New employment rights will give millions of people greater protection when they need time away from work following a bereavement, with new provisions also recognising pregnancy loss.
The Government has confirmed significant changes to bereavement leave in Great Britain, giving more employees a statutory right to take time away from work following the death of someone close to them.
The new entitlement is due to be introduced from April 2027 and will cover employees who lose a spouse or partner, parent, adult child or sibling. Importantly, the provisions will also recognise a wider range of family relationships, including step, half, adoptive, kinship care and foster relationships. For many families, the changes address a difficult reality: grief does not fit neatly around working hours, yet statutory protection for bereavement has historically been limited.
What is changing?
At present, statutory Parental Bereavement Leave provides eligible parents with time away from work following the death of a child under 18 or a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 provides for this protection to be widened through a new statutory right to bereavement leave covering other close relationships.
Under the Government’s plans, bereavement leave will be a day-one employment right, meaning employees will not have to complete a qualifying period with their employer before becoming entitled to it.
The leave will be unpaid, although employers will remain free to offer more generous paid compassionate or bereavement leave arrangements.
The Government has also confirmed that the leave will be capable of being taken flexibly within 56 weeks of a bereavement, including as individual days rather than necessarily as one continuous period. Employees taking statutory bereavement leave will also have legal protection against detriment or dismissal because they have exercised that right.
Pregnancy loss will also be recognised
One of the most significant changes concerns pregnancy loss before 24 weeks.
Women and their partners will be entitled to up to two weeks of unpaid bereavement leave following pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. The provisions include miscarriage, termination and unsuccessful IVF embryo transfer.
The entitlement is also intended to cover partners, the other biological parent and intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement.
Currently, statutory Parental Bereavement Leave applies following a stillbirth from 24 weeks or the death of a child under 18. The new provisions therefore recognise forms of pregnancy loss that have previously fallen outside that statutory bereavement entitlement.
Will employees have to provide proof of a bereavement?
The Government says employees will not be required to provide evidence of their loss in order to take the new bereavement leave.
There will also be more flexibility around notification immediately following a death. Where leave is taken during the first eight weeks following a bereavement, employees will need to tell their employer as soon as reasonably practicable rather than having to provide advance notice.
These details matter. In the immediate aftermath of a death, administrative requirements can add another burden at a time when families may already be dealing with registration, funeral arrangements, informing relatives and many other practical responsibilities.
Giving people time to grieve
There is no single timetable for grief. Some people may want to return to work quickly, while others may need more time. Practical responsibilities following a death can also continue long after the funeral has taken place.
The ability to take bereavement leave flexibly recognises some of that reality. It may allow an employee, for example, to take time immediately following a death while retaining some of their entitlement for another point during the following months.
Many employers already provide compassionate leave beyond the statutory minimum. The new legislation establishes a legal baseline rather than preventing organisations from providing greater support.
When will the new bereavement leave rules begin?
The Government announced on 22 September 2026 that it intends the new rights to come into force from April 2027, with the detailed provisions being introduced through secondary legislation.
Further guidance is therefore expected before the new entitlement takes effect.
For employees who experience a bereavement before the new rules are introduced, workplace policies may already provide compassionate or bereavement leave, so it is worth checking an employer’s individual policy.
At Harrison Funeral Home, we understand that the days and weeks following a death involve far more than arranging a funeral. Families are often navigating practical responsibilities alongside their grief, and having the time and space to do so can matter enormously.
The introduction of wider statutory bereavement leave is an important recognition of that.