If you or someone on your team has experienced the loss of a baby before 24 weeks of pregnancy, you’ll know how little formal support currently exists in the workplace. That’s changing. On 22 September 2026, the Government confirmed that employees will be entitled to statutory bereavement leave following pregnancy loss, and when the new right will take effect.
Here’s what’s been confirmed and what employers should do now.
How we got here
In 2025, the Government confirmed that parents who lose a baby before 24 weeks of pregnancy would be entitled to time off work afterwards, a new right sitting within the wider bereavement leave provisions of the Employment Rights Act 2025. However, the detail still needed to be worked out. As a result, the Government ran a consultation between October 2025 and January 2026, asking charities, employers and people with lived experience of pregnancy loss to help shape what the leave should look like and who exactly it should cover.
What’s been confirmed
On 22 September 2026, the Government published its response to that consultation.
Anyone who loses a baby (including terminations and IVF embryo transfer loss) before 24 weeks of pregnancy will be entitled to two weeks’ bereavement leave. Importantly, this covers the person who experienced the loss, as well as their partner, the other biological parent, or intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement, recognising that pregnancy loss affects the whole family, not just one person.
The Government aims to have this in place by April 2027. In other words, this isn’t in force yet, but the direction and timeline are now clear, and employers should begin preparing.
How will the leave work in practice?
This will be a day one right.
The leave will be flexible. It can be taken within 56 weeks of the loss, and as single days rather than one continuous block, giving people the space to grieve in a way that works for them. The 56-week leave period starts from the date of pregnancy loss, or the date of knowledge.
Where leave is taken within the first eight weeks after the loss, employees will only need to notify their employer ‘as soon as reasonably practicable’, rather than any specific period in advance of the desired leave dates. This could therefore be the same day.
Thereafter, just one week’s notice is required, and any form of notice is acceptable.
Employers also won’t be able to ask for evidence of the loss, protecting employees’ privacy and dignity at a difficult time.
Is the leave paid?
Not under the statutory right. As a result, many employers will need to think about whether their current policies go far enough. The Government’s position is that plenty of employers already offer paid leave voluntarily, and this new right is intended as a safety net rather than a replacement for that good practice.
Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay still only applies to stillbirth after 24 weeks, or the death of a child under 18.
It’s also worth reminding managers that existing protections don’t disappear here. If someone is unwell following a loss, sickness absence and Statutory Sick Pay can still apply, and pregnancy-related sickness remains protected under the Equality Act 2010.
What should employers do now?
With April 2027 some way off, there’s no immediate legal deadline. However, this is a good moment to review your bereavement and family leave policies, consider whether enhanced or paid leave would better reflect your values, and make sure managers know how to handle these conversations sensitively in the meantime.
Employees taking this leave will also be legally protected from detriment or dismissal for exercising the right, so it’s worth making sure any policy updates and manager training reflect that protection clearly.
Need help updating your policies?
Getting ahead of changes like this protects both your people and your organisation. If you’d like support reviewing your bereavement leave policy or preparing for April 2027, drop us a line at enquiries@thrivelaw.co.uk or call us on 0113 861 8101.
