15 March 2024
The Minister for Social Security, Deputy Lyndsay Feltham, has signed an Order to bring
changes to Jersey’s Employment Law into force.
The changes to the law, originally proposed by Deputy Steve Ahier and approved by the
States Assembly, will give working parents who suffer the death of a child under 18
(including stillbirths) the right to two weeks of unpaid leave from work.
The new leave will be a day one employment right and it will be possible to take the leave
at any time during the first 56 weeks after the child’s death.
Alongside this, the Government of Jersey has set up a payment scheme which will provide
financial support to parents for any potential lost wages. Self-employed workers will also
be eligible to payments from this new scheme.
The process for receiving payments will be arranged by the Government of Jersey, with
no requirement for parents to be directly involved.
The Minister for Social Security, Deputy Lyndsay Feltham said: “For any parent, the death
of a child is a tragedy, and no amount of time off work or financial assistance will make up
for it. This legislation and payment scheme is an important first step in supporting affected
parents. I’d like to thank both previous Ministers for Social Security for their work on the
project and also Deputy Ahier for his hard work in bringing this proposition forward to the
Assembly.”
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