Bereavement leave from April 2027: who qualifies, including after a pregnancy loss

Updated 28 September 2026

If you are grieving now, the new right has not started, and it may not cover a loss before April 2027, but the law is not silent either. Here is what was decided, what was asked for and turned down, and what you can rely on in the meantime.

What did the government decide on 22 September 2026?

The government published its response to the consultation on leave for bereavement including pregnancy loss. The consultation closed on 15 January 2026 and drew more than 1,900 responses, 1,644 of them from individuals, many of whom described their own losses.

The legal framework is already in place. Section 18 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 widens the existing parental bereavement leave in the Employment Rights Act 1996 into a general "bereavement leave", covering other deaths and pregnancy loss. It has been in force since 6 January 2026, but only so that regulations can be made. The 50-page response sets out what the government intends those regulations to say, and states that they will come into force in April 2027, with guidance for employers and employees. No exact day has been given.

The Act itself only guarantees at least one week of leave for a death other than a child's, or for a pregnancy loss. Two weeks for everyone is the government's choice, which the regulations will fix.

The decisions, in brief:

• Who: employees, from the first day of a job.
• How much: up to two weeks, based on your usual working pattern, and unpaid.
• Which losses: the death of a close relative on the list below, or any pregnancy loss before 24 weeks.
• When: in single days or longer stretches, at any point within 56 weeks of the death or loss, or of the day you learned of it.
• Notice: before you start work that day, or as soon as you reasonably can, in the first eight weeks; one week's notice after that. Any form of message counts.
• Evidence: none required.

What rights do you have if you are bereaved now?

Until April 2027 there is no general legal right to time off to grieve. Most employers offer compassionate leave, often paid, but that is a matter of contract and goodwill, and the response accepts that some bereaved employees have been refused time away. Check your contract, handbook and written statement of particulars.

The law does give you some things now.

Parental bereavement leave

If your child dies before the age of 18, or your baby is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy, you can take up to two weeks of parental bereavement leave within 56 weeks of the death. It is a day-one right: you can take one week or two, and the two weeks do not have to be together. Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay is £194.32 a week from 6 April 2026, or 90% of your average weekly earnings if that is less, if you have 26 weeks' continuous service by the end of the week before the death and earn at least £129 a week on average. After a stillbirth, maternity and paternity rights may also apply.

Time off for dependants

Section 57A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 gives you a reasonable amount of unpaid time off to deal with what has to be done because a dependant has died, such as arranging or going to the funeral. For this purpose a dependant is your spouse or civil partner, your child, your parent, or someone who lives in your household other than as your employee, tenant, lodger or boarder. Tell your employer why as soon as you reasonably can, and roughly how long you will be off. The right covers the practical side, not time to grieve. If your employer unreasonably refuses, you can complain to a tribunal within three months of the refusal, or six months if it happens on or after 1 October 2026.

Sick leave and sick pay

If a loss leaves you unwell, physically or mentally, you can be off sick in the usual way. Since 6 April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay has been paid from your first full day off sick, with no minimum earnings, at £123.25 a week or 80% of your normal weekly earnings if that is less. You need a fit note if you are off for more than seven days in a row. Our page on sick pay from day one explains the change.

The response describes absence for the physical symptoms of a pregnancy loss as protected sickness, which should not count towards sickness absence totals. The basis is section 18 of the Equality Act 2010: treating a woman unfavourably, during or after the "protected period", because of her pregnancy, or because of an illness it caused in that period, is discrimination. After a loss before 24 weeks, that period usually ends two weeks after the pregnancy ends. Our page on pregnancy and dismissal protection covers the discrimination side.

Which relationships are covered?

The response lists the relationships that will qualify:

• a spouse or civil partner, or a partner in a committed long-term relationship, whether or not you live together;
• a parent;
• an adult child;
• a sibling, including adopted, step and half-siblings;
• the person who was in effect your parent if you were raised in a kinship or foster care arrangement.

Adopted, step and half relations count. The death of a child under 18 is already covered by parental bereavement leave, which is why the new list says "adult children".

The list does not include grandparents or grandchildren, in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins or close friends. That was contested: 44% of respondents wanted grandparents and grandchildren included, and 62% said the title should not matter, only how important the person was to you. The government chose a fixed list because it is clear and easy to understand, and says employers "know their employees best" and should consider going further. If you lose someone outside the list, you are relying on your employer's policy, your holiday, and, if they were your dependant, the time off for dependants rules above.

Which pregnancy losses are covered, and who can take the leave?

Every pregnancy loss before 24 weeks will qualify. The government's announcement estimates that one in five women in the UK experience a miscarriage in their lifetime. The response names:

• all types of miscarriage, including ectopic, molar and chemical pregnancies, and says that list is not exhaustive;
• all terminations;
• IVF embryo transfer loss, where an embryo transferred into the uterus during IVF fails to implant.

Some respondents asked for embryo loss before transfer, and other failed fertility treatment, to be covered. The government says those fall outside what the Act allows, so they will not be included.

The leave is not limited to the person who was pregnant. It will also be available to:

• their spouse, civil partner, partner in a committed long-term relationship, or the other parent;
• an intended co-parent, who the consultation said might not live with, or be in a relationship with, the person who was pregnant;
• intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement.

