Northern Ireland has enacted changes to Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP) that take effect on 6 April 2026. The Department for the Economy has made the Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (Employment and Earnings) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026 (S.R. 2026 No. 74), laid before the Assembly under section 172(1) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 for approval within six months of commencement.
The Regulations implement sections 3 and 5 of the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 by delivering SPBP as a day‑one entitlement and enabling determinations based on reasonable assumptions about expected earnings. The Department acted with the concurrence of HM Revenue and Customs and HM Treasury where required.
The 26‑week continuous service requirement is removed from the Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (General) (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023, so eligibility no longer depends on length of service. The change‑of‑employer rule is retained for the limited purpose of calculating earnings, reflecting the move away from service‑based qualification.
Normal weekly earnings are re‑set around an 8‑week reference period ending immediately before the relevant window. Earnings due for work in that period count even if paid afterwards, and back‑dated pay rises are treated as if paid in‑period. Where there is no identifiable normal pay day, the rules adapt by reference to the day of payment. Bridging provisions cover days between the end of the 8‑week period and the first day of bereavement.
A new regulation on expected normal weekly earnings allows entitlement to be determined where actual earnings are absent or unrepresentative. For the 7 weeks beginning immediately after the week of bereavement-and for any continuous sub‑periods-employers must consider contractual rate of pay, normal hours, representative prior earnings, pre‑arranged unpaid absences, and any other reasonable information. Back‑dated pay rises are factored in as if already in force.
Where, on the first day of bereavement, two or more employers are treated as one for SPBP purposes, expected earnings from each are aggregated for the calculation period. Liability to pay SPBP is then apportioned between those employers according to their share of the aggregated expected earnings, or by agreement.
The weekly rate calculation is recast to align with the mixed actual/expected earnings framework. If the weekly earnings threshold is met by reference to one of several defined 8‑week windows straddling the week of bereavement and the subsequent 7 weeks, the weekly rate is 90% of the figure produced by the prescribed averaging method for that window. The Regulations set out how to combine normal and expected earnings across nine possible configurations.
Coordination with contractual remuneration is updated. SPBP is adjusted where the employee receives contractual pay for the same period by reason of parental bereavement or, from 6 April 2026, by reason of experiencing a miscarriage, ensuring employers do not pay twice for the same days.
Anti‑avoidance provisions are strengthened. If employment ended solely or mainly to avoid SPBP liability, the former employer remains liable. In such cases the employee is treated as employed up to the week of bereavement, and normal or expected earnings are determined under the amended rules.
Coverage for people working outside Northern Ireland is expanded in the companion amendments to the Persons Abroad and Mariners Regulations. “Miscarriage” is added to scope from 6 April 2026. Where an individual is subject to UK social security legislation while gainfully employed in an EEA state, they are treated as an employee for SPBP. Past or expected weeks of employment in the EEA with the same employer can be counted as if they were weeks of Northern Ireland employment for entitlement and earnings tests. The “relevant week” is defined as the week immediately before the one in which the child dies or the miscarriage is experienced.
The instrument was sealed by the Department for the Economy on 1 April 2026, with HM Treasury’s concurrence dated 25 March 2026 and HMRC’s concurrence dated 30 March 2026. It comes into operation on 6 April 2026 and is subject to Assembly approval within six months of that date. The Department published a Regulatory Impact Assessment on 23 February 2026 covering the enhancement of SPBP and inclusion of miscarriage.
For employers, immediate actions include updating payroll calculations to reflect the 8‑week/7‑week normal and expected earnings framework, revising policies to reflect day‑one eligibility and miscarriage coverage, and preparing to apportion liability where connected employments are treated as one. HR teams should ensure records can evidence representative earnings assumptions and handle cross‑border scenarios where EEA employment weeks may count toward entitlement. Employees should be informed that claims will be processed under the 2023 General Regulations as amended from 6 April 2026.