Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help ensure that workplaces provide statutory bereavement leave to both parents after baby loss.

The Government recognises that losing a child or a much-wanted baby at any stage is deeply upsetting and we expect employers to respond with compassion and understanding.

Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay provides parents with a statutory right to two weeks off work following the death of their child or the loss of a baby stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy. The policy establishes a statutory baseline for employers, and it is the Government’s hope that employers will go beyond this minimum in supporting employees who suffer this kind of loss.

The Government also commissioned guidance from the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) on managing a bereavement in the workplace. This guidance has been updated to include new sections on supporting employees after the loss of a baby and to highlight employers’ good practice.