Parents in Britain will be granted the right to bereavement leave after suffering a miscarriage as part of Labour’s changes to workers’ rights, it has been confirmed.
In a change to the law made via amendments to the employment rights bill, mothers and their partners will be given the legal right to at least one week’s bereavement leave if they have suffered a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks’ gestation.
The deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, has said that the change would give people time away from work to grieve.
Parents are already entitled to up to two weeks of bereavement leave if they experience a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy or a child dies before they turn 18.
The exact length of time off to be given to people who lose a pregnancy before 24 weeks will be specified in later legislation after a consultation.
The chief executive of the Miscarriage Association, Vicki Robinson, welcomed the announcement. She said it was “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 decision to extend the right to couples marks a victory for the Labour MP Sarah Owen, who has campaigned for the change. The women and equalities select committee, which Owen chairs, concluded in a report in January that the case for it was overwhelming.
A number of employers already offer the leave as an extra benefit, but the committee said it should become a universal right given the physical and emotional impacts of baby loss.
About 250,000 expectant mothers in the UK suffer a miscarriage every year. Between 10% and 20% of pregnancies end in an early miscarriage within the first 12 weeks of gestation.
Ministers have announced they will review the entire system of parental leave, declaring that it is “not working” for families. They plan to investigate support for new parents, including maternity leave, paternity leave and shared arrangements.
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The bereavement leave changes are part of the employment rights bill, Labour’s flagship changes to workers’ rights in England, Wales and Scotland, which is entering its final stages in the House of Lords.
Many of the measures it entails, including lowering the earnings limit for statutory sick pay, will come into effect from April next year, but the bereavement leave entitlement is part of a final set of measures scheduled for introduction in 2027.