The government has introduced regulations bringing the Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024 (the 2024 Act) into force with effect from 29 December 2025. While some of the 2024 Act's provisions require further regulations before they take effect, the provision that makes paternity leave a day one right in cases where the child's mother or primary adopter dies is now in force.
Facts
The 2024 Act amends the Employment Rights Act 1996 in cases where a child's mother or primary adopter dies, to make paternity leave a day one right for the father / partner, and allow the father / partner to take paternity leave in this scenario even if they have already taken a period of shared parental leave. These changes do not require further regulations, so came into force on 29 December 2025.
The 2024 Act also provides a power for the government to make further regulations that would:
- Disapply the requirement that paternity leave must be taken to care for the child, in cases where both the mother and child have died, or the primary adopter has died and either the child has died or the adoption placement has been disrupted.
- Allow the father / partner to take KIT days (i.e. work on specified days for their employer without disrupting their paternity leave).
Although not stated expressly in the 2024 Act, it has been suggested that regulations made under it might also increase paternity leave for bereaved fathers/partners from two weeks to 52 weeks. This would address the issue that two weeks' leave is far from sufficient where the child's mother / primary adopter has died and the father / partner has therefore become the child's primary caregiver.
What does this mean for employers?
We anticipate that the government will produce regulations to bring the other provisions of the 2024 Act into effect within the next few months, although no specific timeframe has been confirmed.
Whereas the rights provided under the 2024 Act will only apply in a small number of cases, it is worth noting that the Employment Rights Act 2025 makes paternity leave a day one right for all employees, and allows all eligible employees to take paternity leave after shared parental leave. These changes are expected to be brought into force in April 2026.
Employers will need to ensure that they update their family friendly policies to take the changes into account.
Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024 (Commencement) Regulations 2025
