Bereavement leave UK: what employees and employers need to know

What is bereavement leave?

Bereavement leave is time off work after the death of someone close to you. For most bereavements in the UK, bereavement leave is an employer benefit rather than a legal entitlement, so the amount of leave and whether it is paid depend on your contract or staff handbook.

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

The one clear statutory exception is the death of a child, covered below under parental bereavement leave.

How many days of bereavement leave can you take?

Most employees in the UK can take 3 to 5 days of bereavement leave, because that is what the majority of employers offer as a contractual entitlement (CIPD survey, 2023). The statutory floor is lower: "reasonable time off" for a dependant tends to mean 1 or 2 days in most circumstances, though the law sets no fixed number.

• Time off for dependants (statutory): covers the death of a dependant, such as a partner, child or parent. No fixed limit; usually 1 or 2 days. No statutory pay.

• Statutory parental bereavement leave (Jack's Law): covers the loss of a child under 18, or stillbirth after 24 weeks. 2 weeks, within 56 weeks of the death. Paid if you earn at least £123 a week.

• Bereaved Partner's Paternity Leave (from 6 April 2026): covers fathers and partners where the mother or primary adopter dies within the child's first year. Up to 52 weeks. No statutory pay; paid leave is at the employer's discretion (GOV.UK).

• Typical employer bereavement leave: usually covers immediate family; varies by policy. 3 to 5 days at most employers. Usually paid for close family.

What counts as reasonable time off depends on the situation, and your employer's own policy can be more generous than any of these minimums. Most policies expect the funeral to fall within the leave period, and how long after death is a funeral explains the timeline most families work to.

Is bereavement leave paid?

Bereavement leave is not required to be paid for most bereavements in the UK. The statutory right to time off for dependants is unpaid, so any pay you receive during bereavement leave comes from your employer's own policy. In practice most employer policies pay for leave following the death of close family, while leave for more distant relationships is more likely to be discretionary or unpaid. If the person who died was your husband, wife or civil partner, you may also be able to claim Bereavement Support Payment, the benefit that replaced the widows pension.

The exception is statutory parental bereavement pay for the loss of a child, which is paid to employees who meet the earnings threshold of £123 a week (as of April 2025), at a rate of £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower (GOV.UK). Bereaved Partner's Paternity Leave carries no statutory pay at all; any pay during that leave is down to the employer.

Parental bereavement leave: 2 weeks under Jack's Law

Employees who lose a child under 18, or who suffer a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy, are entitled to 2 weeks of statutory parental bereavement leave. This right comes from the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act 2018, widely known as Jack's Law, and applies from day one of employment (GOV.UK).

The 2 weeks can be taken as a single block, or as 2 separate weeks, at any point within 56 weeks of the death. The entitlement applies to biological parents, adoptive parents, and anyone with day-to-day responsibility for the child.

Statutory parental bereavement pay is available to employees who earn at least £123 a week (as of April 2025). This is a minimum floor, and employers can offer more generous terms.

From 6 April 2026, a separate right also exists for bereaved partners. Bereaved Partner's Paternity Leave gives employed fathers and partners a day-one right to up to 52 weeks of leave if the child's mother or primary adopter dies within the first year of the child's life (GOV.UK). The leave must be taken within 52 weeks of the birth or adoption placement.

Bereavement leave when a parent dies

When a parent dies, there is no specific statutory bereavement leave in the UK, so your entitlement depends on your employer's policy plus the general right to time off for dependants. A parent will usually count as a dependant, which gives you a right to reasonable unpaid time off for the urgent tasks, typically 1 or 2 days. Most employer policies treat a parent as immediate family and offer 3 to 5 days of paid leave.

The days immediately after a parent's death are usually taken up with practical steps. Our guides on what to do when someone dies and how to register a death cover the first week in order.

Compassionate leave vs bereavement leave

Compassionate leave and bereavement leave are often used interchangeably, but compassionate leave is usually the broader term. Bereavement leave is time off after a death. Compassionate leave can also cover other serious personal situations, such as a close relative becoming seriously ill.

Neither term is a defined legal category in the UK. Both describe employer policies layered on top of the same statutory rights: time off for dependants, and parental bereavement leave where a child has died. Check your contract or staff handbook for which term your employer uses and what it covers.

What is time off for dependants?

Time off for dependants is the statutory right to a reasonable amount of unpaid time off to deal with an emergency involving a dependant, including a death (GOV.UK). It comes from the Employment Rights Act 1996 and applies from day one, regardless of what your employer's policy says.

It covers the immediate, urgent response: making funeral arrangements, dealing with an unexpected disruption. It does not cover the longer administrative work that follows a death, and it does not have to be paid.

What do employers typically offer?

Most UK employers go beyond the statutory minimum, and the majority offer between 3 and 5 days of paid bereavement leave as a standard contractual entitlement (CIPD survey, 2023). What varies considerably is:

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

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

• How long. Standard policies offer 3 to 5 days, with some larger organisations offering longer.

If you are unsure what your employer offers, check your contract of employment, staff handbook, or HR team first.

What if your employer has no bereavement policy?

You still have options if your employer has no bereavement policy, or the policy does not cover the person who has died. The right to time off for dependants applies regardless of employer policy and 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 usually obliged to grant

• 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 formal grievance procedure is available if informal discussion does not resolve the issue.

What is changing: the Employment Rights Act 2025

The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025 and makes significant changes to bereavement leave, though most take effect later (ACAS).

• Bereaved Partner's Paternity Leave came into force on 6 April 2026, giving fathers and partners up to 52 weeks of leave where the mother or primary adopter dies in the child's first year.

• A general bereavement leave right is expected in 2027. The Act creates a new day-one right to bereavement leave covering a wider category of relatives, not just children. The detail (how many days, which relatives qualify, whether it will be paid) is being settled through secondary legislation, following a government consultation that ran from October 2025 to January 2026.

• Pregnancy loss before 24 weeks will also be covered from 2027, extending protection that currently applies only to stillbirths after 24 weeks.

The current legal position described in this guide remains in force until those 2027 regulations arrive.

For employers: what a good bereavement policy looks like

A minimum-compliant approach (1 or 2 days, immediate family only, at management discretion) is legal, but most employees dealing with a bereavement will find it insufficient. A more considered approach typically includes:

• A written policy with clear entitlements, so employees do not have to 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, since 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, including any death in service benefit the employee's family may need to claim

Employers reviewing policies ahead of the 2027 changes would be sensible to build in flexibility for the broader entitlement that is coming, rather than waiting for the regulations to be confirmed.