How Much Time Off Am I Entitled to After a Bereavement?

Losing a family member is one of the hardest things anyone has to go through, and having to think about work at the same time can make it feel even harder. One of the first questions most people ask is simple: how much time off am I actually entitled to?

The honest answer is that it depends. UK law does not give everyone a fixed number of paid bereavement days. Your rights depend on who has died, your relationship to them, and what your employment contract says. This guide breaks down where you stand, whether you have lost a child, a spouse or partner, a parent, or another close relative — and covers the practical steps that follow, from registering the death through to starting the probate process.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice.

The Short Answer

• Loss of a child (under 18, including stillbirth after 24 weeks, or miscarriage before 24 weeks): Up to 2 weeks statutory paid leave, known as Parental Bereavement Leave or Jack’s Law.
• Loss of a spouse, civil partner, or partner who was the primary carer of your young child: A new right to up to 52 weeks unpaid leave (Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave), on top of other entitlements.
• Loss of a spouse, partner, parent, sibling, or other dependant (general bereavement): A reasonable amount of unpaid time off under your right to time off for dependants — no fixed number of days set by law.
• Everything else (extended time to grieve, attending a funeral of a wider family member, paid compassionate leave): Down to your employer’s own policy and discretion, unless your contract says otherwise.

If Your Child Has Died: Parental Bereavement Leave (Jack’s Law)

The clearest and strongest statutory right in this area applies to parents. Under the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act, if your child dies you are entitled to take up to two weeks off work, regardless of how long you have worked for your employer.

Key points:

• This applies where the child was under 18, where there was a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy, or, following changes that took effect on 6 April 2026, where there has been a miscarriage before 24 weeks.
• Parent is defined broadly. It covers biological parents, adoptive parents, guardians, foster parents, and anyone who was the child’s primary carer.
• The two weeks can be taken together or split into two separate blocks, and can start on any day of the week.
• You have up to 56 weeks from the date of the death to take this leave, so you do not have to use it immediately.
• This is a day-one right — you do not need any minimum length of service to take the leave itself.

Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay is a separate entitlement. To qualify for pay (rather than just unpaid leave), you generally need at least 26 weeks continuous service and average weekly earnings above the lower earnings limit. If you qualify, you are paid at a flat statutory rate (£194.32 per week from April 2026) or 90% of your average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. If you do not meet the pay criteria, you are still entitled to the two weeks leave itself — it just will not be paid by your employer under this specific scheme.

Many employers choose to top this up to full pay as a matter of goodwill or company policy, so it is always worth checking your employee handbook or contract.

If Your Partner Has Died: The New Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave

A significant and lesser-known right came into force on 6 April 2026. Where the primary carer of a young child (typically the mother or adopter) dies within the first year of the child’s birth or adoption, the surviving father or partner may be entitled to up to 52 weeks of unpaid leave to care for the child, under the Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave Regulations 2026.

This is separate from — and in addition to — Parental Bereavement Leave, and reflects a recognition that losing a partner who was the main carer of a baby or young child creates a practical need for extended time away from work, not just time to grieve. Where a partner has died, there will also usually be an estate to deal with; our guide to the probate process explains what happens next.

If a Spouse, Parent, Sibling, or Other Dependant Has Died: Time Off for Dependants

For most other bereavements — the loss of a spouse or civil partner, a parent, a sibling, or another dependant — the relevant right is the statutory right to time off for dependants under section 57A of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

This gives every employee, from day one of employment, the right to take a reasonable amount of unpaid time off to deal with an emergency involving a dependant, which includes:

• Making arrangements following the death of a dependant
• Attending the funeral

A dependant is defined fairly widely and generally includes a spouse, civil partner, child, parent, someone who lives in your household, or someone who reasonably relies on you for care.

The key point people often find frustrating: there is no fixed number of days. The law only requires a reasonable amount of time — designed to cover the immediate emergency and practical arrangements (registering the death, organising a funeral), rather than an extended period of compassionate leave for grieving. In practice, this is often just one or two days, though what counts as reasonable depends on individual circumstances. It is also, by default, unpaid, unless your employer’s policy or contract says otherwise.

Extended Time to Grieve: Employer Discretion

Beyond the statutory minimums above, anything else — a week of paid compassionate leave following the death of a parent, additional paid days for the death of a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or close friend, or extended unpaid leave to travel abroad for a funeral — is entirely down to your employer’s bereavement or compassionate leave policy, or negotiation with your manager or HR team.

Many employers do offer more generous contractual bereavement leave than the legal minimum. It is always worth:

• Checking your employment contract and staff handbook
• Asking HR directly what the company’s bereavement policy provides
• Requesting time off in writing, so there is a clear record of what was agreed

Practical Steps Alongside Taking Time Off

Time off work is only one piece of what has to happen in the days and weeks after a death. The practical and legal side runs in parallel:

• Register the death — usually within 5 days in England and Wales, at the local register office.
• Arrange the funeral — funeral directors will handle most of the logistics once instructed.
• Notify banks, utilities and government bodies — the Tell Us Once service handles most government notifications in a single step.
• Locate the will — if there is one, it will name the executor(s) who are responsible for administering the estate.
• Consider whether probate is needed — most estates with property or significant savings will require a Grant of Probate. Our guide to the costs of probate explains what to expect.

What’s Changing: The 2027 Reforms

Employment law in this area is shifting. Following the Employment Rights Act 2025, secondary legislation expected in 2027 is set to introduce a new, broader statutory right to bereavement leave following the death of any loved one — not just a child or dependant. Under the proposals:

• Employees would get one week of unpaid statutory leave following a bereavement
• This would be a day-one right, with at least 56 days in which to take it
• It would, for the first time, extend clear statutory recognition to pregnancy loss before 24 weeks outside the parental bereavement framework

A government consultation on the detail — including exactly which relationships qualify, and notice requirements — is expected to shape the final rules. We will update this guide as the position develops.