Employment law insights
Extended leave for bereaved partners
From 6 April 2026, the government is introducing new legislation that provides a right to Bereaved Partners Paternity Leave (BPPL).
Where the mother or primary carer of the employee’s child has passed away BPPL provides employees with the right to take a single period of unpaid leave during the first 52 weeks after the date of birth or adoption.
There is no service requirement to access this right. However, the employee must have the necessary relationship to the child or the primary carer.
The BPPL Regulations set out the conditions for entitlement, notice requirements and employment protection measures such as preservation of contractual terms, the right to return to the same job or suitable alternative job, enhanced redundancy protection and protection from detriment and dismissal.
There is no provision for statutory pay for BPPL, although eligible employees might use their two weeks' statutory paternity pay if they have not already received this.
An employee who wishes to start BPPL within eight weeks of their bereavement must give either oral or written notice before they are due to start work on the first day of the leave. The intended return date (and certain other information) can then be notified to the employer later in writing. For leave starting more than eight weeks after the bereavement, written notice of at least a week is required.
What should employers be doing?
Update any policies (if relevant) to ensure that they reflect current statutory guidelines, although it is always suggested that such policies simply link to the current statutory guidelines to avoid these being out of date.
Reviewing enhanced pay policies and the service thresholds under family friendly policies.
Making policies accessible to employees and briefing managers on how to handle sensitive requests.