The UK is expanding bereavement leave eligibility, the government announced on Sept. 22.
Where in the world? Starting in April 2027, workers in the UK can take up to two weeks of unpaid bereavement leave for “step, half, adoptive, kinship care and foster relationships,” who were not previously covered. Extended family, including aunts and uncles, cousins, and nieces and nephews, as well as close friends are not covered, according to the Financial Times.
The new regulation also extends leave to workers and their partners who experience pregnancy loss including miscarriage and abortion; the previous rule only allowed time off for people who lost a child under 18.
Employees will be eligible for leave starting on their first day of work and may space it out over 56 weeks. Companies may not ask workers for evidence of loss and are prohibited from terminating an employee for exercising their right to bereavement leave.
“No one should have to fight for time to grieve,” Kate Dearden, minister for UK’s Future of Work, said. “These changes back people going through some of the hardest moments of life, whoever they are and wherever they work.”
Many family advocate groups, lawyers, and HR leaders praised the decision, calling it long overdue.
“Kinship families grieve the loss of a loved one just like any other family, and this right to take time off work will help ensure they are treated fairly alongside other bereaved families,” Lucy Peak, chief executive of the nonprofit Kinship, ...
Millions of Aussies will be cheering Ben Roberts-Smith after seeing his publicity campaign. But we must leave all these matters to a criminal court to decide – this time beyond reasonable doubt.