PBLP - Bereavements on or after 6 April 2026

Child death and stillbirth cases brought before 6 April 2026

For cases between 6 April 2022 and 5 April 2026 the existing Parental Bereavement legislation continues to be relevant, and guidance can be found here.

Miscarriage

Effective from 6 April 2026:

Employees who experience a miscarriage, including specified medical interventions, will now be entitled to Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay. The rights will also be available to employees who have a defined connection to a woman who has experienced a miscarriage- including specified medical interventions.

While the word woman is used throughout this guidance for ease of understanding, Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay on the grounds of miscarriage is a statutory right that applies to all eligible individuals.

Entitlement arises from the experience of pregnancy and miscarriage.

This Guidance makes clear that the right extends to all eligible employees who experience a miscarriage, including those who identify as women, trans men or non-binary people. The availability of the right applies inclusively and consistently wherever the qualifying conditions are met.

Who can apply

You and your partner may be able to take time off work if your child dies before they turn 18, if you have a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy, or if you or your partner experiences a miscarriage before 24 weeks gestation.

The death or stillbirth must have happened on or after 6 April 2022.

The miscarriage must have been discovered or have occurred on or after 6 April 2026.

You might be able to get leave, pay or both and you may be eligible for:

• Parental Bereavement Leave
• Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

There are rules about when you can take your leave and pay and how to claim.

Your employment rights are protected while on Parental Bereavement Leave. This includes your right to:

• pay rises
• build up (‘accrue’) holiday
• return to work

What you can get

You may be able to get either or both Parental Bereavement Leave and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay.

Parental Bereavement Leave

You can take two weeks’ leave from the first day of your employment for each child who has died or was stillborn if you’re eligible.  You can also take up to two weeks leave if you have experienced a miscarriage before 24 weeks.

You can choose to take:

• two weeks together
• two separate weeks of leave
• only one week of leave

A week is the same number of days that you normally work in a week.

For example, a week of Parental Bereavement Leave would be two days if you only work on Mondays and Tuesdays.

The leave:

• can start on or after the date of the death or stillbirth or miscarriage before 24 weeks
• must finish within 56 weeks of the date of the death, stillbirth or the date of the miscarriage or the date that it was discovered

Taking leave with other types of statutory leave

If you’re taking another type of statutory leave (for example, maternity leave or paternity leave) when the child dies or stillbirth happens, your Parental Bereavement Leave must start after the other leave has ended but does not have to be taken immediately after. This includes if the statutory leave is for another child.

If your Parental Bereavement Leave is interrupted by the start of another type of statutory leave, you can take your remaining entitlement to Parental Bereavement Leave after that other leave has ended.

Your remaining Parental Bereavement Leave must still be taken within 56 weeks of the date of the child’s death, stillbirth or miscarriage before 24 weeks

You can take Parental Bereavement Leave between blocks of shared parental leave that you booked before the child died. This includes if the shared parental leave is for another child.

Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

You are entitled to Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay from your first day of employment. It doesn’t matter how long you have been with your employer.

Normally, eligibility for statutory pay is worked out using your average earnings over the previous eight weeks. If you haven’t been paid for long enough for this to be calculated in the usual way, you will not lose out. Instead, your employer must make a reasonable estimate of what you normally earn.

When doing this, your employer must fairly consider:

• what your contract says about your rate of pay
• your normal working hours
• any pay you have already received that reflects what you would usually earn
• any other relevant information that helps give a realistic picture of your normal weekly earnings

Your employer is expected to use assumptions and the information available to them to ensure that your expected pay is worked out fairly, even if you are new or your earnings history is limited.

Key point:

Being new to a job or not having a full pay history should not prevent you from receiving Parental Bereavement Pay. Your employer has a duty to look at your circumstances properly and make a fair judgement about what you normally earn.

You’ll be able to get either £194.32 a week or 90 per cent of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower) if you’re eligible.

