From April next year, employees in Great Britain who suffer a bereavement will have a new day-one right to take up to two weeks’ unpaid leave from work. The change forms part of the Employment Rights Act, which became law in December 2025, and is intended to create a clearer minimum standard for employees facing some of the most difficult moments in their personal lives.
From April next year, employees in Great Britain who suffer a bereavement will have a new day-one right to take up to two weeks’ unpaid leave from work. The change forms part of the Employment Rights Act, which became law in December 2025, and is intended to create a clearer minimum standard for employees facing some of the most difficult moments in their personal lives.
The right will apply where an employee loses a spouse, partner, parent, adult child or sibling. Following consultation, the government has also confirmed that it will cover step and half relatives, as well as adoptive, foster and kinship care relationships.
The inclusion of these wider family relationships is significant. Modern families do not always fit into traditional legal definitions, and many employees will have caring, parental or sibling-style relationships that are every bit as important as biological ties.
Pregnancy loss will also be covered
The new right will also apply to employees affected by pregnancy loss, including miscarriage before 24 weeks, terminations and unsuccessful IVF embryo transfers. It will extend to partners, the other biological parent and intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement.
This is an important development for employers. Until now, statutory bereavement leave has been limited, broadly speaking, to parents who have lost a child under 18 or experienced a stillbirth from 24 weeks. Many employers already offer compassionate leave in wider circumstances, but the new law creates a baseline entitlement that all eligible employees will be able to rely on.
What will employees be entitled to?
Eligible employees will be able to take up to two weeks’ unpaid leave. The leave will be available from the first day of employment and can be taken flexibly within 56 weeks of the bereavement, rather than necessarily as one continuous block.
That flexibility is welcome. Grief is not predictable, and employees may need time away from work at different stages, whether immediately after a death, around a funeral, during an inquest or when dealing with practical arrangements.
What does this mean for employers?
Employers should take this opportunity to review their compassionate leave, bereavement leave and family-friendly policies before the changes come into force. Even where an organisation already offers paid compassionate leave, policies may need to be updated so that managers understand who is covered, how requests should be handled and what level of discretion still applies.
It will also be important to train line managers. Requests for bereavement leave are highly sensitive and often made at very short notice. A rigid or poorly handled response can cause real distress, damage trust and potentially create legal risk if an employee is treated unfairly because of their circumstances.
Practical steps for employers
- Review existing compassionate leave and bereavement leave policies.
- Check whether current policies reflect wider family relationships, including step, half, adoptive, foster and kinship care relationships.
- Consider whether you wish to offer paid leave, even where the statutory right is unpaid.
- Update guidance for line managers so requests are handled consistently and sensitively.
- Make sure pregnancy loss is clearly and respectfully covered in relevant policies.
- Keep records of leave requests while respecting confidentiality and privacy.
Employers need to be mindful of how complex the issue of bereavement can be. Somebody could potentially be affected more deeply by the loss of their closest friend than by the loss of a relative.
People also react in different ways and whereas some people may need time away from work, others may prefer to remain working to help them deal with the loss of a loved one. There is also the separate topic of the loss of family pets, which may have a deep impact on some employees.
Employers and managers should be careful not to downplay the affects such bereavement might have on employees, even though it lies outside the statutory framework of bereavement leave.
A minimum standard, not the finish line
The new law will provide an important safety net, but employers should not see it as the limit of their obligations. In many cases, a compassionate and practical approach will go further than the legal minimum, particularly where an employee is dealing with the death of someone very close to them or a pregnancy loss.
The best employers will be those that combine clear policies with human judgment. That means giving managers the confidence to respond appropriately, avoiding unnecessary bureaucracy and recognising that bereavement affects people in different ways.
If you would like advice on updating your bereavement leave, compassionate leave or wider family-friendly policies, our employment law team can help.