Employment Law: New statutory bereavement leave proposals for early pregnancy loss.

The government estimates that around 250,000 pregnancies in the UK end in miscarriage every year. Miscarriage and pregnancy loss can profoundly affect those involved, both emotionally and physically, and someone who experiences pregnancy loss will often need time away from work to grieve the loss as well as deal with any physical symptoms.

Current employment rights in the UK provide support to employees in the form of statutory rights to leave and pay in cases of stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy. Under the existing law, employees in this situation retain a full entitlement to maternity and paternity leave and pay, as well as an additional right to 2 weeks of parental bereavement leave. In cases involving the death of a child shortly after birth (known as neonatal death) employees may also be entitled to neonatal care leave and pay.

However, if a miscarriage occurs in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, there is currently no entitlement to statutory maternity/paternity leave or pay, nor is there any right to parental bereavement leave. Of course, there are many employers who voluntarily allow employees to take paid or unpaid compassionate leave in such cases, but if not, any time needed to deal with such an event often has to be taken as sick leave or annual leave.

The Women and Equalities Committee (WEC), a parliamentary select committee, has recently put forward proposals to extend parental bereavement leave to cases of miscarriage and other pregnancy loss occurring before 24 weeks of pregnancy, as part of the new Employment Rights Bill (ERB) currently being debated in parliament.  This means that those experiencing pregnancy loss due to a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, a medical termination or in some circumstances an unsuccessful round of IVF may be entitled to a new type of leave. The new right would apply both to the woman who experienced pregnancy loss and her partner.

The government’s response to the WEC’s recommendation was positive, acknowledging that more could be done to support parents who experience pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. This follows the recent launch of a baby loss certificate designed to formally recognise the loss of a baby during pregnancy before 24 weeks, to help ensure parents feel supported through their grief.

On 7 July 2025 the government announced its intention to include, as a ‘day one’ right, an entitlement to at least one week’s leave for parents who experience pregnancy loss before 24 weeks of pregnancy. However, the new proposals do not include any entitlement to paid leave, therefore arguably this may leave employees in no better situation than they are now, being forced to take other types of leave such as sickness or holiday in order to qualify for some pay.

The rules would apply to employees who have experienced pregnancy loss “of a specified kind”, but at this stage it is unclear what that means or at what stage of pregnancy it would apply. It may make it difficult for employers to navigate employees’ rights at very early stages in pregnancy, for example, after only a few weeks, and the leave might come as a surprise if employers weren’t even aware of their employees’ pregnancies. It remains to be seen what eligibility criteria employees will have to satisfy in order to qualify for the rights.  Further consultation on the new rights is expected in Autumn 2025, with the new right indicated to take effect in 2027.

The employment team at Mayo Wynne Baxter are closely following developments of the new Bill and will provide updates as soon as more information is available.  In the meantime, if you would like assistance with an employment issue, please contact any member of our employment team.

Please note that this update is not intended to be exhaustive or be a substitute for legal advice. The application of the law in this area will often depend upon the specific facts and you are advised to seek specific advice on any given scenario.