ERA reforms in depth: Day one family and bereavement leave rights

The paternity leave and parental leave reforms were some of the most imminent changes contained in the Act, with these changes having come into effect on 6 April 2026.

The new right to unpaid bereavement leave is set to come into force in April 2027. In September 2026, the government published its response to the consultation into the scope of the new right, and it will now prepare regulations to reflect the various policy points outlined in that response.

Previous/current position

Both the right to statutory paternity leave and the right to statutory parental leave were subject to continuity of service requirements. This meant that employees needed to have worked continuously for their employer for a minimum period before they were eligible to take the leave. The service requirement for statutory paternity leave was 26 weeks and for parental leave (which is unpaid) was one year.

Other than a right for bereaved parents to take two weeks paid statutory parental bereavement leave after the loss of a child (including stillbirth after at least 24 weeks of pregnancy), there is no statutory right to wider bereavement leave at the current time.  

What is changing?

The Act sets out changes to existing paternity leave, parental leave and bereavement leave provisions. These changes are outlined below:

• Paternity leave – The qualifying period for paternity leave was removed with effect from 6 April 2026, making this right a ‘day one’ right for employees. In addition, the rule that meant paternity leave entitlement was lost once the employee took shared parental leave was removed from the same date – this provides eligible fathers and partners with more flexibility over when they take the different types of leave. These amended paternity leave rules apply to parents of children born or placed for adoption on or after 6 April, with transitional arrangements covering parents of babies who were due after the new rules came into effect but were born earlier.

• Parental leave – The qualifying period for statutory parental leave (which is unpaid) was removed with effect from 6 April 2026, making this right a ‘day one’ right for employees.

• Bereavement leave – A new ‘day one’ right to unpaid bereavement leave will be introduced for employees. This new right will be separate to the existing right to paid parental bereavement leave after the loss of a child under the age of 18. The government’s consultation response has now confirmed the following key details about the new right:
  • Leave will be available to employees who experience a bereavement of their spouse or partner, or parent, adult children, or sibling (in each case including biological, adopted, step, and half-relations) or equivalent parental relationships for those raised in kinship arrangements or by foster carers.
  • Leave will be available to employees who experience any type of pregnancy loss before 24 weeks (including terminations and IVF embryo transfer loss) and will also be available to their spouse, partner, intended co-parent and intended parents in surrogacy arrangements.
  • Eligible employees will be entitled to up to two weeks’ leave, based on their average working pattern. They can take this leave in the 56 weeks following the bereavement and may take it in one block or in separate blocks, as long as each period of leave is at least one day.
  • Employees should not have to provide evidence of a bereavement to access the leave entitlement.
    

Whilst the statutory entitlement will be to unpaid leave, the government noted in its consultation response that it will be up to employers if they wish to enhance the leave, either by paying for some or all of the leave period or by offering more than the minimum two weeks’ entitlement.

Employers need to update your family leave policies and payroll and time & attendance processes to reflect these new and expanded entitlements. You should make sure that you liaise with your payroll provider / team to discuss what procedural changes are required to reflect the updated rights. You may also want to consider training or appropriate communications to managers to ensure that they are aware of the updated rules governing these rights.

If you offer enhanced paternity leave or pay, there are various additional factors that you will need to consider when deciding how to update your paternity leave policy – one point to bear in mind is that the qualifying period for statutory paternity pay is not being removed, so employees will not be entitled to statutory paternity pay until they have obtained 26 weeks’ qualifying service.

The introduction of a wider statutory right to bereavement leave is of course welcome but it is worth noting (as reflected in the government’s consultation response) that the statutory right is a floor and not a ceiling – many employers provide more generous compassionate or bereavement leave entitlements, seeing it as an important investment in the wellbeing of their people.

Employers who already offer some form of compassionate or bereavement leave (other than the existing statutory right to parental bereavement leave) will need to review that entitlement against the new statutory position to check whether it is compliant or whether any changes are needed. When doing this, some factors you should consider include:

• Duration and pay – With the new statutory right entitling the employee to two weeks’ unpaid leave, if you currently offer say one week’s paid bereavement leave, you will need to decide how to address the shortfall. There are a range of options to consider, and you will want to consider not just how to ensure compliance with the new right but which of the various options aligns with your organisation’s culture and values.
• Relationships covered – What relationships does your current policy extend to and are they consistent with the definitions of immediate family member outlined in the government’s consultation response? If not, you will need to consider how best to amend your approach. As above, you may take a more generous position than the statutory right (for example, by offering an amount of bereavement leave in the event of the loss of a grandchild or grandparent) but, as a minimum, you will need to ensure that your policy covers the relationships set out under the statutory right.
• Pregnancy loss – It will also be important for you to check your leave entitlements in the event of pregnancy loss, which may be set out within your bereavement or compassionate leave policy or other policies relating to pregnancy or family-leave. The new statutory right will cover all types of pregnancy loss before 24 weeks and will extend to spouses, partners, intended co-parents and intended parents in surrogacy arrangements. If your existing policies do not cover these employees, you will need to update them.

As well as considering the necessary policy amendments, you may also want to consider how best to make employees and managers aware of these rights to ensure that employees are able to access their rights and managers can support them with this when they are going through a difficult time.