Jack’s Law – parents who suffer loss of a child to receive paid bereavement leave

From April, parents who suffer the loss of a child under the age of 18 will be entitled to two weeks of statutory paid bereavement leave. The new rules will mean that an employee will be able to take two weeks of leave in one block, or two separate weeks of paid leave, during the first year following a bereavement.

The new legal right, known as ‘Jack’s Law’ is named in memory of Jack Herd who tragically drowned at the age of 23 months at his home in Cumbria in 2010. Jack’s mother Lucy has campaigned tirelessly for changes to be made to the law after her husband was given just three days leave from work following Jack’s death.

Until Jack’s law comes into effect, there is no automatic right to bereavement leave. The law as it currently stands allows time off to deal with unexpected issues and emergencies in relation to a ‘dependant’ but does not stipulate exactly how much time can be taken off, simply that it should be ‘reasonable’.

The government has said that the new law will be the most generous of its kind in the world and has been welcomed by businesses, despite the inevitable financial cost.

Ms Herd said, “When I started this campaign 10 years ago after the death of my son Jack, I always hoped that a positive change would happen in his memory.

Knowing that nearly 10 years of campaigning has helped create Jack’s Law is the most wonderful feeling, but it is bittersweet at the same time.”

Sources: news.sky.com, 23 January 2020, ‘Jack’s Law: Paid bereavement leave for parents who lose a child starts in April’. Bbc.co.uk, 23 January 2020, ‘Jack’s Law: ‘His little life is going to help thousands of people’ ’.