Women and their partners who experience a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks will also be entitled to up to two weeks of unpaid leave
- People who have lost loved ones to have legal right to take time of work as new rights to also include step, half, adoptive, kinship care and foster relationships
- Women and their partners who have had any type of pregnancy loss will be entitled to two weeks leave
- Latest development in the plan to Make Work Pay to help people to stay in work, improve living standards and ease pressures on family life.
People who lose a loved one or experience the heartbreak of pregnancy loss, will gain new rights to take time off work under major changes confirmed by the Government today [Tuesday 22 September].
Ministers will introduce a new right to bereavement leave, from April 2027, for employees who lose a spouse or partner, parent, adult child or sibling. This will bring the UK’s laws into the 21st century as it will also include step, half, adoptive, kinship care and foster relationships who currently have no legal right to bereavement leave.
At the hardest moments in life, people should not have to worry about whether they can take time off work to grieve. These common-sense changes recognise that every family deserves the time and space to mourn the people they love, and extend protections to those who are currently excluded, including someone who loses a stepchild.
Also announced today, is that women and their partners who experience a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks – including miscarriage, terminations and unsuccessful IVF embryo transfers - will be entitled to up to two weeks of unpaid leave. This gives people the necessary time and security to grieve during one of the hardest moments in their lives.
It follows powerful campaigning, including from grieving parents who had no formal recognition of their loss, to put an end to years of inconsistency and confusion.
Currently, in these circumstances, there is no legal right to bereavement leave despite it being estimated that one in five women in the UK experience a miscarriage throughout their lifetime.
Minister for the Future of Work, Kate Dearden, said:
No one should have to fight for time to grieve. These changes back people going through some of the hardest moments of life, whoever they are and wherever they work.
I want to thank the campaigners, whose courage and testimonies, have made this change happen.
Whilst the vast majority of workers have understanding employers, who already go much further than these new rights including by offering paid leave, there needs to be a safety net beyond this discretion. Alongside this, the government will continue to work with businesses as we introduce these measures.
For pregnancy loss, this new right will also apply to partners, the other biological parent, or intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement. This recognises in law that pregnancy loss affects the whole family and that all families across Great Britain have their grief acknowledged and are treated fairly at one of the hardest times in life.
Vicki Robinson, Miscarriage UK Chief Executive, said:
We welcome today’s announcement that bereavement leave for pre-24-week pregnancy loss will become law in April 2027, with an increased minimum of two weeks’ leave and an entitlement that recognises partners, too.
This is an important step in recognising pregnancy loss as a bereavement and the profound impact it can have, and we hope will provide a baseline for employers to go further. We still strongly believe bereavement leave should be paid, and we will continue to press for this through our Leave for Every Loss campaign.
We will continue work with Government to ensure the detail and guidance provide meaningful and compassionate support for everyone affected by pregnancy loss.
Matthew Percival, CBI Future of Work & Skills Director, said:
Bringing forward a day one right to bereavement leave recognises the importance of giving employees time and space during some of life’s most difficult moments. Many employers already provide compassionate leave in these circumstances, and businesses look forward to engaging with government, unions and other stakeholders to ensure the detail and accompanying guidance work effectively in practice.
These changes build on the existing right to Parental Bereavement Leave for parents who experience a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy or the death of a child under 18.
The government is currently undertaking a wider, comprehensive review of the parental leave and pay system including on areas such as ‘Hugh’s Law’ and the rights of parents with terminally ill children.
ENDS
Notes to editors
- The government has today published the consultation response on GOV.UK which is available here: Make Work Pay: leave for bereavement including pregnancy loss
These changes will be enacted in Parliament by secondary legislation next year to come into effect in April 2027. - Among respondents to the government’s consultation, more than eight in ten employers and nine in ten business representative organisations supported bereavement leave following the death of an immediate family member.
- The leave will be able to be taken flexibly within 56 weeks of the loss and as single days rather than a full block. This will enable individuals to grieve in the way which works for them.
- Those taking leave within the first eight weeks after a bereavement will only need to notify their employer as soon as is reasonably practicable, rather than in advance.
- No one will be asked or required to provide evidence of their loss, helping to protect employee’s privacy and dignity at a deeply distressing time and reflecting existing practice in many workplaces already.
- Employees taking bereavement leave will be protected from detriment or dismissal for exercising their statutory right to leave.
- The changes build on the existing right to Parental Bereavement Leave for parents who experience a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy or the death of a child under 18