The UK Government recently announced a series of amendments to the Employment Rights Bill; changes that have now been passed to the House of Lords, and which build upon existing proposals to increase the rights of working people.
Three notable amendments relate to pregnancy loss bereavement leave, paid leave entitlement for carers, and domestic abuse leave – updates that, if passed into law, will support and protect employees across the board. But while these amendments may offer relatively modest statutory provisions, the nature of these changes – and their collective impact – could prove particularly valuable for working women.
Pregnancy loss bereavement leave
The Employment Rights Bill would legislate two weeks’ bereavement leave for parents who experience pregnancy loss (miscarriage or stillbirth) before 24 weeks’ gestation. This would extend current legislation, which applies from the 24th week of pregnancy, giving mothers more time to recover physically and providing both parents with space to grieve.
It’s an extension that’s entirely welcome, of course, and one that makes sense from both the employee and employer perspective: employees who return to work before they’re ready are unlikely to thrive, and understandably so. They also risk prolonging their physical and emotional recoveries, creating the potential for more absence and reduced productivity over time.
Sadly, with one in five UK pregnancies ending in miscarriage or stillbirth, baby loss affects ~250,000...
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