Bereavement Leave – What’s Changing?

As a part of the ongoing changes to employment law following the introduction of the Employment Rights Act 2025, the Government has recently confirmed that employees’ rights surrounding bereavement leave will soon be changing.

Current position

The current statutory right to bereavement leave only applies to parents who have lost a child under 18, or who have experienced a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy. This meant that often employees who lost spouses, parents, siblings, grandparents, adult children and other close family members were often forced to rely on their individual employers’ discretion as to whether they were entitled to some form of compassionate leave.

It is acknowledged that whilst many employers do offer compassionate leave voluntarily, not all do, and therefore some employees are being forced to use their annual leave entitlement or take time off sick to grieve.

In some circumstances employees may be able to use their statutory right to take time off for dependants. However, this right can only be used in certain circumstances, and only covers relationships such as spouses, children, and parents. This can allow the employee to take a reasonable unpaid time off work to deal with matters such as funeral arrangements. Usually, this results in the employee returning to work after a few days, still not having had the necessary time to process their loss.

The lack of statutory entitlement surrounding bereavement was creating uncertainty for both employers and employees regarding how much time off was appropriate, and which relationships were covered by compassionate leave. It has also been widely noted that there is a clear gap for deaths of step relatives or foster families.

The Government have recognised that unfortunately, grief is a part of life, and is something which most individuals will experience. Therefore, they have sought to establish a clear legal framework for both employees and employers.

The new rules

Under the new regulations, employees who have lost loved ones will have a day one right to take time off work. This right will also extend to step and foster relationships, something which current legislation does not allow for. The exact length of bereavement leave is yet to be determined, however it is expected to be at least a week. The leave will be able to be taken flexibly within 56 weeks of loss to allow the employee time to remember their loved ones on occasions, such as birthdays or anniversaries. Another big change is the fact that it can be taken as singular days as opposed to blocks. This will help employees who are experiencing grief to grieve in a way that is appropriate for them, without having to worry about taking too much time off work. Equally, it ensures the employer knows exactly what they are legally required to do in order to support the employee during this time.

It has been widely discussed whether or not an employee should be asked to provide evidence of the death, to prevent individuals abusing the rules. However, it has been confirmed that evidence will not have to be provided, in an attempt to protect the employee’s privacy at such a distressing time.

As with all of the changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025, this is going to have a knock-on effect for employers. The Government has already implied that along with the above, employees are going to be protected from redundancy and dismissal during this time.

Employers who are already beginning to review their policies and procedures should keep in mind that these regulations are still not yet finalised. There is still more information to come in regard to the exact details surrounding the length of the leave, and the qualifying relationship, as well as when the new rights will come into force. It is expected that the new rules will be introduced in 2027 at the earliest.

Our Employment Team at Mayo Wynne Baxter are able to advise on a variety of employment law matters, including the upcoming changes to Bereavement Leave. If you would like advice on how best to prepare for the upcoming changes, including a review of policies and procedures, or even just how best to approach a request for bereavement leave moving forward, please do contact any member of our employment team.