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 Employment Rights Bill 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 approximately 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.
