The UK’s Expanded Bereavement Leave Rights

The UK government announced last week that employees across the UK will benefit from expanded bereavement leave rights from April 2027 under the Employment Rights Act 2025. 

What Is Changing 

Under the new entitlement, employees who lose a spouse, civil partner, parent, adult child or sibling will have the right to up to two weeks' unpaid leave from their very first day of employment. The right also extends to equivalent parental relationships for those raised in kinship or foster care arrangements, and to family members connected through adoption; relationships that currently carry no statutory entitlement to bereavement leave. 

The government noted that its approach was designed to reflect "inclusive modern family dynamics," acknowledging that traditional definitions of family do not capture the full range of relationships in which profound grief can arise.  

Crucially, the measures also cover pregnancy loss before 24 weeks, including miscarriage, ectopic and molar pregnancies, terminations and unsuccessful IVF embryo transfers. Leave is available not only to the person who was pregnant, but also to their partner, the other biological parent and intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement; in recognition that the emotional devastation of pregnancy loss is not borne by one person alone. 

At present, statutory bereavement leave is available only to parents who lose a child under 18 or experience a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy. Eligible employees are entitled to two weeks' leave from day one of employment, while statutory bereavement pay is available to those with at least 26 weeks' continuous service and average weekly earnings above the lower earnings limit. Outside these limited circumstances, millions of bereaved employees each year have no legal right to take time off work to grieve. 

While many employers already offer compassionate leave, provision varies considerably. In the absence of a statutory right, some employees have been left without any protected time to process their loss; a situation that can have lasting consequences for their wellbeing and their ability to return to work effectively. The new entitlement addresses this gap by establishing a statutory floor of protection.  

How the Leave Works in Practice 

Employees will be able to take the leave as individual days or in a single block within 56 weeks of the bereavement. There is no requirement to provide evidence of a loss as the government recognised that requiring proof would place an undue burden on bereaved employees. 

For leave taken within the first eight weeks, employees need only notify their employer as soon as reasonably practicable. For leave taken after eight weeks, one week's notice is required, and this can be in any form.   

The entitlement is unpaid, and the government acknowledged calls from respondents for paid leave. However, it emphasised that the priority was to ensure leave is universally available while keeping the impact on employers proportionate. Employers remain free to enhance the entitlement by offering pay or additional time off, as many already do.

The statutory protection provides a safety net for the employees who need it most, whose employers may not otherwise offer compassionate leave. By broadening the entitlement to cover a far wider range of family relationships, as well as pregnancy loss before 24 weeks, the measures ensure that employees who previously had no legal right to take time off to grieve are no longer left without support. By guaranteeing every worker the right to step away in moments of profound loss, these measures take a meaningful step toward a more compassionate and supportive working environment. 

Secondary legislation will bring the measures into force in April 2027, and the government has committed to publishing guidance for both employers and employees ahead of implementation. 

Next Steps for Employers: 

• Review and update existing bereavement and compassionate leave policies against the new statutory minimum, particularly the expanded definitions of qualifying family relationships, ahead of April 2027.  
• Address pregnancy loss in your policies if you have not already done so, and ensure requests can be handled sensitively and confidentially.  
• Consider going beyond the statutory floor by offering paid leave or additional time off to support employee wellbeing and retention.  
• Train line managers and HR teams on the light-touch notice requirements and the day-one, no-evidence nature of the entitlement.  
• Watch for the secondary legislation and government guidance expected ahead of the April 2027 commencement date.