New UK Law Gives Partners And Parents Two Weeks Bereavement Leave After Pregnancy Loss
The new rules will apply to pregnancy loss before 24 weeks and will take effect from April 2027. The leave will be unpaid.
Recommended For YouCurrently, there is no general legal right to bereavement leave following pregnancy loss before 24 weeks, despite an estimated one in five women in the UK experiencing a miscarriage during their lifetime.
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The change means employees will no longer have to rely entirely on their employer's own compassionate leave policy when dealing with an early pregnancy loss.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the change was intended to give people time away from work while grieving.
“When you're grieving, you deserve the time and space to do that,” he underscored.
Who will be entitled to leave?The right will not apply only to the woman who experienced the pregnancy loss. Partners, the other biological parent, and intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement will also be eligible.
It will cover different types of pregnancy loss before 24 weeks, including miscarriage, termination and an unsuccessful IVF embryo transfer.
Existing rules already provide parental bereavement leave for parents who experience a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy or whose child dies before the age of 18.
Does the leave have to be taken immediately?No. Employees will be able to take the new bereavement leave flexibly within 56 weeks of the loss.
It can also be taken as individual days rather than one continuous period, allowing people to use the time when they need it.
During the first eight weeks following a bereavement, employees will only have to inform their employer as soon as reasonably possible rather than giving advance notice.
Employees will also not be required to provide evidence of the pregnancy loss.
The government said the approach was intended to protect people's privacy and dignity during a difficult time. Workers taking statutory bereavement leave will also be protected from dismissal or negative treatment because they used their right to take time off.
Will the two weeks be paid?No. The new statutory entitlement will be unpaid. Some employers already provide paid compassionate or bereavement leave and will still be able to offer more than the legal minimum.
The group Miscarriage UK welcomed the introduction of the new right but said it would continue campaigning for pregnancy loss bereavement leave to be paid.
Vicki Robinson, the organisation's chief executive, said the change formally recognises pregnancy loss as bereavement and creates a minimum standard that employers can build on.
Bereavement rights are also expandingThe changes go beyond pregnancy loss. From April 2027, employees will also gain a statutory right to bereavement leave following the death of a spouse or partner, parent, adult child or sibling.
The rules will recognise a wider range of family relationships, including step, half, adoptive, foster and kinship care relationships.
The measures are expected to be introduced through secondary legislation before coming into effect in April next year.
For people experiencing pregnancy loss, the change establishes something that until now has depended largely on individual employers: a legal right to step away from work and grieve.
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