UK government confirms it will expand statutory bereavement leave

At a glance

• The Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA) will introduce a new statutory, day-one right to unpaid bereavement leave, expected to come into force in April 2027.
• Eligible relationships include immediate family members (spouses, civil partners, parents, adult children, siblings) and those in kinship and foster care arrangements.
• The right will also cover pregnancy loss (including miscarriage, termination, and IVF embryo transfer loss), with leave available to the pregnant person, their partner, and intended parents in surrogacy arrangements.
• Employees will be entitled to up to two weeks of leave, prorated to their usual working pattern, which can be taken discontinuously within 56 weeks of the bereavement.
• Employees will not be required to provide evidence of bereavement to access leave, and the government will publish guidance to support implementation.

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The government has published its response to consultation on bereavement leave, including in situations of pregnancy loss.

There is an existing statutory entitlement to Parental Bereavement Leave (PBL), but this is limited to parents who experience the death of a child under the age of 18, or who experience a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

PBL provides up to two weeks of paid leave that can be taken in one-week blocks, either consecutively or separately, within 56 weeks of the child’s death. However, employees who experience other forms of bereavement every year, including a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks, have no statutory right to take time away from work.

The ERA will introduce a statutory, day-one right to unpaid bereavement leave, establishing a protected period during which employees can take time away from work following a loss.

It is intended that the new right will come into force in April 2027.

Eligibility for leave

The government will legislate so that the following relationships will be eligible for the new bereavement leave:

• Immediate family members (biological, adopted, step, and half-relations), including spouses, civil partners and partners in a committed long-term relationship (cohabiting or non-cohabiting), parents, adult children, and siblings.
• Equivalent parental relationships for employees who were raised in kinship and foster care arrangements.

The following relationships will be able to access bereavement leave for pregnancy loss:

• The person who was pregnant.
• A spouse, civil partner, the other parent, or partner (who is in a committed long-term relationship) with the person who physically experienced the pregnancy loss.
• An intended co-parent.
• Intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement.

Pregnancy loss includes:

• All types of miscarriage before 24 weeks including molar pregnancies, ectopic pregnancies and chemical pregnancies (non-exhaustive).
• All terminations.
• IVF embryo transfer loss, meaning the unsuccessful outcome of transferring a fertilised embryo into the uterus during IVF treatment. This does not include IVF embryo loss pre-transfer.

Duration of leave

The government will legislate to provide up to two weeks of leave, pro-rated to the employee’s usual working pattern for all types of bereavement, including the death of an eligible family member (or equivalent) and pregnancy loss.

When leave can be taken

Leave can start on the date of knowledge of the death or pregnancy loss, or the date of death or pregnancy loss.

Bereavement leave can be taken discontinuously, in units of one day, within 56 weeks of the death, or knowledge of the death.

Notice of leave

During the first eight weeks of bereavement, notice should be provided before the employee is due to start work on the day they intend to take leave, or as soon as is reasonably possible thereafter. For leave taken beyond eight weeks of the bereavement, notice should be given one week before the requested date of leave.

Employees should not have to provide evidence of a bereavement to their employer to be able to access leave.

Next steps

The government will publish guidance alongside the implementation of bereavement leave to ensure that both employers and employees are fully aware of their rights and responsibilities.

Paid parental bereavement leave will still be available to eligible parents.