That reflects the consultation: 93% of respondents said the leave should not be limited to the person who was pregnant, and 92% agreed every listed type of loss should count.

After 24 weeks, a loss is a stillbirth, and parental bereavement leave applies instead, alongside maternity or paternity rights. A baby born alive at any stage who then dies is not a pregnancy loss: parental bereavement leave covers that now. The new leave uses the same 56-week window partly to avoid confusion over which leave applies at the 24-week line.

How much leave, and how can you take it?

The entitlement is up to two weeks, measured against your usual working pattern. The response gives the example itself: if you work Mondays and Tuesdays, two weeks means four working days; if you work Monday to Friday, it means ten. The amount is the same whoever died and whatever kind of loss it was.

Three details shape how you can take it, and two make it more flexible than parental bereavement leave:

• Single days. You will be able to take the leave one day at a time. The government expects most people to take most of it straight away, but single days let you step away for the funeral, an anniversary, a birthday, a due date or a follow-up hospital appointment.
• A 56-week window. The leave can be taken at any point within 56 weeks, long enough to cover a first anniversary. Eight weeks was the most popular answer in the consultation, at 41%, but the government chose 56 weeks to match parental bereavement leave.
• Two start points. The window can run from the date of the death or loss, or from the date you found out. That matters if you hear about a death weeks later, or after an early pregnancy loss where the exact date is not clear.

It is "up to" two weeks. You can take all of it, some or none.

Two weeks was the most popular answer in the consultation, at 59%, though many asked for four. The government calls two weeks a statutory minimum, and expects employers to work with anyone who needs longer.

How will you tell your employer?

The notice rules are deliberately light:

• In the first eight weeks: before you start work on the day you want off, or as soon as is reasonably possible after that.
• After eight weeks: one week's notice before the day you want to take.
• Any form: a text, an email, a message on the team chat or a phone call. 76% of respondents asked for this, the same approach as parental bereavement leave.

You will not have to provide evidence. No death certificate, no order of service, no medical letter. The government's reasons are practical: an early pregnancy loss often leaves little or no evidence, medical records raise privacy problems, particularly for a partner, and official papers for a death overseas can be slow to arrive.

One caveat: the response also says the government will work with stakeholders on the risk of abuse and look at ways to reduce it in the regulations or through other measures. The regulations have not been published, so details like this could still be adjusted.

Will bereavement leave be paid?

No. The response is plain that the statutory leave "will be unpaid". Paid leave was one of the most common requests in the consultation. The government turned it down, saying its priority was to make the leave widely available while keeping the impact on employers proportionate, and left it to employers to add pay, as many already do. Miscarriage UK and Sands both welcomed the new right but said the leave should be paid, and Sands pointed out that bereaved parents in Northern Ireland already get paid leave.

That has two practical consequences:

• Check your employer's policy. If your employer already pays compassionate leave, that is still likely to be the better option. Until the regulations are published, it is not known exactly how a company scheme and the statutory leave will fit together.
• Sick pay is separate. The response says sick pay may be available for physical symptoms after a pregnancy loss, or for ongoing effects on mental health. Respondents asked for guidance making clear that nobody who is ill should be pushed onto unpaid leave instead. The government has promised guidance on rights and responsibilities, but has not said whether it will cover this point.

What protection will you have for taking it?

The government's announcement of 22 September says employees taking the new leave will be protected from detriment and dismissal. The Act has already widened the relevant powers, in sections 47C and 99 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, from parental bereavement leave to all bereavement leave, and the existing rule that your other terms and conditions continue during the leave will cover it too.

The model is the protection parents have now. Under the Parental Bereavement Leave Regulations 2020, you must not be subjected to a detriment because you took, or tried to take, the leave, and dismissing you for that reason is automatically unfair. There is no qualifying period for that kind of unfair dismissal claim. Expect the new regulations to follow the same pattern, and check the final text when it is published.

If it goes wrong, the claims have deadlines: three months, or six months where the act or the dismissal is on or after 1 October 2026, with Acas early conciliation first.

What to do if you are bereaved before April 2027

• Tell your employer what has happened, in whatever way you can manage, and ask what compassionate leave its policy gives and whether it is paid. You can also ask to use annual leave.
• Use time off for dependants for the arrangements, if the person was your dependant.
• If you are unwell, be off sick. If you were pregnant, absence for physical symptoms of the loss during the protected period, usually the first two weeks, is protected sickness, and it is paid if you qualify for sick pay.
• If your child under 18 has died or your baby was stillborn after 24 weeks, you already have parental bereavement leave and may have pay: ask for it by name.
• If you are refused and then treated badly, write down what was said and when. Raise a grievance if it helps, but remember a grievance does not pause any tribunal deadline. Check your dates with our tribunal deadline calculator.

What happens next?

The regulations and guidance are still to come. Bereavement leave sits in the 2027 group of reforms in the government's implementation timeline, alongside the flexible working changes and new pregnancy protections. Our overview of the Employment Rights Act changes tracks the dates, and we will update this page when the regulations appear.

This page covers England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland has its own law, and since 6 April 2026 its parental bereavement leave and pay have covered miscarriage. This is general information, not legal advice: for your own situation, speak to Acas, a solicitor, or your union.