Parents in Britain who lose a baby to miscarriage at any stage of pregnancy will soon be entitled to statutory bereavement leave under planned changes to the law. An amendment to the <a href="https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3737">Employment Rights Bill</a> will grant mothers and their partners the legal right to take at least one week off work to mourn a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks’ gestation.
Currently, UK law provides up to two weeks’ leave only for parents who experience a stillbirth after 24 weeks or the death of a child under 18. Early miscarriages – which account for the majority of the <a href="https://www.tommys.org/baby-loss-support/miscarriage-information-and-support/miscarriage-statistics">approximately</a> 250,000 pregnancy losses in the UK each year – are not covered by existing leave rights. The new measure will close that gap, formally recognising pre-24-week pregnancy loss as a bereavement that warrants time off for grieving.
Government leaders have welcomed the reform as a compassionate step for working families. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the amendments will offer “dignity and respect”.
“For many families, including mine, 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,” he said.
“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.”
Sarah Owen, MP for Luton North and Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee, welcomed the announcement, saying: “From my personal experience of miscarriage to the powerful testimony the Women & Equalities Select Committee heard, I know the difference that bereavement leave will make.
“It is a bold and necessary move from this Government to see the UK become one of only a handful of countries in the world to recognise pregnancy loss as a bereavement and give workers the right to take time off to grieve.”
The chief executive of the Miscarriage Association, Vicki Robinson, also <a href="https://www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk/blog/legal-right-to-grieve-for-families-who-face-pre-24-week-pregnancy-loss/">applauded the announcement</a>, describing it as “a hugely important step that acknowledges the often very significant impact of pre-24-week loss, not only for those experiencing the physical loss, but for their partners too”.
The bereavement leave amendment is part of the wider <a href="https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3737">Employment Rights Bill,</a> a flagship package of worker protections currently moving through Parliament. The exact duration of the new miscarriage leave will be set after consultation, but a minimum of one week is guaranteed.
Ministers have indicated that while many provisions of the bill will take effect next year, the pregnancy loss leave entitlement is in the final set of measures scheduled for introduction by 2027.
<em> (Photo credit should read FEDERICO PARRA/AFP via Getty Images)</em>
