Qualifying conditions

Employees are entitled to PBL from their first day of employment. However, to be eligible for SPBP the employee must:

• Have been continuously employed for at least 26 weeks before the week in which the child dies
• Have average weekly earnings (AWE) of at least the lower earnings limit (LEL) for national insurance (NI) in the 8 weeks ending with the week in which the child dies
• Give their employer 'notice' for SPBP in writing within 28 days of the first day of the SPBP period

  The employee must provide evidence of entitlement in writing at the same time, which must contain a written declaration that the person meets the qualifying conditions for SPBP as well as the specified information, which is:

  • The name of the person claiming SPB
  • The date of the child's death, or date of birth for a stillborn child
  • The period or periods in relation to which SPBP is to be paid
• They have completed the employee declaration. Unlike other statutory parental pay, this is not mandatory before the employee can receive the payment

NOTE: SPBP pay and leave must be taken at the end of any maternity/paternity/adoption pay/leave they may be currently taking.

Entitlement

SPBP can be paid either in a single block of two weeks, or as two separate blocks of one week each and can start on any day of the week. The entitlement must be taken within 56 weeks, starting with the date of the child's death.

It can start on any day of the week, if an employee works in any part of the week for which they have claimed SPBP, the employer has no obligation to pay SPBP for that week. The employee is still entitled to receive payment for the second week if not already taken.

There will be no entitlement to SPBP in respect of any week during any part of which an employee is entitled to statutory sick pay (SSP).

If an employee is eligible for SPBP as a result of the deaths of more than one child, they're entitled to 2 weeks' SPBP in respect of each child.

Process SPBP

NOTE: If you're eligible for small employers' relief, you must set this up in Sage 50 Payroll before processing SPBP. Find out more in our handy guide what is Small Employers' Relief? >

1. On the Employee List, double-click the required employee.
2. Click the Absence tab then click S.P.B.P.
3. Enter the date of the child's death or date of birth for a stillborn child into Date of Death.
4. To get the employee's average pay, click Auto Calc then click OK.
5. If you have received the declaration, select the Declaration Received check box.
6. Ensure the Manual Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay Calculations check box is clear.
7. Within the table, enter:
   
   • Week 1 - The first day the employee is off, and the number of days they worked in that week, if required
   • Week 2 - The first day the employee is off, and the number of days they worked in that week, if required
8. Click OK then click Save then click Close.