[CLONE] - Government agrees to ensure paid bereavement leave covers miscarriages

The Government has agreed to ensure paid bereavement leave covers miscarriage, as it also headed off a potential Labour rebellion over calls to increase paternity leave.

Business minister Justin Madders said the Government “fully accepts” the principle of bereavement leave for pregnancy loss and will work with MPs and peers to amend the Employment Rights Bill.

His commitment came in response to amendments tabled by Labour MP Sarah Owen, who chairs the Women and Equalities Committee which recommended changes to the law.

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.

In January, 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.

Mr Madders, speaking during the Bill’s report stage, said there is a “clear gap in support” for those who experience pregnancy loss and “need time to recover and grieve”.

He said: “We fully accept the principle of bereavement leave for pregnancy loss, as raised in the amendments, and we look forward to further discussions with (Ms Owen) and (peers) as the Bill moves on to its next stages in the Lords.

“Bereavement is not an illness, it’s not a holiday and it does need its own special category.”

Ms Owen appeared to become emotional as she spoke during the debate, saying: “It doesn’t just provide rights, but goes a long way into furthering how we talk about pregnancy loss in society as a whole. That miscarriage is no longer ignored, that it is no longer stigmatised as a sickness.

“People have been moved to tears of joy, relief and raw emotion that their loss is now acknowledged and things will change. Later tonight, in the privacy of my home, I’ll probably be one of those too.”

She added: “It is a giant leap forward in the recognition that miscarrying is a bereavement, not an illness, and workers will legally have the right to grieve.”

Elsewhere in the debate, Labour MP Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) led calls for paternity leave to be increased.

Her new clause seven was supported by more than 50 Labour backbenchers, which posed a problem for the whips, although it was not pushed to a vote after Mr Madders sought to offer assurances on the Government’s approach.

Ms Creasy’s amendment would have required the Government to consult on the period of protected paternity or parental partner leave, amid calls for it to go beyond the two-week entitlement.

She said: “We need to end the battle of the sexes when it comes to childcare.”

The Bill, as it stands, would establish the right to paternity and parental leave for a worker from day one.

Mr Madders also noted an amendment tabled by Labour former minister Louise Haigh and Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran (Oxford West and Abingdon) which sought to prevent non-disclosure agreements from stopping workers making a disclosure about harassment.

He said: “This is an important issue that warrants further consideration.”

The Bill as a whole aims to deliver the biggest overhaul of workers’ rights in a generation, although it is feared some of the changes could cost businesses almost £5 billion annually.

Policies such as day-one protections from unfair dismissals and ensuring guaranteed hours on zero-hours contracts are “likely to have a disproportionate cost to small and micro businesses”, according to an economic analysis of the Bill published by the Department for Business and Trade.

Shadow business minister Greg Smith said the Government should have taken more time to develop its proposals given it was still bringing forward several pages of amendments.

He said: “Fundamentally, this is a bad Bill. Whilst it contains many good measures, many well intentioned measures, they have failed to get the balance right between employees and employers.

“And whilst I welcome some of the comments the minister made in his opening remarks, not least on the point he knows we have agreement from our debate in the Bill committee on bereavement leave for pregnancy loss, I’m afraid for the vast majority of this Bill, the balance has, in fact, been got wrong.”

Mr Smith also said a proposal that would give employers a responsibility to protect employees from harassment from clients and customers could produce a chilling effect on free speech at universities and usher in “banter police” for pubs and restaurants.

Mr Madders said employers “are not expected to police or control every action of third parties”, adding: “Instead, employers simply need to do what is reasonable, and what is reasonable of course depends on the specific circumstances of the employer.”

A Liberal Democrat amendment to make carer’s leave a paid entitlement was rejected by 323 votes to 95, majority 228.

A proposal from Conservative MP Sir Ashley Fox (Bridgwater) to give special constables the right to time off to carry out their police duties was also defeated by 324 votes to 189, majority 135.

MPs will consider further amendments to the Bill on Wednesday.