MPs will table an amendment for the Employment Rights Bill to include statutory bereavement leave for workers who suffer a miscarriage.
A report by the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) published today says the law should be changed to bring things in line with existing provision for baby loss after 24 weeks.
MPs found clear evidence that the impacts pre- and post-24 weeks are very similarly felt as bereavement. A period of paid leave “should be available to all women and partners who experience a pre-24-week pregnancy loss”, they concluded, adding: “the case for a minimum standard in law is overwhelming”.
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Currently, there is no statutory acknowledgement of the grief many women and their partners will feel after a pre-24-week pregnancy loss and the effects this may have on their working lives, the report said.
Since April 2020, employees may be eligible for statutory parental bereavement leave and pay if they or their partner had a child who has died under 18 years old; or had a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy.
The entitlement is two weeks’ leave, which women and their partners can take together as a two-week block or individually in two separate weeks. Statutory parental bereavement pay is £184.03 per week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
Sarah Owen, WEC chair and Labour MP, said: “Miscarriages and pregnancy losses can be devastating for women and their families with both emotional and physical consequences. As the data shows, such experiences are sadly not uncommon and yet current legislation has not caught up with this stark reality.
“I was not prepared for the shock of miscarrying at work during my first pregnancy. Like many women, I legally had to take sick leave. But I was grief-stricken, not sick, harbouring a deep sense of loss.”
Research estimates that more than one in five pregnancies end before 24 weeks and that one in five women will experience a miscarriage.
The committee’s report found many private sector employers and the NHS – the largest public sector employer of women – offer paid bereavement leave for those who miscarry, but provision is not universal.
A 2024 report on the “gender health gap” by Benenden Health found that only 12% of employers have pregnancy loss policies or leave.
“The case for a minimum standard in law is overwhelming,” said Owen. “A period of paid leave should be available to all women and partners who experience a pre-24-week pregnancy loss. It’s time to include bereavement leave for workers who miscarry in new employment rights laws.”
The committee’s proposed amendments to the Employment Rights Bill seek to extend the same entitlements to statutory parental bereavement leave and pay as are currently available to parents bereaved by the loss of children and stillborn babies, to employees who experience pre-24-week pregnancy losses.
This would include those who experience miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, in vitro fertilisation embryo transfer loss, and terminations for medical reasons.
Rachel Suff, senior employee relations adviser at the CIPD, said: “Pregnancy loss and miscarriage affects many people across the UK, and workplace support can make a real difference to employees during an extremely difficult time. Employer support can be invaluable for those dealing with the physical and mental wellbeing impacts of this loss and grief, including partners, and employers should manage absence and leave with compassion and flexibility.
“We’re very supportive of the WEC’s focus on this important area and echo its calls to provide paid leave to women and partners experiencing pregnancy loss before 24 weeks, which is currently a gap in the Employment Rights Bill.”
Kevin Poulter, employment partner at law firm Freeths, said: “You would hope employers provide support and care for employees experiencing such trauma, but in the absence of any minimum requirements being in place, as is the current position, employees must rely on goodwill and, where there is associated physical and/or mental illness, the support of their GP to provide fit notes.”
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