{"id":125831,"date":"2026-09-22T14:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=125831"},"modified":"2026-09-22T14:44:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T13:44:54","slug":"uk-workers-new-two-weeks-unpaid-bereavement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/uk-workers-new-two-weeks-unpaid-bereavement\/","title":{"rendered":"Millions Of UK Workers To Get New Two Weeks Of Unpaid Bereavement Leave"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Millions of workers in the UK will gain the legal right to up to two weeks of unpaid leave after experiencing a bereavement, including pregnancy loss and the death of close family members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new rules will come into force from April next year and expand protections beyond the current system, which only covers specific cases involving the loss of a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Rules Expand Who Can Access Bereavement Leave<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The changes introduce a wider right to unpaid bereavement leave through the Employment Rights Act 2025<\/strong>. The measure will allow eligible employees to take time away from work after losing a loved one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to GOV.UK<\/a><\/strong>, the reforms were shaped through a consultation designed to consider the needs of both employees and employers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new protections will cover people who experience a miscarriage, a termination in early pregnancy, or an unsuccessful IVF embryo transfer<\/strong>. They will also apply after the death of a spouse, partner, parent, adult child, or sibling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rules extend to some wider family relationships, including step relatives, adoptive relationships, kinship care arrangements, and foster relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pregnant
The new protections will cover people who experience a miscarriage, a termination in early pregnancy, or an unsuccessful IVF embryo transfer<\/strong>.
Credit: Canva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pregnancy Loss To Receive Greater Workplace Recognition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Under current law, parents <\/a>can access bereavement leave after a stillbirth occurring after 24 weeks of pregnancy or after the death of a child under 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expanded rules address situations where early pregnancy losses previously had no legal recognition in workplace leave policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campaigners have called for greater support for grieving parents, highlighting that many people experience significant emotional impact after pregnancy loss despite having no formal entitlement to time away from work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estimates suggest that around one in five women in the UK experience a miscarriage, according to figures cited by campaigners supporting changes to bereavement protections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government Says Workers Should Not Have To Fight For Time To Grieve<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Work minister Kate Dearden<\/strong> said the updated rules would provide support for people facing personal loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cNo-one should have to fight for time to grieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese changes back people going through some of the hardest moments of life, whoever they are and wherever they work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The new legal entitlement aims to give employees a clearer route to take leave during periods of bereavement without relying only on individual workplace policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new laws will come into force from April next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Millions of UK workers will soon gain a new legal right to two weeks of unpaid bereavement leave, with the changes extending support to people affected by pregnancy loss, family deaths, and other forms of personal loss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":125842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employment","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125831"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125843,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125831\/revisions\/125843"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}