A New Right To Bereavement Leave: The Government’s Consultation Response Explained

The Employment Rights Act (ERA) 2025 created a new statutory right to unpaid bereavement leave. In this blog Katy Corteel explains the Government’s response published following their 12-week consultation which sets out the details for the planned implementation of this new leave affecting both employees and employers.

The Old Law

Prior to the ERA 2025, there was limited provision in place for bereaved employees to take leave from work by way of parental bereavement leave. This only applied to the parents (or the partner of a parent) of a child under 18 years old who died, or those who experienced a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy. There was the additional requirement of continuous employment for at least 26 weeks at the date of the loss. Beyond parental bereavement leave, and as noted in the Government’s response, for those parents who had a stillborn baby after 24 weeks, they may be entitled to maternity, paternity, shared parental leave, and possibly sick leave in certain circumstances.

The New Position from April 2027

Given the gap in the law, the ERA has introduced a new statutory right to bereavement leave for employees, the details of which have now been confirmed by the Government following the publication of their consultation response on 22 September 2026. The Government have stated that its aim is to strike a balance between recognising the impact of bereavement on employees and the effect such leave will have on business. The Government has confirmed that it will legislate as follows.

Pregnancy loss

In the case of pregnancy loss, from April 2027 leave will be available to employees who experience pregnancy loss before 24 weeks, as well as their partners (whether spouse, civil partner or partner in long-term relationship), the other biological parent or intended co-parent. In the case of pregnancy loss in a surrogacy situation, the intended parents will have this same leave entitlement.

Unlike parental bereavement leave, the new statutory bereavement leave will be available to a wider class of employees and for all types of pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. This decision in relation to pregnancy loss was based on the “broadconsensus” (92%) among participants in the Government’s consultation that all types of pregnancy loss listed in the consultation (miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, medical terminations and IVF embryo transfer loss) should be covered.

Bereavement of immediate family members

Bereavement leave will be available to those who experience the death of an immediate family member (consensus among 84% of respondents to the consultation). The Government have confirmed “immediatefamily” will be defined as: spouse, partner (both cohabiting and non-cohabiting), parents (or equivalent parental relationship such as foster parent), adult children and siblings (including step and half siblings). This is an extension of the existing right of parental bereavement leave to cover children over the age of 18 along with additional close familial relationships.

Duration of bereavement leave

The Government have confirmed that the new legislation will entitle employees to up to two weeks’ bereavement leave (same as leave entitlement under parental bereavement leave) which can be taken any time over a period of 56 weeks from the death or knowledge of the death.

The leave does not need to be taken in one continuous period, in recognition that people respond to grief in different ways and have their own needs under such circumstances. This is in consideration of providing employees the flexibility to use their leave for important dates which may be particularly difficult for the individual employee.

Notice and evidencing entitlement

The legislation will require notice to be given by the employee to their employer as soon as reasonably practicable. The Government have acknowledged in their proposal that, when recently bereaved, what is considered “reasonable notice” will be shorter. The Government have decided that within the first eight weeks of bereavement, the employee should give notice no later than the start of the working day on which they intend to take leave. Thereafter, this should be one week before the requested date of leave.

The Government have also confirmed that there is no specific form of notice prescribed and there is no need to meet certain evidencing requirements. This is in consideration of the potential difficulties in obtaining such evidence, especially where the death occurs overseas, along with privacy concerns in the case of pregnancy loss. Such evidence in the context of pregnancy loss would ultimately involve disclosing confidential medical records. These records (1) may be difficult to obtain; (2) may not be the medical records of the employee claiming the leave, given the expanded scope of entitlement; and (3) could pose its own risk to employers under GDPR legislation when processing and retaining such data.

Commentary

It was evident that parental bereavement leave is too limited in scope, mostly from its restrictive eligibility criteria. While the new statutory right to bereavement leave is an improvement, it is unpaid and there are calls for the Government to follow Northern Ireland’s lead in introducing a statutory right to paid bereavement leave. This is a marked shortcoming of statutory bereavement leave when compared to the existing paid parental bereavement leave available to bereaved parents (and their partners) who are currently entitled to payment at the lower of £194.32 per week or 90% of their average weekly pay (before tax).

Grief is indiscriminate and, while the Government’s proposal for statutory bereavement leave is much wider, it is limited to the loss of an immediate family member, with the notable exclusion of grandparents and grandchildren. This may be an oversight given the gradual increase of the UK State Pension age, resulting in more grandparents in the workforce. While the Government could have implemented suggestions from the consultation such as scaling the duration of the leave entitlement in line with the closeness of the relationship to cover a wider range of familial relationships, this would have likely added complications which could be administratively unworkable for many employers.

Ultimately, it is important to return to the Government’s stated aim with this new leave entitlement: to recognise the impact of bereavement on employees while balancing that impact against the need to ensure such leave does not cause considerable difficulties for employers. The Government’s intended legislative approach does a good job at meeting this goal. Although unpaid, the Government’s proposal acknowledges the substantial impact of bereavement on employees through its expanded eligibility criteria while mirroring the 2 weeks’ leave offered under parental bereavement leave. It also offers flexibility as to how such leave can be taken, which considers the unpredictable nature of grief, and may also be beneficial for many employers.