Employment Rights Bill bitesize: bereavement and family leave 

The Employment Rights Bill was published on 10 October 2024, setting out a wide range of ambitious workplace reforms. For an overview of the Bill, see our ‘headlines’ article. 

In this series of ‘bitesize’ articles, we look at different key provisions of the Bill in more detail, consider the implications for employers and explain what the next steps will be. 

Bereavement and family leave: what does the Bill say? 

The Bill has committed to establish rights to statutory bereavement, paternity and parental leave from the first day of employment.  

Bereavement leave 

The existing statutory right to parental bereavement leave (up to two weeks of paid leave following the death of a child under 18 or a stillbirth) will be extended to establish a ‘day one’ statutory entitlement to protected time off to allow an employee to grieve a loved one. Regulations will set out who will be entitled to take bereavement leave by reference to the employee’s relationship to the deceased, as well as how leave can be taken. It is understood that the length of the leave will be a minimum of one week and it will be unpaid (it will remain two weeks’ paid leave for a child). The employee will be permitted to take the leave up to 56 days after the death of the deceased. 

Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave 

Currently, employees who wish to take statutory paternity leave must have worked with their employer for at least 26 weeks. In the case of unpaid parental leave, the employee must have worked for employees for a year. 

The Bill will remove these continuity of service requirements and make entitlement to parental leave and unpaid parental leave a ‘day one’ right, subject to the employee giving the required notice. Employees will therefore be able to give notice of their intention to take such leave from their first day with their employer.  

The Government has published a separate factsheet summarising its proposals in respect of bereavement, paternity and unpaid parental leave.  

What does this mean for employers? 

The Government has suggested that nearly two million people in employment are affected by grief per year. Further, the Government anticipates that tens of thousands of fathers and partners will be brought into the scope of statutory paternity leave following the changes. It is therefore likely that these changes will affect most employers moving forward. 

Whilst many employers may already offer discretionary or contractual bereavement leave and unpaid parental leave in particular, employers should review their current policies and procedures to ensure that they are prepared for any upcoming changes. It is expected that employers will be required as a matter of law to establish a written policy for bereavement leave.  

What are the next steps? 

The Employment Rights Bill will be the first phase of implementing these changings. The Bill itself is unlikely to receive Royal Assent until 2025, with most reforms expected to take place in 2026 following consultation. We can expect a consultation to be published, most likely in the first half of next year, on the details of the implementing regulations. 

Employers will therefore have the opportunity to take advantage of a relatively long lead-in period in order to prepare for the changes and review existing policies and procedures.   

The Government has also indicated that it plans to carry out a wider review into the current system of parental leave, which it considers does not support working parents. This may result in further changes in the future, outside the current scope of the Bill.