Women and their partners should be entitled to paid bereavement leave if they experience a miscarriage, MPs have recommended. Sick leave is an “inappropriate and inadequate form of employer support” for couples after such a pregnancy loss, the Women and Equalities Committee said.
Since April 2020 employees can be eligible for statutory parental bereavement leave and pay if there is a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy, but there is no specific leave for a pre-24 week loss in the form of miscarriage. The committee said the two-week leave period should be also made available to those bereaved as a result of pre-24 week pregnancy loss.
The committee said an estimated more than one in five pregnancies end before 24 weeks, with between 10% and 20% of pregnancies ending in the first 12 weeks, known as early miscarriage. While MPs acknowledged that a “growing number of employers have specific pregnancy loss leave and pay policies”, such as NHS Trusts and the Co-op, they said there remain “very substantial gaps in provision”.
They welcomed recent progress involving the introduction of baby loss certificates but said this “does not go far enough and it should be backed up by statutory support”. The committee said: “There is no statutory acknowledgement of the grief many women and their partners will feel after a pre-24-week pregnancy loss and the effects this may have on their working lives.”
Taking evidence, the committee heard that sick pay is too little for many women and their partners to be able to afford to take the time off they need, while it also does not offer the confidentiality many women want, with employees often required to report the reason for their absence directly to their line manager.
Committee chairwoman Sarah Owen has previously spoken of her own loss, saying she was “not prepared for the grief of miscarrying”. The committee said it intends to put forward amendments to the Employment Rights Bill.
It said: “They seek to extend the same entitlements to statutory parental bereavement leave and pay as are currently available to parents bereaved by the loss of children and stillbirths to employees who experience pre-24-week pregnancy losses.
“This would include those who experience miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, in vitro fertilisation embryo transfer loss, and terminations for medical reasons.”
Labour MP Ms Owen said: “I was not prepared for the shock of miscarrying at work during my first pregnancy. Like many women, I legally had to take sick leave. But I was grief-stricken, not sick, harbouring a deep sense of loss. The committee’s report found many private sector employers, plus the NHS, the largest public sector employer of women, are successfully offering paid bereavement leave for those who miscarry, but provision is not universal.
“The case for a minimum standard in law is overwhelming. A period of paid leave should be available to all women and partners who experience a pre-24-week pregnancy loss. It’s time to include bereavement leave for workers who miscarry in new employment rights laws.”
The committee has urged the Government to support the amendments or bring forward its own “to ensure that all those who experience the physical and emotional pain and grief of pregnancy and baby loss are able to access the support they need”. A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: “Losing a child at any stage is incredibly difficult and we know many employers will show compassion and understanding in these circumstances.
“Our Employment Rights Bill will establish a new right to bereavement leave, make paternity and parental leave a day one right, and strengthen protections for pregnant women and new mothers returning to work.”