From April 2027, employees will have a new day-one right to take up to two weeks’ unpaid bereavement leave following the loss of a close family member or a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. The government has confirmed how the new right will work, giving employers an opportunity to review their existing bereavement and compassionate leave policies ahead of the changes.
The changes form part of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025) and will significantly widen the circumstances in which employees have a statutory right to time away from work following a bereavement. Currently, statutory bereavement leave is limited to parents who lose a child under 18 or experience a stillbirth after 24 weeks.
Who will be eligible?
The new right will cover the death of an employee’s:
- spouse or civil partner;
- partner in a committed long-term relationship, whether or not they live together;
- parent;
- adult child; or
- sibling.
This will include biological, adoptive, step and half relationships where relevant, as well as equivalent parental relationships where an employee was raised by a kinship or foster carer.
The government has decided not to extend the statutory right to other relationships, such as grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins and in-laws. Employers will of course remain free to provide more generous arrangements through their own compassionate or bereavement leave policies.
Pregnancy loss
The new entitlement will also cover all types of pregnancy loss before 24 weeks, including miscarriage, ectopic and molar pregnancy, terminations and IVF embryo transfer loss. Importantly, the right will not be limited to the person who was pregnant. It will also be available to the other biological parent, a spouse or partner, an intended co-parent and intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement.
How will the leave work?
Employees will be entitled to up to two weeks’ leave, reflecting their usual working pattern, for each qualifying bereavement. The government has opted for two weeks, rather than the one-week statutory minimum set by the ERA 2025. Leave will be available for 56 weeks following the date of the death or pregnancy loss, or the date the employee learns of it. The government has decided to make the leave as flexible as possible and employees will be able to take it as individual days rather than having to take a continuous block.
Notice requirements will depend on how soon after the bereavement the employee takes the leave. During the first eight weeks following a bereavement, employees will only need to give notice before they are due to start work that day or as soon as reasonably practicable afterwards. If they take leave after the first eight weeks, employees will need to give one week’s notice. Employees can give notice in any form and will not be required to provide evidence of the bereavement.
Statutory bereavement leave will be unpaid, although the government encourages employers to go beyond the statutory minimum. Depending on the circumstances, employees may also have other relevant rights, including sickness absence following pregnancy loss.
Next steps for employers
With the changes coming into force in April 2027, you may want to:
- review existing policies to check how current bereavement, compassionate leave and pregnancy loss arrangements align with the new right and how any more generous contractual arrangements will work alongside the new statutory right;
- review HR and absence processes, to ensure they can accommodate employees taking individual days of leave across a 56-week period, including at short notice;
- prepare managers for the new process, particularly given the limited notice requirements and the fact that employees will not be required to provide evidence, so that they handle requests consistently and sensitively; and
- consider whether to enhance the statutory entitlement, such as by offering paid leave, covering a wider range of relationships or allowing additional time away from work.
The government plans to publish guidance for employers and employees on the new right ahead of it coming into force in April 2027.
