Notice periods for Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay - claims before 6 April 2026

Please note: If an employee's child has died or was stillborn on or after 6 April 2026, please refer to the updated legislative guidance for Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay. This updated guidance also covers the new rules for employees who have experienced a miscarriage, which apply only to cases on or after 6 April 2026.

An employee must give notice for Parental Bereavement Leave as well as evidence for Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay.

Parental Bereavement Leave

An employee has 56 weeks to take Parental Bereavement Leave. This starts from the date of the child’s death.

The 56 weeks is split into 2 periods:

• from the date of the death or stillbirth to 8 weeks after
• 9 to 56 weeks after the date of the death or stillbirth

They can take 2 weeks’ leave in one block or as 2 separate blocks of one week.

You must get notice from the employee before they take Parental Bereavement Leave. How much notice depends on when they’re taking leave.

0 to 8 weeks after the child’s death or stillbirth

An employee must give you notice before the time they would normally start work on the first day of the period they want to take off work.

9 to 56 weeks after the child’s death or stillbirth

An employee must give you at least one week’s notice before the start of the week or weeks they want to take off work.

How employees should give you notice

They should tell you:

• the date of the child’s death or stillbirth
• when they want their Parental Bereavement Leave to begin
• how much leave they are taking - either 1 or 2 weeks

An employee can give you notice informally, for example, by phone, text message, or email. You cannot ask for:

• notice for leave in writing (such as following up with an email, letter, or form)
• notice to cancel leave in writing
• evidence of entitlement for leave
• details about the employee’s relationship to the child or baby

Cancelling Parental Bereavement Leave

An employee can cancel their Parental Bereavement Leave if they’ve given you the required notice for taking leave.

If they were starting the leave within 8 weeks of the death or stillbirth, they must let you know about the cancellation no later than the time they would normally start work on the first day of the planned leave.

If they were starting the leave 9 weeks or later after the death or stillbirth, they must let you know no later than one week before the start of the planned leave.

They can rebook another week’s leave if they cancel before the leave was due to start, and they give you the correct notice.

Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

An employee must ask for Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay within 28 days (or as soon as is reasonably practicable), starting with the first day of the week they want to claim pay for.

They must give you in writing (for example, a letter or email) each time:

• the dates of the period they want to claim Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay
• their name
• the date of the child’s death or stillbirth

The employee will also need to give you a self-declaration to confirm they are eligible because of their relationship to the child or baby - they only need to provide this once when they first ask for pay.

Cancelling Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay

An employee can cancel their Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay if they’ve given you the required notice for claiming pay.

If their pay was due to start within 8 weeks of the child’s death or stillbirth, they must give you notice on the first day of the week of pay they want to cancel.