Parental bereavement leave policy
Published: 30 June 2026Freedom of information class: How we manage our resources
Parental bereavement leave is a statutory entitlement for bereaved parents to take leave.
Table of contents
1. Purpose and scope
1.1 Parental bereavement leave is a statutory entitlement for bereaved parents to take leave following their child’s death.
1.2 This policy applies to all RoS employees who meet the eligibility criteria.
2. Guiding principles
2.1 The principles of the parental bereavement policy are:
- RoS has enhanced the statutory entitlement to up to two weeks with pay at the parent’s full pay rate, with no length of service qualifying requirement
- the two weeks leave can be taken in one block or as two separate blocks of one week. The entitlement is two weeks per child. Parental bereavement leave is available in cases where the child dies before they turn 18
- for parents who suffer a miscarriage up to 23 weeks of pregnancy
- for parents who experience unsuccessful embryo transfer
- if a child is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy, eligible parents are still entitled to maternity or paternity leave
- parental bereavement leave must finish within 56 weeks from the date of the child’s death, stillbirth, miscarriage or unsuccessful embryo transfer
- bereaved parents should engage with their manager and give notice of their intention to take parental bereavement leave
- parental bereavement leave can be cancelled, or dates amended with prior notice. Colleagues should discuss this with their manager and inform the HR team
- parental bereavement pay is paid in the same way as wages and deductions will be made for tax and National Insurance in the usual way.
3. Eligibility criteria
3.1 To be eligible for parental bereavement leave colleagues must:
- be an employee of RoS
- meet the criteria as a parent
- continue to be employed up to the day the child’s death, stillbirth, miscarriage or unsuccessful embryo transfer
- advise their manager and HR of their circumstances.
4. Taking parental bereavement leave with other types of family leave
4.1 If the employee is taking another type of family leave (for example, maternity leave or paternity / co-parental leave) when the child’s death, stillbirth, miscarriage or unsuccessful embryo transfer, takes place then the parental bereavement leave must start after the other leave has ended but does not have to be taken immediately after. This includes if the family leave is for another child.
4.2 If parental bereavement leave is interrupted by the start of another type of family leave, the remaining entitlement to parental bereavement leave can be taken after the other leave has ended.
4.3 The remaining parental bereavement leave must finish within 56 weeks of the date of death, stillbirth, miscarriage or unsuccessful embryo transfer.
4.4 Parental bereavement leave can be taken between blocks of shared parental leave that was booked before the child died. This includes if the shared parental leave is for another child.
5. Roles and responsibilities
5.1 Strategic People Authority is responsible for the content of this policy, its approval and review. They are responsible for ensuring its implementation in practice and for monitoring this over time. They are responsible for ensuring that appropriate procedures, guidelines, or standards as are required to support this are maintained and ownership for these assigned appropriately.
6. Approval and review
6.1 This policy will be reviewed by Strategic People Authority and approved by the Policy and Practice Group every 24 months, unless earlier review is appropriate.
| Author | Employee Relations Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Reviewed | Employee Relations Manager | ||
| Cleared | Deputy Chief of People | ||
| Approval | Strategic People Authority (SPA) | Approval date | April 2026 |
| Policy version | V 4.0 | ||
| Review responsibility | Strategic People Authority (SPA) | Review date | April 2028 |
| Publication scheme | Yes | ||
| Email to contact | employeerelations@ros.gov.uk | ||