UK to offer workers time off for pregnancy losses

Families who experience pregnancy loss before 24 weeks are set to become entitled to protected bereavement leave, under new amendments to the Employment Rights Bill announced on Monday (7 July).  

Hundreds of thousands of employees are impacted by pregnancy loss per year – one estimate, for example, suggests that there are around 250,000 pregnancy losses caused by miscarriages alone in the UK each year, with a further 12,000 impacted by loss due to ectopic pregnancies.

The measures announced today will give those experiencing pregnancy loss at any stage the legal right to take time off work to grieve, giving them much-needed support at a difficult time, the Department for Business and Trade said on Monday (7 July).

Until now, statutory Parental Bereavement Leave has only been available to parents who lose a child under 18 or experience stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy. This compassionate change acknowledges that the grief following pregnancy loss can be just as profound regardless of when it happens.   

“For many families, including min,e that have been affected by pregnancy loss, the decision around returning to work or taking sick leave to grieve properly can make an already painful experience even more difficult,” said Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.

“Grief doesn’t follow a timetable, and expanding rights to leave for pregnancy loss will ensure every family gets the time they need to heal without worrying about their job.”

Today’s announcement follows the launch of the landmark Parental Leave and Pay Review last week, which will look at ways to fix the parental leave system for millions of parents so that it delivers a better start to life for all children.  

These amendments will be designed to ensure they work for businesses, workers and trade unions alike, as part of the wider Plan to Make Work Pay. The government has been informed by engagement with more than 190 businesses and other crucial stakeholders over the past 12 months, in order to get this balance right.  

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