The map — by who died
| Who died | Your statutory right (2026) |
|---|
| Your child (under 18, or stillbirth after 24 weeks) | 2 weeks’ Parental Bereavement Leave (“Jack’s Law”) — one block or two separate weeks, any time within 56 weeks. Leave is a day-one right; the pay (£194.32/wk or 90% if lower) needs 26 weeks’ service. Covers adoptive, surrogacy-intended parents and many primary carers. |
| The mother of your baby, or your adoption partner (within the child’s first year) | NEW from 6 April 2026: Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave — up to 52 weeks to care for the child, from day one in the job. |
| A dependant (partner, child, parent, or someone relying on you) | Reasonable unpaid time off — a day-one right — to deal with the consequences of the death: making arrangements and attending the funeral. |
| Anyone else (grandparent, sibling, friend) | No statutory leave yet — use your employer’s compassionate-leave policy, annual leave, unpaid leave, or the sick-note route below. A general unpaid bereavement-leave right has been legislated and is expected via regulations (see below). |
Check the handbook before assuming you have nothing
- Many employers grant 3–5 days’ paid compassionate leave by policy — it’s contractual, not statutory, so it lives in your contract or staff handbook. Ask HR plainly; it’s a routine request.
- Employers can always be more generous than the law — and many are, especially around funerals abroad or close non-dependant family.
- If a manager refuses time off for a dependant’s death or punishes you for taking it, that’s an employment-rights problem: ACAS, 0300 123 1100, free.
The change that’s coming
The Employment Rights Act created a general right to bereavement leave — unpaid, from day one, and for the first time covering pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. It needs secondary regulations before it applies (expected around 2027). It is announced, not yet in force — until then, the table above is the law.
When grief makes work impossible
- Grief that affects your mental health is a legitimate reason to be signed off — bereavement-related depression and anxiety are among the most common fit-note reasons in Britain.
- Self-certify for the first 7 days, then a fit note from a GP, nurse, pharmacist or physiotherapist.
- Since April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay is paid from day one, with the old earnings threshold removed — being signed off no longer means a week of nothing.
- There is no shame in this route. Returning to work too soon helps nobody.
Do this now
One email to HR: what happened, which right you’re using (the table above), and when you expect to be back in touch. You don’t owe anyone the details.
The practical side — registering the death, Tell Us Once and the money help — has its own calm sequence when you’re ready.
And for you
Cruse Bereavement Support — 0808 808 1677 (free), and Samaritans — 116 123, any hour. Grief has no schedule, and neither do they.