In February 2026’s Wages Wednesday, ICB outlined three important changes that employers should be planning for in time for implementation in April 2026. These impact:
1. Statutory Paternity Leave;
2. Statutory Unpaid Parental Leave; and
3. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
All the above are contained within the Employment Rights Act 2025 – although there is no statutory right to be sick. The changes to Paternity and Unpaid Parental will affect employees where the contract of employment written under Great British employment legalisation. SSP changes are UK-wide.
The Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave Regulations 2026 are separate to the 2025 Act but also update Great British employment legislation. This secondary legislation is made under the Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024 which was a UK-Government supported Private Members' Bill introduced by Chris Elsmore MP.
They introduce a new statutory leave entitlement to be known as Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave (BPPL). This applies for:
- Births;
- Adoptions, including adoptions from overseas; and
- Where parental orders are issued
The intention of the new unpaid entitlement is to provide support to employees where they are bereaved of the mother or Primary Adopter within the first year of the child’s life or placement (in adoptions). This is a day one right and applies where the mother of Primary Adopter dies on or after 06 April 2026.
The UK Government has published an overview of the entitlement which will not, thankfully, be used in the vast majority of cases. Employees can take up to 52 weeks of unpaid BPPL and does mean employees will have a statutory right to take leave where this was not available before.
A similar publication passes on the following advice to employers:
- Review bereavement and compassionate leave policies;
- Create or update a specific policy for Bereaved Partner's Paternity Leave;
- Consider if this will be offered as paid leave; and
- Communicate the changes to the workforce and managers
For Bookkeepers
The secondary legislation (the Regulations) introduce statutory notice requirements to take this unpaid leave and allow this to be varied. They also introduce employment protections which align with those for other child-relate statutory leave, for example, the right to return to work and protection from detriment and unfair dismissal.
Note that the statutory entitlement is unpaid but employers may decide that an occupational policy will convert this to a paid entitlement. However, if an employer does make a payment, this cannot be recovered from HMRC.
This is another employment right that will have to be considered in payroll software and ICB urges members to contact their provider in this regard.
