From 6 April 2026, parents in Northern Ireland are entitled to Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay from day one of employment. The Department for the Economy confirmed the change in regulations laid at Stormont on 1 April 2026.

The reform removes the previous 26 weeks’ continuous service rule and adds a miscarriage criterion, turning the entitlement into a genuine day‑one right. It arrives via the Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (Employment and Earnings) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026.

For payroll teams, the headline shift is a new earnings test. Normal weekly earnings are now calculated over an eight‑week period, with clear rules on when pay is treated as earned, how to handle back‑dated rises, and what to do where there is no identifiable pay day.

Where actual earnings are absent or not representative, employers must determine expected normal weekly earnings for the week of the bereavement and the seven weeks that follow. That assessment draws on the contractual rate of pay, normal working hours, representative prior pay and any planned unpaid absence, so zero‑hours and seasonal staff are treated fairly.

The weekly rate remains subject to the statutory earnings threshold. Where that threshold is met, payment is set at 90 percent of normal weekly earnings using formulae that blend the eight‑week look‑back with the seven‑week look‑forward, depending on when the bereavement falls.

For workers holding more than one job within the same group of employers, those employers can be treated as one for entitlement and calculation. Expected normal weekly earnings are aggregated across roles, and liability for payment is apportioned if employers cannot agree.

A strengthened anti‑avoidance rule is included. If an employer ends a contract mainly to avoid paying statutory parental bereavement pay, they remain liable and the employee is treated as if still employed up to the week of the bereavement.

The companion regulations for persons abroad and mariners are also updated. Weeks worked in an EEA state with the same employer can now count as if worked in Northern Ireland where the worker falls under UK social security through EU coordination rules, and miscarriage is included within scope from 6 April 2026.

That cross‑border point matters for teams who split time between Belfast and the Republic, or who are posted into the EEA on UK coverage. It should reduce disputes about whether a mixed pattern of UK and EEA work disqualifies someone from pay.

This is not just a Belfast story. Many Northern groups run finance and HR out of Manchester, Leeds or Newcastle while employing colleagues in Northern Ireland. Treat this as a same‑week change: update policies and payroll for any pay period covering 6 April 2026.

Line managers will need clear guidance for difficult days, HR should add miscarriage to bereavement policies for NI staff, and payroll must be able to calculate both normal and expected earnings across the new windows. Check whether any subsidiaries are treated as a single employer for these purposes.

The rules were sealed by senior Department for the Economy official Colin Jack on 1 April 2026, with concurrence from HMRC Commissioners Jonathan Athow and Justin Holiday dated 30 March, and Treasury Lords Commissioners Taiwo Owatemi and Christian Wakeford dated 25 March. The Department also published an impact assessment on 23 February 2026.