This article was last updated 0 months ago and may not represent current law.
What is Jack's Law?
‘Jack’s Law’ is the legal right to parental bereavement leave, which has been in force since 6 April 2020.
Parents who suffer the devastating loss of a child are entitled to 2 weeks’ statutory leave.
I first wrote this in January 2020, when the government had just announced that working parents who suffer the incredibly devastating loss of a child would get two weeks' bereavement leave thanks to so-called Jack's Law. It came in a few months later and has been the law for over six years now, so I've updated this to say how it works.
The Parental Bereavement Leave Regulations 2020 give a statutory right to 2 weeks’ leave for all employed parents if they lose a child under the age of 18, or suffer a stillbirth from 24 weeks of pregnancy, irrespective of how long they have worked for their employer. They apply where the child died on or after 6 April 2020. Parents who qualify also get statutory parental bereavement pay for the time off, although the right to pay has its own eligibility rules and so not everyone who can take the leave will be paid for it.
Before Jack's Law, there was no right to paid leave on the death of a child or indeed any family member or pet. Many businesses did give some time off, maybe a couple of days, and plenty still give more than the legal minimum. Outside of Jack's Law that is still broadly the position today. There is the "right to time off for dependants", but there is no right to be paid for that time off.
Parents can take the leave as either a single block of 2 weeks, or as 2 separate blocks of one week each taken at different times, as long as it is taken within 56 weeks of their child’s death. This means they can match their leave to the times they need it most, which could be in the early days or over the first anniversary.
When the law was announced, the government said that around 7,500 child deaths, including around 3,000 stillbirths, occurred in the UK every year, and estimated that the entitlement would help to support around 10,000 parents a year.
The next change is a wider right to bereavement leave under the Employment Rights Act 2025. That isn't in force yet. The government said in its consultation response of 22 September 2026 that it intends to bring it in from April 2027, but the regulations haven't been made, so I'd treat that date as a plan for now. What has been announced is unpaid leave of up to two weeks, available from the first day of employment and to be taken within 56 weeks, covering the death of certain close relatives and pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. So it will go a lot further than Jack's Law in who it covers, but unlike Jack's Law it won't be paid.
If you're a business and want to know how to deal with this, I would strongly recommend you update your Staff/Employee Handbook to include up to date policies, and look at it again once the 2027 rules are confirmed.
Written by Steven Mather, a business solicitor acting on company sales and purchases. This is general information about the law, not legal advice on your situation. Law correct as at .
