New rights to unpaid bereavement leave including pregnancy loss: options assessment - RPC opinion (green-rated)
The RPC's opinion relating to the Department for Business and Trade's options assessment in respect of the Government’s consultation on proposals for new rights to unpaid bereavement leave including pregnancy loss. The consultation was published on 23 October 2025, followed by the options assessment on 1 December.
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The proposal is to introduce a new statutory right to ‘day one’ unpaid bereavement leave, including pregnancy loss. This would be enacted through powers proposed in the Employment Rights Bill, with details of the entitlement in related secondary legislation. The proposals are intended to address a gap in statutory support, and recognise that pregnancy loss can be experienced as a bereavement.
The options assessment (OA) provides evidence of the problem under consideration, and discusses two policy option scenarios. The consultation, which includes both policy scenarios, will inform a final proposal. By providing illustrative impacts of the two possible scenarios for bereavement leave the OA effectively compares the two. The qualitative discussion of the proposed options, and monetised analysis used to justify the preferred approach, is sufficient at this point and the assessment makes a reasonable case for not selecting a specific scenario at this stage.
The OA monetises the costs for the different scenario options. The Department explains that it has not been possible to monetise the benefits of the options but, instead, discusses the benefits qualitatively, including the wellbeing and productivity benefits to employees. However, the OA would be improved by presenting a net present value metric based on the monetised costs that have been estimated. Further, as the welfare benefits to employees appear to be significant in driving the overall outcomes of the proposals, the OA could expand its discussion of these benefits, alongside any rough estimates to indicate their potential scale.
The OA indicates that the options would be expected to have an overall negative impact on business due to the costs incurred. These include familiarisation costs and ongoing administrative and reorganisation costs. The OA monetises these costs but should convert these into an equivalent annual net direct cost to business metric. The assessment also discusses non-monetised impacts of legal costs from additional employment tribunal cases, as well as benefits realised by employers through avoided absenteeism, increased employee retention and productivity.
The Regulatory Policy Committee rated the OA as fit for purpose; green-rated.