period calculation.

How We Can Help

Visit our outsourced payroll solutions page for more information on how IRIS FMP can help when sensitive issues such as parental bereavement happens. Our expertise and attentiveness ensures your employees’ Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay is recorded and paid correctly and reliably.

For the complete, in-depth guidelines on Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay entitlement, eligibility and exceptions, please visit the Gov website.

Quick Reference FAQs

Q. What is the ‘Relevant Week’ in SPBP terms?

A. This is the week of the child’s death, until the Saturday, that is used to set a precedent for calculating AWE.

Q. Is Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay taxable?

A. Yes, it is taxable – tax and national insurance are deducted.

Q. Does the Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay leave period have to be taken consecutively?

A. No, the leave period can be taken in two separate weeks in the period of 56 weeks to account for anniversary dates. This must reflect in your payments, providing the relevant notice is given.