Legacy Trail

Bereavement leave UK: what employees and employers need to know

This guide covers the current statutory position, what most employers offer in practice, the specific rights that exist for parents who lose a child, what to do if your employer's policy falls short, and what is changing under the Employment Rights Act 2025.

7 min read

When someone close to you dies, the immediate days involve a lot that cannot wait: arranging the funeral, registering the death, notifying family, managing the first wave of practical tasks. Most people need time off work to do this. What they are actually entitled to is often less clear.

This guide covers the current statutory position, what most employers offer in practice, the specific rights that exist for parents who lose a child, what to do if your employer's policy falls short, and what is changing under the Employment Rights Act 2025.

The statutory position

There is no general statutory right to paid bereavement leave in the UK for most bereavements.

What the law provides is a right to "reasonable time off" to deal with an emergency involving a dependant. This comes from the Employment Rights Act 1996, sections 57A and 57B. It covers the immediate response to a death: making urgent arrangements, dealing with an unexpected disruption. It is not the same as leave to grieve, and it is not required to be paid.

In practice, "reasonable time off" tends to mean one or two days in most circumstances, though there is no fixed number in law. What counts as reasonable depends on the situation.

What is changing: Employment Rights Act 2025

The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. It makes significant changes to bereavement leave, though most do not take effect immediately.

Bereaved Partner's Paternity Leave (in force 6 April 2026)

This is already law and comes into effect this month. It gives employed fathers and partners a day-one right to up to 52 weeks of paternity leave if the child's mother or primary adopter dies within the first year of the child's life. Leave must be taken within 52 weeks of the child's birth or adoption placement. This is a separate entitlement from standard paternity leave.

General bereavement leave right (expected 2027)

The Employment Rights Act 2025 creates a new day-one right to bereavement leave covering a wider category of relatives, not just children. This extends the principle of the existing parental bereavement leave regime to other relationships. The detail (how many days, which relatives qualify, whether it will be paid) is being settled through secondary legislation. The government consulted on this between October 2025 and January 2026, and regulations are expected in 2027.

Pregnancy loss before 24 weeks (expected 2027)

Currently, statutory parental bereavement leave only applies to stillbirths after 24 weeks. The Employment Rights Act 2025 will extend protections to cover pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. The implementation detail is subject to the same secondary legislation process and is also expected in 2027.

What this means now

The current legal position described in this article remains in force until those 2027 regulations arrive. Employers reviewing their bereavement policies ahead of the changes would be sensible to build in flexibility for the broader entitlement that is coming, rather than waiting until regulations are confirmed.

Parental bereavement leave: the statutory exception

The one area where the law is specific is the loss of a child.

Under the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act 2018, employees who lose a child under the age of 18, or who suffer a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy, are entitled to:

  • Two weeks of leave

  • Statutory parental bereavement pay, if they meet the earnings threshold (currently £123 per week as of April 2025)

This entitlement applies from day one of employment. It can be taken as a single block of two weeks, or as two separate weeks, within 56 weeks of the death. It applies to biological parents, adoptive parents, and those with day-to-day responsibility for the child.

This is a minimum floor. Employers can offer more generous terms.

What employers actually offer

Most UK employers go beyond the statutory minimum for bereavement leave, even where the law does not require it. A 2023 CIPD survey found that the majority of employers offer between three and five days of paid bereavement leave as a standard contractual entitlement.

What varies considerably is:

Who qualifies. Some employer policies cover only immediate family (spouse, parent, child, sibling). Others extend to grandparents, in-laws, close friends, or any person the employee considers family. Some policies are vague and leave it to management discretion.

Whether it is paid. Most employer policies for close family are paid. Leave for more distant relationships is more likely to be discretionary or unpaid.

How long. Standard policies typically offer three to five days. Some employers, particularly larger organisations with explicit bereavement policies, offer longer periods.

If you are unsure what your employer offers, your contract of employment, staff handbook, or HR team should be the first point of reference.

When there is no bereavement policy, or it does not cover your situation

If your employer has no bereavement leave policy, or their policy does not cover the person who has died, you still have options.

The right to time off for dependants (Employment Rights Act 1996) applies regardless of employer policy. It covers the immediate emergency period.

Beyond that, you can request:

  • Annual leave, which you are entitled to take at short notice subject to your contract

  • Unpaid leave, which the employer can agree to but is not obliged to grant (except in specific circumstances)

  • Flexible working arrangements to accommodate the administrative demands that follow a death, which can last weeks or months

If you feel your employer has handled a bereavement request unreasonably, ACAS provides guidance and a free helpline. A grievance procedure is available as a formal route if informal discussion does not resolve the issue.

The gap between leave and administration

Bereavement leave covers the first few days. The administrative work of dealing with a death does not stop there.

Registering the death, arranging the funeral, applying for probate or letters of administration, notifying financial institutions, closing accounts, dealing with correspondence: all of this typically runs across weeks and months, not days. Most of it falls outside what bereavement leave is designed to cover.

Some employers are beginning to recognise this. A small number now offer extended bereavement support, flexible working during estate administration, or access to practical bereavement services as an employee benefit.

For employees managing estate administration alongside work, Legacy Trail helps identify and notify financial and digital accounts centrally, reducing the number of separate contacts required. Find out more at legacytrail.co.uk

For employers: what good bereavement policy looks like

A minimum-compliant approach (one or two days, immediate family only, at management discretion) is legal. Most employees dealing with a bereavement will find it insufficient, and most HR professionals know it.

A more considered approach typically includes:

  • A written policy with clear entitlements, so employees do not have to ask or negotiate at a difficult moment

  • Cover for a broader range of relationships, including grandparents, in-laws, and close friends

  • Flexibility around how leave is taken, recognising that the need for time off is not always concentrated in the days immediately after a death

  • Signposting to practical support for the administrative burden that follows a bereavement

Organisations with older workforces or high proportions of employees with caring responsibilities tend to see bereavement policy come up more in exit interviews than they expect.

Useful links

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Individual circumstances vary. If you are dealing with an estate, consider taking advice from a solicitor who specialises in probate. For other guidance specific to your circumstances, speak to a funeral director, Citizens Advice, or a regulated financial adviser.

Related Guides

Need help notifying and closing accounts?

Legacy Trail simplifies this process with our caring, reliable death notification service that identifies and notifies account and service providers seamlessly, giving you peace of mind that nothing is missed during a difficult time.

Find out more

Simple. Secure. Supportive.