ACAS Bereavement Leave: Your Rights and What Your Employer Must Do

What ACAS Actually Says About Bereavement Leave

ACAS — the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service — provides guidance on bereavement in UK workplaces, but the guidance itself does not create law. ACAS advises employers to respond sensitively, consider the employee's wellbeing, and discuss what support is available.

UK statutory rights include time off for dependants, parental bereavement leave after qualifying child loss, and bereaved partner's paternity leave in specified circumstances. These do not create a general statutory right to paid bereavement leave for every kind of loss.

Jack's Law: Parental Bereavement Leave

Jack's Law came into force in April 2020. An eligible employee may take one or two weeks of leave if a child under 18 dies, a baby dies after birth, a stillbirth occurs after 24 weeks of pregnancy, or a qualifying abortion occurs after 24 weeks. The leave is available from day one of employment — there is no minimum service requirement.

Who qualifies: Eligible employees can include birth and adoptive parents, intended parents under a surrogacy arrangement, certain natural parents, a person who lived with and cared for the child for at least four continuous weeks, and a partner of the child's parent who lives with both in an enduring family relationship. Foster carers may qualify if they meet the statutory care and eligibility rules.

Pay: In Great Britain, employees generally need 26 weeks of continuous service by the end of the relevant week and average gross earnings of at least £129 per week to qualify for Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay. The 2026-27 rate is £194.32 per week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. Employees who qualify for leave but not pay still have the leave entitlement, unpaid. Northern Ireland has different eligibility rules for some pregnancy-loss cases from 6 April 2026; check the current Northern Ireland guidance if you work there.

When to take it: You can take one or two weeks. If you take two weeks, they can be together or in two separate one-week blocks. The leave must end within 56 weeks of the child's death or stillbirth.

Notice: Within the first 56 days, you can give notice before the leave starts, including on its first day. After day 56, you need to give at least one week's notice.

Time Off for Dependants

An employee has a statutory right to take a reasonable amount of unpaid time off to deal with an emergency involving a dependant. This includes arranging or attending a funeral. A dependant can include a spouse or partner, child, parent, someone who lives in the employee's household (other than a tenant, lodger, or employee), or someone who relies on the employee, such as an elderly neighbour.

The law does not set a fixed number of days; the amount must be reasonable in the circumstances. Time off for dependants is unpaid unless the employer's policy or contract provides pay.

This right applies to a qualifying dependant of any age, including a child, and is separate from parental bereavement leave.

Compassionate Leave Beyond the Statutory Minimum

Some UK employers offer compassionate or bereavement leave beyond the statutory provisions, but there is no general legal requirement to do so. ACAS recommends that employers include a compassionate leave policy in their staff handbook covering:

• How many days of paid leave are offered and for which relationships
• Whether additional unpaid leave is available
• Whether the employee can use accrued annual leave to extend their absence
• A phased return option
• Access to the Employee Assistance Programme

If the person who died was your dependant, you can request reasonable unpaid time off under the time-off-for-dependants right. Any additional leave depends on your employer's policy, contract, or an individual agreement with your manager.

How to Use ACAS Guidance in a Dispute

If your employer refuses protected time off or penalises you for taking it, ACAS early conciliation is required before most employment tribunal claims. ACAS attempts to help resolve the dispute; if no agreement is reached, it issues a certificate. Contact ACAS promptly because tribunal time limits apply.

Common grounds for a claim include:

• Being denied time off for dependants (breach of the Employment Rights Act 1996, section 57A)
• Being dismissed or disciplined for taking parental bereavement leave
• Being treated unfavourably because of a disability caused by grief may amount to disability discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 if the statutory requirements are met.

What This Means in Practice

These statutory rights depend on the type of loss and your status as an employee. If the person who died was not a dependant and no specific parental or bereaved-partner provision applies, additional leave depends on the employer's policy, contract, or an individual agreement.

The Returning to Work After Bereavement guide covers UK-specific entitlements alongside US, Canadian, and Australian frameworks, with communication templates for requesting extended leave and negotiating a phased return with your employer.