Two weeks of bereavement leave. Then what?
From April 2027, employees in the UK will have the right to two weeks' unpaid bereavement leave when a close relative dies. It also covers pregnancy loss before 24 weeks, and that includes partners and intended parents as well as the person who was pregnant. The government still has to publish the detailed regulations, so the date could slip, but the direction is set.
I'm genuinely pleased. For a lot of people, one of the hardest parts of the first few days after a death is ringing work and not knowing what they're allowed to ask for. That should get a little easier.
There's one detail I really liked. The two weeks don't have to be taken in one block. People will be able to take single days at any point in the year or so after the death. Whoever argued for that has clearly been bereaved, because grief has a habit of turning up on the first birthday without them, or the morning you finally clear out the wardrobe.
It also works for people like me, who have a tendency to just plough on and don't really want to talk about it, as it's most likely very raw at the point of telling those you work with. It's helpful to take the time and I can think of many times when I should have done just that. Saying 'I'm taking my two weeks,' is a game changer for people like me, who at the point of grief are quiet and come back after a few days, outwardly fine, inward chaos.
What the law can't do is tell a manager what to say when someone walks back in on a Monday morning. Most managers want to get it right. They're worried about saying the wrong thing, so perhaps they say nothing, and the person who's grieving reads that silence as 'we'd rather not talk about it.' Or they attempt to talk about it, but it feels horribly awkward.
We've been working with conversations about life, death and legacy at huunuu for more than ten years. Most people don't want or need a counsellor at their desk. They need a colleague who asks how they're really doing and then waits for the answer. Or comfort knowing that they will be dealt with appropriately.
It isn't only bereavement either. People come to work while caring for a parent, waiting on test results or living with a diagnosis nobody in the office knows about. No leave policy will cover all of that, and it shouldn't have to. Everyday conversation does most of the work.
That's where our Time to Talk workshop comes in. It's one of three workshops in our CPD-accredited Big Conversation Framework, and it helps people approach difficult subjects with care and confidence, listen without judging and make space for the conversations that usually get avoided. For employers, HR teams and wellbeing leads, these are skills that matter long after any two weeks of leave have been used up.
So let's welcome the new right. Then let's use the time between now and April 2027 to get ready for the part that comes before and afterwards, when someone sits back down at their desk and we can have a considered conversation.
If you'd like to talk about bringing Time to Talk into your organisation, have a look at the Big Conversation Framework.
