Government confirms details of new statutory bereavement leave entitlement

Background

At present, the only statutory bereavement leave available to employees is parental bereavement leave, which is limited to parents who lose a child under the age of 18 or who experience a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy. Parental bereavement leave is a paid entitlement, with statutory pay available subject to certain eligibility requirements.

Employees may also take reasonable unpaid time off to deal with an emergency involving a dependant, but this does not cover time off specifically for bereavement or to grieve. While lots of employers respond to bereavement with compassion and flexibility, there is no statutory entitlement for the millions of employees who experience other forms of loss each year, including pregnancy loss before 24 weeks.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025) will introduce a new day one right to unpaid bereavement leave. Following a consultation that closed earlier this year, the Government has now confirmed its decisions on the final shape of the entitlement.

What is changing?

The existing right to parental bereavement leave will continue to cover the death of a child under 18 or a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy. Statutory parental bereavement pay is available to employees who meet the separate eligibility requirements.

From April 2027, employees will also have a day-one right to unpaid bereavement leave following other specified family deaths or pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. The Government has not proposed extending statutory parental bereavement pay to these circumstances.

The new right will cover the death of a spouse, civil partner, parent, adult child or sibling, as well as a partner in a committed long-term relationship, whether or not they lived together. Equivalent parental relationships arising from kinship or foster care arrangements will also be covered.

All types of pregnancy loss before 24 weeks will be included, including miscarriage, ectopic or molar pregnancy, termination and unsuccessful IVF embryo transfer. Leave will be available to the person who experienced the loss, their spouse, civil partner, partner or the other parent, an intended co-parent and intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement.

Employees will be entitled to up to two weeks' leave, based on their usual working pattern. They will be able to take it in separate periods of at least one day within 56 weeks of the loss or the date they became aware of it.

For leave taken within the first eight weeks, employees will generally need to give notice before starting work on the day they wish to take leave, or as soon as reasonably practicable. After eight weeks, one week's notice will be required. Notice can be given in any form, and employers will not be able to require evidence of the bereavement.

The detailed rules will be set out in regulations, with guidance for employers and employees to follow.

Learning points for employers

Employers should begin reviewing their existing bereavement and compassionate leave policies now to understand how the new statutory entitlement will interact with any existing provisions. The Government considers the entitlement to be a statutory minimum, and employers are encouraged to consider whether to enhance it with additional leave or pay.

Employers should also note that employees who experience physical symptoms following a pregnancy loss may separately be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay, and bereavement leave should not be treated as a substitute for sick leave in those circumstances. HR teams should ensure that line managers are aware of the scope of the new right, including that it covers pregnancy loss and non-cohabiting partners, and that no evidence may be requested.

For more information or advice, please get in touch with Alice Mennell in our Employment team.