Debate contribution: Parental Bereavement Leave (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023

Debate contribution by Mr Philip McGuigan on 19 March 2024.

MLA: Mr Philip McGuigan
Party at the time: Sinn Féin
Date: 19 March 2024
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Executive Committee Business
Heading: Parental Bereavement Leave (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 4279002

Text

Key to the success of the Assembly and Executive is proving to workers and their families that we are on their side, so I commend Minister Murphy for bringing forward these important paid parental bereavement regulations. Doing so in his first few weeks in office is a demonstration of his priorities. It underlines his commitment to supporting workers — in this case, parents experiencing the grief and trauma of losing a child — by granting them a statutory right to take up to two weeks paid leave from work in the 56 weeks following the death of a child under the age of 18. These regulations, as has been pointed out, are from legislation passed in the previous mandate. They provide an excellent example of how all parties, working together, can deliver positive change for workers and parents here in the North. Whilst many employers are compassionate and will already have good practice in place, the legislation also provides employers with certainty. Sinn Féin was at the forefront of this positive change. Through our proposals, we managed to secure agreement for the legislation, which goes beyond what workers are entitled to in Britain. Our legislation is more compassionate and inclusive. Unfortunately, the absence of the Executive over the past two years has denied workers here the right to fully avail themselves of the new protections. However, once the legislation is implemented in full here in the North, we will, as has been pointed out, lead the way as one of the first places across Europe and, indeed, the world to introduce paid leave following a miscarriage. The legislation will provide paid leave to workers who suffer stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy or miscarriage within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. Those are important additions. The grief and sense of loss for mothers and fathers as a result of miscarriage has often been overlooked in employment law. The numbers of stillbirths recorded can vary significantly from year to year. In 2018, there were 79 recorded stillbirths in the North compared with 102 in 2017 and 82 in 2016. The numbers of miscarriages are harder to ascertain. Regardless of the figures and numbers, those statistics represent real families, parents and workers who have to come to terms with such a tragic loss. Their inclusion in the legislation will help to remove what the Miscarriage Association identified as a feeling of pressure on parents to return to work before they are ready. The law will give important support to parents and help to put the support in place for parents who have lost a baby during pregnancy on a par with the support for those who have lost a child up to the age of 18 years old. The regulations recognise that grief and trauma is not time-bound. They give parents the options to take the leave as two consecutive weeks or as two non-consecutive blocks of one week during the 56-week period. I am delighted that the Minister has brought forward the regulations and pointed the way to the next stage of the legislation, giving workers this important support.

518 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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