From April 2027, employees will have a day-one right to up to two weeks’ unpaid leave following the loss of a close family member, including a spouse or partner, parent, adult child or sibling. It will also include step, half, adoptive, kinship care and foster relationships who currently have no legal right to bereavement leave. 

Until now, the statutory right was narrowly focused on parents who had lost a child under 18 or a stillborn baby after 24 weeks of pregnancy. Under the plans, the leave can be taken in separate periods during the 56 weeks following the loss.