A Wider Right to Grieve: The Extension of Statutory Bereavement Leave

The Employment Rights Act 2025 has brought with it some of the most profound changes to employment law in the last thirty years, introducing a raft of new and enhanced employment rights including, most recently, enhanced rights to bereavement leave over and above the current provisions for parental bereavement leave.

The Government confirmed last week its proposals to widen bereavement leave entitlements, with the new rights set to come into force in April 2027. These will apply to all employees, regardless of length of service, and will cover all types of pregnancy loss, including before 24 weeks, for both the mother and co-parent.

Bereavement leave will also be available to employees who experience the loss of a spouse, a civil partner, a partner in a “committed long-term relationship” (whether cohabiting or not), a parent, an adult child or a sibling.

Under the announced proposals for this extended bereavement leave, employees will be entitled to up to two weeks leave, unpaid, which can be taken either as full weeks, or single days. For example, employees can choose to take time off immediately after a bereavement, time off for the funeral, or time off to mark the anniversary of the bereavement, (albeit that the leave must be taken within 56 weeks of the bereavement). Within the first eight weeks, the employee can take the leave without notice, provided that they inform their employer before they are due to start work that day, but after eight weeks, the employee must give at least one weeks’ notice.

Employers previously had complete discretion as to how (if at all) they offered time off for bereavement (save for in relation to parents suffering the bereavement of a child or a baby stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy), which resulted in inconsistencies across different businesses, and therefore on the face of it, this new entitlement signifies a huge change by making the right to time off for bereavement a formal legal right.

That being said, many employers already have a formal bereavement policy in place, often offering the right to (at least some) paid time off.

With this in mind, businesses will need to consider how to implement these new rights alongside their existing practices, and alongside the existing right to paid parental bereavement leave, and adjust any written policies accordingly.

The Government is set to publish guidance detailing the rights and responsibilities of both employer and employees ahead of the April 2027 implementation, but in the meantime, employers should consider what their current processes are for dealing with bereavement, and ensure that managers are familiar with any proposed changes.

If you need any advice or have any questions on how this might apply to your business, our Employment Team would be happy to assist. Please contact Eleanor Disney via email at edisney@leathesprior.co.uk.