Northern Ireland has made Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay a day‑one right from 6 April 2026. The change is set out in Statutory Rules 2026 No. 74, made by the Department for the Economy, sealed on 1 April 2026, and laid before the Northern Ireland Assembly for approval within six months of commencement. The Regulations carry the concurrence of HMRC and HM Treasury, according to legislation.gov.uk.

The service test has gone. The previous requirement for 26 weeks’ continuous employment is removed, as envisaged by the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022. Crucially, entitlement can be determined using reasonable assumptions about expected earnings so that new starters are not excluded solely because they joined recently, as the Explanatory Note confirms.

Payroll teams now work with two anchored concepts: normal weekly earnings and expected normal weekly earnings. Normal weekly earnings are drawn from the eight weeks before the week of bereavement, and include amounts due for that period even if paid later. Back‑dated pay rises are treated as if they applied within the period, and where there is no identifiable ‘normal pay day’, the rules switch to the actual day of payment. A technical tweak also ensures continuity for earnings calculations where there is a change of employer.

Expected normal weekly earnings, introduced by new regulation 19A, cover the seven weeks immediately after the end of the week of bereavement. Employers should use contractual rate, normal hours, any earlier representative earnings, pre‑arranged unpaid absences, and other reasonable information. The law assumes the employment continues through the reference period, bringing variable‑hours and zero‑hours staff into scope on fair assumptions rather than penalising timing.

The weekly payment is then derived from 90% of the relevant calculated figure where the employee meets the weekly earnings threshold. Regulation 20 maps nine scenarios that blend actual and expected earnings depending on when the bereavement falls, so odd pay cycles or short pre‑bereavement service do not distort outcomes. Employers should apply HMRC statutory pay routines for the current tax year when setting the rate in payroll.

Liability can be shared across concurrent jobs. Where two or more employers are treated as one on the first day of bereavement, the worker’s earnings from each are aggregated for entitlement. Any statutory payments must then be apportioned between those employers by agreement or, failing that, in proportion to the earnings from each employment over the period.

The Regulations now recognise miscarriage explicitly. Entitlement and the interaction with any contractual remuneration are updated so that pay may be due by reason of experiencing a miscarriage, not only the death of a child or stillbirth. The Persons Abroad and Mariners provisions are also updated so miscarriage cases are covered from 6 April 2026.

Cross‑border employment is addressed. Weeks worked for the same employer in an EEA state can be treated as Northern Ireland employment for entitlement where the worker falls under UK social security coordination rules. A ‘relevant week’ is defined as the week before the child dies or the miscarriage is experienced, giving HR and payroll a clear anchor point for checks and records.

Anti‑avoidance is explicit. If employment is ended mainly to avoid liability for Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay, the former employer remains responsible for paying it. In such cases, the employee is treated as if still employed through the week of bereavement, and earnings are determined under the new normal/expected rules.

For HR and finance teams, the operational impact is immediate. Update policies and manager guidance to reflect day‑one eligibility, miscarriage coverage, and the use of expected earnings. Ensure payroll software supports the new reference periods, handles back‑dated rises correctly, and can apportion liability where there is concurrent employment. Termination sign‑off should now build in a check for potential statutory payment liability.

A quick example illustrates the intent. A retail worker starts on 1 April and experiences a bereavement on 9 April. Actual earnings in the short pre‑bereavement window are small, but the employer must combine those with a reasonable estimate of earnings for the seven weeks after the week of bereavement to determine both eligibility and payment rate. The Department for the Economy’s aim is to prevent atypical patterns or early tenure excluding people from support.

Multi‑jurisdiction employers should note this change applies in Northern Ireland. Great Britain operates a similar framework but rules are not identical. Align Northern Ireland payroll settings with SR 2026 No. 74 from 6 April 2026 and diarise the Assembly approval deadline of 6 October 2026. The Department for the Economy’s impact assessment was published on 23 February 2026 for additional context.