Parental Bereavement Leave: Your Rights After Losing a Baby

Your Leave Rights Depend on Where You Live

Losing a baby is devastating. Having to worry about your job at the same time is cruel, but it is the reality for many parents. The good news: in most countries, the law protects your right to take time off after a stillbirth or neonatal death. The bad news: the protections are uneven, and your HR department may not know the details.

Here is what you are entitled to, broken down by country.

United Kingdom

UK employment law provides the strongest statutory protections for bereaved parents. If your baby was stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy or born alive at any gestational age and then died, you are entitled to:

Statutory Maternity Leave and Pay: An eligible birthing parent can take up to 52 weeks of maternity leave and may qualify for up to 39 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) or Maternity Allowance. If the stillbirth occurred before your planned leave start date, maternity leave begins automatically the day after the birth. You do not need to do anything — the leave triggers on the date of birth regardless.

Statutory Paternity Leave: An eligible partner may take up to 2 weeks of paternity leave; Statutory Paternity Pay has separate eligibility requirements. Leave must be completed within 56 days of the birth. This applies to stillbirths after 24 weeks and neonatal deaths.

Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave (Jack's Law): In England, Scotland, and Wales, eligible employed parents have a day-one right to 2 weeks of leave. This can be taken as a single 2-week block or as two separate weeks within 56 weeks after the death. Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay requires at least 26 weeks of continuous service and meeting the minimum weekly earnings threshold. In Northern Ireland, separate rules apply to bereavements on or after 6 April 2026: the leave also covers miscarriage before 24 weeks, and pay has no minimum service period but has earnings and notice requirements.

Key point: These are separate entitlements. A birthing parent may qualify for maternity leave, an eligible partner may qualify for paternity leave, and each eligible parent may also take Parental Bereavement Leave after any other statutory leave ends.

United States

There is no federal law requiring paid bereavement leave for private-sector employees in the US. What exists is a patchwork of federal medical leave and state-level bereavement provisions:

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): Eligible employees of covered employers may take up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for their own serious health condition, including recovery from childbirth after stillbirth, or to care for a spouse recovering from childbirth. FMLA does not provide leave solely to grieve a death. The partner may also qualify for leave to care for the birthing parent, but not for bereavement alone.

Illinois Family Bereavement Leave Act (FBLA): Provides up to 10 workdays of unpaid leave for pregnancy-related events including miscarriage and stillbirth. The leave must be completed within 60 days of the event.

Federal employees: May access up to 2 weeks of paid parental bereavement leave under federal personnel policies.

Employer policies: Many large employers offer 3 to 5 days of paid bereavement leave, but their policies often do not explicitly address infant loss. Check your employee handbook. If it says "immediate family member," a stillbirth or neonatal death qualifies. If the language is ambiguous, ask HR in writing and keep the response.

Canada

Canada Labour Code: For employees in federally regulated workplaces, amendments effective December 12, 2025 provide up to 8 weeks of unpaid leave after a stillbirth or up to 3 days after another pregnancy loss; the first 3 days are paid after 3 months of continuous service. The Code also provides up to 8 weeks of bereavement leave after the death of a child under 18, with the first 3 days paid for employees who meet that service requirement. A person whose pregnancy ends at or after 20 weeks may also be entitled to up to 17 weeks of maternity leave.

Employment Insurance (EI) Maternity Benefits: Eligible birthing parents may receive up to 15 weeks of maternity benefits after a stillbirth (at or after 20 weeks). These income benefits are separate from job-protected leave under the Canada Labour Code or provincial law.

Provincial and territorial leave laws: For employees not covered by the Canada Labour Code, bereavement and pregnancy-loss leave vary by province or territory. In Ontario, most employees can take up to 2 days of job-protected unpaid bereavement leave per calendar year after a qualifying family death; pregnancy-loss entitlements are separate. Check your provincial or territorial employment standards office for the rules that apply to you.

Australia

Fair Work Act: Employees are entitled to 2 days of paid compassionate leave per occasion for the death of an immediate family member, including a stillborn baby. Part-time and casual employees get 2 days of unpaid compassionate leave. Some enterprise agreements provide more.

Parental leave and payments: An eligible employee may take up to 12 months of unpaid parental leave after a stillbirth or the death of a child in the first 24 months of life. A stillbirth must be at or after 20 weeks or at least 400 grams. For a qualifying stillbirth, families may be able to choose between Parental Leave Pay and Stillborn Baby Payment; the payments have different eligibility tests.

How to Notify Your Employer

You do not need to share details. A simple message is enough:

"I need to take bereavement/medical leave effective immediately. Our baby was [stillborn/died after birth] on [date]. I will provide any required documentation when I am able. Please let me know the process for requesting leave."

If you have a trusted colleague who can relay the message, ask them. You do not have to make this phone call yourself.

Keep a record of all communication with your employer. If you are denied leave you are entitled to, contact your employment standards body (ACAS in England, Scotland, and Wales; the Labour Relations Agency in Northern Ireland; the Department of Labor in the US; your provincial or territorial employment standards office in Canada; or the Fair Work Ombudsman in Australia) for guidance.

The When Your Baby Dies Response Toolkit includes employer notification templates and a leave-rights checklist organized by country, so you do not have to piece this together while grieving.