Employees who experience a miscarriage before 24 weeks of pregnancy will soon have the legal right to take time off work to grieve, under a planned amendment to the UK’s Employment Rights Bill.
Currently, statutory bereavement leave applies only if a child dies under the age of 18 or a pregnancy ends after 24 weeks. The proposed change will extend that entitlement to include earlier pregnancy loss, following long-standing calls for greater recognition of the emotional toll miscarriage can take.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said the reform would give grieving parents “time away from work to grieve”, adding: “No one who is going through the heartbreak of pregnancy loss should have to go back to work before they are ready.”
The length of leave will be “at least” one week, but details are still being consulted on.
Acknowledging Miscarriage as Bereavement
Labour MP Sarah Owen, who chairs the Women and Equalities Committee and has campaigned on the issue, called the move a “huge step forward to recognising that loss as a bereavement”.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said women currently have no statutory entitlement beyond possible sick leave, and many choose not to take it.
“We know so many women just will not take it, and it also enforces the feeling that there’s something wrong with you.”
Reflecting on her own experience of miscarriage, Owen said: “Nobody says ‘get well soon’ once you’ve had a miscarriage. They say ‘I’m really sorry for your loss’. It’s fantastic to see the law catch up with this.”
Support for Employees and Partners
Vicki Robinson, chief executive of charity the Miscarriage Association, said the move would help address the “emotional element” of pregnancy loss, which is often overlooked.
She said on BBC Breakfast that returning to work while still grieving could be “really anxiety-inducing”, and noted that “for partners at the moment there is absolutely nothing”.
Robinson added that the “change will help protect the right for people to take time off work without penalty or punishment” after such a loss.
Musician and broadcaster Myleene Klass, who was made an MBE for her advocacy around miscarriage awareness, welcomed the decision. She said it was a “marker for all of the families who have been ignored”, and that “You’re not ill; you’ve lost a child; there’s a death in the family”.
Klass said miscarriage was often kept hidden, even among close family and friends, calling it a “taboo” topic that needed to be addressed more openly.
“It’s a taboo – nobody wants to talk about dead babies – but you have to actually say it as it is. To lose a child is harrowing; it’s traumatic.”
Claire McCartney, policy and practice manager at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the professional body for HR and people development, also welcomed the change.
“Pregnancy loss can have a profound impact on a person’s mental and physical wellbeing and returning to work while still grieving can be both isolating and overwhelming,” she said.
“We welcome this amendment to the Employment Rights Bill, which will offer crucial support during what’s often a deeply distressing time. With an estimated one in four pregnancies ending in miscarriage – many before the 24-week mark — this change will ensure employees are given the opportunity to come to terms with their loss before having to go back to work.”
She added that “[e]mployer support will also be invaluable beyond this period of leave. Supportive line managers play a crucial role in helping women and their partners navigate their return to work after pregnancy loss. When they do return, employees should be met with flexibility, understanding and compassion.”
A Change Long in the Making
Business minister Justin Madders said in parliament in March that the government accepted the principle of extending bereavement leave to pregnancy loss and would consider incorporating it into the Employment Rights Bill.
The bill, which is progressing through Parliament, includes broader provisions to strengthen employees’ rights to take leave following the death of a loved one.
Government figures suggest that around 250,000 pregnancies end in miscarriage each year in the UK. According to the pregnancy charity Tommy’s, most occur in the first 12 weeks.
What Employers Can Do Now
While the legislation has yet to take effect, observers say employers can begin adapting their workplace policies and cultures in preparation for the change. This includes:
- Updating bereavement leave policies to recognise pregnancy loss at any stage
- Communicating compassionately and avoiding clinical or dismissive language in HR materials
- Providing manager training on how to support employees experiencing grief or trauma
- Ensuring partners of those who experience miscarriage are also offered flexibility and support
- Promoting employee assistance programmes (EAPs) that include counselling and emotional support
The Miscarriage Association and Tommy’s both offer resources for employers to help them respond appropriately to pregnancy loss in the workplace.
With formal recognition of early miscarriage as bereavement, campaigners say the law is finally catching up with the emotional reality faced by hundreds of thousands of people each year.