Two weeks off for pregnancy loss from April 2027 — and it is unpaid

On 22 September 2026 the government set out the detail of two new rights to take time off work. From April 2027, anyone who loses a pregnancy before 24 weeks will be able to take up to two weeks off, and none of it has to be paid. Both rights come from the Employment Rights Act 2025, which is being switched on in phases rather than all at once.

What the two rights are

The first covers pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. Anyone who loses a pregnancy — through miscarriage, a termination, or an unsuccessful IVF embryo transfer — will be able to take up to two weeks off. So will their partner, the other biological parent, and intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement.

The second is bereavement leave for the death of a close relative: a spouse or partner, a parent, an adult child or a sibling. Step, half, adoptive, kinship care and foster relationships all count. The announcement does not say how long this one will be. The Act sets the floor at one week, and the exact figure comes in regulations early in 2027.

Both are day-one rights. There is no qualifying period, no minimum length of service, and the government says no evidence of the loss will be required. The leave can be taken flexibly within 56 weeks of the loss, and in single days rather than one block. In the first eight weeks you tell your employer as soon as is reasonably practicable, rather than giving notice in advance. You are protected from dismissal, and from being treated badly, for taking it.

The line that decides the money is 24 weeks

Neither new right comes with statutory pay.

That matters most for pregnancy loss, because the law already pays for the same event on the other side of one date. A baby stillborn after the start of the 24th week of pregnancy is treated as a birth. The mother gets Statutory Maternity Leave, and Statutory Maternity Pay on top if she has 26 weeks with the employer running into the qualifying week and average earnings of at least £129 a week. Parents also get two weeks of Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave, paid at £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.

Before the 24th week, none of that applies in England, Scotland or Wales, and the new right does not change it. From April 2027 the time off exists. The money does not.

Loss	Time off	Statutory pay
Stillbirth from the start of the 24th week	Maternity leave, plus 2 weeks bereavement leave	Statutory Maternity Pay if eligible, plus £194.32 a week
Pregnancy loss before the 24th week, Great Britain	Up to 2 weeks, from April 2027	None
Miscarriage before 24 weeks, Northern Ireland	Up to 2 weeks, since 6 April 2026	£194.32 a week
Death of a partner, parent, adult child or sibling	At least 1 week, from April 2027	None

In England, Scotland and Wales, Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay also needs 26 weeks with the same employer and average earnings of at least £129 a week. The new rights need neither, because there is nothing to qualify for.

Northern Ireland already pays for this

Northern Ireland sets its own employment law, and it got there first. Since 6 April 2026, a miscarriage before 24 weeks has carried up to two weeks of Parental Bereavement Leave there, and it is paid — the same £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. It covers the woman, her partner and other specified parents, it is a day-one right, and it asks only for a declaration rather than medical evidence. The Department for the Economy says Northern Ireland “is now the only region on these islands” that pays for pregnancy loss through miscarriage. Northern Ireland dropped the 26-week qualifying period for parental bereavement pay on the same date.

What this actually changes for you

The new rights are a floor, not a ceiling. Your contract or your employer’s special leave policy may already pay for this, and that is the document to go and read. The government’s own release says the vast majority of workers have employers who “already go much further than these new rights including by offering paid leave”. So the practical question in April 2027 is not what the law gives you — it is what your employer’s policy gives you on top, and whether anyone in your organisation has looked at it lately.

The thing readers will get wrong is the direction of the protection. People assume a new right means new money. This one means you cannot be refused the time, and that your job is safe while you take it. It is a right to be absent, not a right to be paid.

If the loss is from the 24th week, the maternity route is the one that pays, and it is worth knowing what it is worth before you need it — see our guide to NHS maternity pay.

Where these figures come from

• “No one should have to fight for time to grieve” - New rights for family bereavement and pregnancy loss — GOV.UK
• Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Leave: what you're entitled to — GOV.UK
• Maternity pay and leave: eligibility — GOV.UK
• New bereavement leave rights to commence in April 2027 — Personnel Today
• Employment Rights Act 2025: Bereavement Leave — Thompsons Solicitors
• Parental bereavement leave and pay — bereavements on or after 6 April 2026 — nidirect
• Northern Ireland becomes the first region to provide paid leave to parents affected by miscarriage — Department for the Economy (Northern Ireland)
• Parental bereavement leave and pay — Acas

Every figure traces to a dated document — the line this section is named after. If one here is wrong, tell us and it gets fixed publicly. Work out your own figures.