Extend statutory bereavement leave to pregnancy loss before 24 weeks

Currently if you lose a baby after 24 weeks you are as a minimum entitled to statutory maternity leave. As these same rights aren’t afforded before 24 weeks 2 weeks full pay should be provided as an absolute minimum to parents who have suffered the death of a baby at any stage of pregnancy.

We lost our daughter at 23 weeks gestation and although my employer was fantastic many aren’t. Two weeks is not enough time to recover and grieve but it is certainly a start.

The death of a child is particularly tragic, and this is why the Government legislated to give parents who are in this devasting position a statutory right to Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay. The entitlement came into effect in April 2020. It gives all employed parents who lose a child under the age of 18, or who suffer a stillbirth (i.e., when a baby is stillborn after 24 completed weeks of pregnancy), a right to take up to 2 weeks off work in the 56 weeks following the death of their child. We have mapped the policy for Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay on the clinical definition of a ‘stillbirth’ and we understand that 24 weeks is a legally and medically important point in a pregnancy; it is the clinical age of viability, meaning that after this point a premature baby has some chance of survival.

The Government recognises that losing a child at any stage is devastating. While there is no statutory right to leave and pay for women who suffer a miscarriage (i.e. when the baby dies before 24 completed weeks), the Government strongly encourages employers to be sensitive and considerate at such a time. By introducing Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay, the Government is sending an important signal to employers that the issue of bereavement in the workplace should be acknowledged. The policy establishes a statutory baseline for employers when managing parental bereavement in the workplace, and it is the Government’s hope that this will, in turn, translate into better support for all bereaved employees at work.

The Government is committed to giving employers the tools and support that they need in all aspects of their relationships with their employees. We worked with the Advisory, Conciliation, and Arbitration Service (Acas) to publish guidance around bereavement for employers. The good practice guide “Managing Bereavement in the Workplace” has been developed in conjunction with the charity Cruse Bereavement Care and is available on the Acas website.

Finally, mothers who suffer the loss of their baby before the 24th week of pregnancy and are not able to return to work may be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay. In establishing their eligibility for statutory sick pay, an employee is able to self-certify incapacity for work for the first seven days of their sickness absence (regardless of cause). All employees are also entitled to 5.6 weeks of Annual Leave a year and many employers also offer ‘Compassionate Leave’.

This is a revised response. The Petitions Committee requested a response which more directly addressed the request of the petition. You can find the original response towards the bottom of the petition page: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/574455