Return to Documents
Bereavement leave expansion
Contents
New general right to bereavement leave
Currently, employees have a right to 2 weeks' parental bereavement leave after the death of a child under 18, or a stillbirth (i.e. a loss after 24 weeks of pregnancy).
This is set to be extended to include a more general right to bereavement leave. This will be set out in new regulations, which will:
- Make it a day-one right (as with parental bereavement leave).
- Give a minimum of one week's unpaid leave for each person that's 18 or over when they died (the regulations will specify the type of relationships that apply).
- Give a minimum of one week's unpaid leave for pregnancy loss occurring during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. The regulations will specify the types of pregnancy loss covered, but it will include medical terminations (abortions) and may include ectopic pregnancy and molar pregnancy.
- Extend the existing protections for parental bereavement leave to bereavement leave, such as the right not to suffer detriment, and for dismissal for reasons relating to bereavement leave to be treated as unfair.