Any money you get is paid the same way as your wages, for example weekly or monthly, along with deductions for tax and National Insurance. Parental bereavement leave is a statutory right to time off work to deal with the death of a child under the age of 18 or a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy or a miscarriage before 24 weeks gestation.

Check if you’re eligible - Child death and Stillbirth

To qualify for Parental Bereavement Leave and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay, you must meet the criteria both as a parent (including if you had day to day responsibility) and an employee. You might not be eligible for both, depending on your circumstances.

If you were the child’s parent or a parent’s partner

You may be eligible if at the time of the child’s death or stillbirth, you were:

• the child or baby’s parent - either biological, adoptive or parent of a child born to a surrogate
• the partner of the child or baby’s parent

Biological parents of the child or baby will not be eligible for Parental Bereavement Leave and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay after an adoption or parental order was made, unless there was a contact order in place.

Day-to-day responsibility for the child 

You may be eligible if both of the following apply:

• the child or baby was living with you at your home for 4 continuous weeks, ending with the date of death
• you or your partner had day to day responsibility for the child or baby’s care during that time

• a foster parent being paid a fee or allowance by a local authority

  reimbursed for expenses related to caring for the child or baby

  getting payments under the terms of a will or trust for the child or baby’s care

If you or your partner were being paid to look after the child or baby, you do not qualify for leave or pay unless you were:

You are not eligible if one of the child or baby’s parents or someone who had parental responsibility for the child was also living in the household.

If you or your partner were an adoptive parent

You are eligible for pay or leave:

• after the adoption order was granted
• before the adoption order was made, if the child was placed with you and the placement was not disrupted (for example, being temporarily placed elsewhere) or stopped

If you or your partner were an adoptive parent of a child from outside the United Kingdom

If you or your partner were adopting a child from outside the United Kingdom and the adoption order had not yet been made, you may still be eligible. Both of the following must apply:

• the child was living with you
• you have an ‘official notification’ confirming you were allowed to adopt

If you or your partner had a baby with the help of a surrogate parent

You are eligible for pay or leave:

• after a parental order was made
• before a parental order was made if you had applied or intended to apply for a parental order within six months of the child’s birth and expected it to be granted

Check if you’re eligible - Miscarriage 

To be eligible, the date the woman experienced the miscarriage, including any specified medical interventions, or the date that she became aware of the miscarriage, must have been on or after 6 April 2026.

If you or your partner experiences a miscarriage before 24 weeks, you may be eligible for Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay.

You are entitled to the right on the grounds of miscarriage if any of the following apply: 

Miscarriage

• you experience a spontaneous miscarriage before 24 weeks of pregnancy

Specified medical interventions

• you have experienced a miscarriage following medical or surgical intervention, where it was assessed:
• by you or by a medical professional that it was needed to protect your physical or mental health or -
• that it was needed to manage a condition where the baby could not survive, or that the intervention was needed to deal with a very serious pregnancy complication

This includes situations such as:

• Ectopic pregnancy
• Molar pregnancy
• Severe pre‑eclampsia or sepsis
• Fatal fetal anomaly

Vanishing Twin Syndrome

• if one twin is lost during a multiple pregnancy, you are still entitled to the right on the grounds of miscarriage, even if the pregnancy continues for the surviving twin
• an ongoing pregnancy in this case does not prevent entitlement

IVF pregnancy loss

• where IVF treatment resulted in a confirmed pregnancy that later ended in miscarriage, this also qualifies for the right under the grounds of miscarriage

You qualify as a partner if:

• you are partner of the woman who has experienced the miscarriage.
• you would have been the child’s parent had the pregnancy continued

This includes situations where:

• you would have been the biological parent (excluding sperm or egg donors who were not intended parents)
• you were an intended parent through a surrogacy arrangement

What you need to tell your employer

• you need to declare that you are entitled to the right on the grounds of miscarriage
• you do not need to share any details about the miscarriage
• you do not need to provide medical evidence

To get Parental Bereavement Leave, you must also:

• be classed as an employee - it does not matter how long you’ve worked for your employer
• give your employer notice for Parental Bereavement Leave

To get Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay, you must:

• be employed on the day the child dies, is stillborn or the miscarriage occurs, (or is discovered)
• earn on average £129 or more a week before tax (gross) over an eight-week period
• give your employer the correct notice and information for Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

Making a claim

You have 56 weeks to take Parental Bereavement Leave or claim Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay through your employer. This starts from the date of the child’s death or miscarriage before 24 weeks.

How to claim Parental Bereavement Leave

You can take two weeks leave in one block or as two separate blocks of one week.

The 56 weeks are split into two periods:

• from the date of the child’s death, stillbirth or miscarriage before 24 weeks to 8 weeks after
• 9 to 56 weeks after the date of the child’s death, stillbirth or miscarriage before 24 weeks

You must give your employer notice before you take Parental Bereavement Leave. How much notice depends on when you’re taking the leave.

• 0 to 8 weeks after the child’s death, stillbirth or miscarriage before 24 weeks - you must give your employer notice before you would normally start work on the first day of the week or weeks you want to take off work
• 9 to 56 weeks after the child’s death, stillbirth or miscarriage before 24 weeks - you must give your employer at least one week’s notice before the start of the week or weeks you want to take off work

Giving your employer notice

You must tell your employer:

• the date of the child’s death, stillbirth or miscarriage before 24 weeks
• when you want your parental bereavement leave to begin
• how much leave you are taking - either one or two weeks

You can speak to your employer by phone, leave a voicemail, send a text message or an email. You do not need to give them notice in writing (for example through a form or letter).

You do not need to give proof of the child’s death, stillbirth or miscarriage before 24 weeks.

How to claim Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

You must ask for Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay within 28 days, starting from the first day of the week you’re claiming the payment for.

Each time you claim, you must give your employer the following information in writing (for example a letter, email or form):

• your name
• the dates of the period you want to claim Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay
• the date of the child’s death, stillbirth or miscarriage before 24 weeks

You’ll also need to give a ‘declaration’ to your employer to confirm you’re eligible because of your relationship to the child or baby. You only need to complete this once when you first ask for pay.

Completing the declaration

You can:

• complete the declaration to claim
• declare in writing you’re eligible because of your relationship to the child or baby
• use your employers own form if they have one

Once you’ve completed your declaration, you’ll need to send it to your employer. They’ll check your information and your eligibility.

Cancelling your leave or pay

You can change your mind and cancel your Parental Bereavement Leave or Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay if you have given your employer the required notice for either taking leave or claiming pay.

To cancel your Parental Bereavement Leave or Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay, you’ll need to tell your employer. When you need to tell them depends on when your leave or pay is due to start.

If your leave is due to start within eight weeks of the death stillbirth, or miscarriage, you must let your employer know about the cancellation no later than the time you would normally start work on the first day of planned leave.

If your leave is due to start nine weeks or later after the child’s death, stillbirth or miscarriage before 24 weeks, you must let your employer know no later than one week before the start of the planned leave.

If you cancel your leave, you can rebook it if you give your employer the correct notice.

Cancelling Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

If your pay was due to start within eight weeks of the child’s death, stillbirth or miscarriage before 24 weeks, you must give your employer notice on the first day of the week you want to cancel.

If your pay was due to start nine weeks or later after the child’s death, stillbirth or miscarriage before 24 weeks, you must tell your employer you want to cancel one week before your pay was due to start.

Further advice and support

You may find the following organisations helpful when you have been bereaved by the death of a child or pregnancy loss:

• Miscarriage Association
• Ectopic Pregnancy Trust
• Miscarriage - NHS
• Informing Choices NI
• The Child Funeral Fund
• Support for Adults After The Death of a Child - Bereaved NI
• Pregnancy and Baby Loss - Bereaved NI
• Bereavement Advice Centre
• AtaLoss.org: bereavement signposting and information
• Samaritans