Business Secretary ‘will not yet commit to backing miscarriage leave amendment’
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The Business Secretary has said he is “sympathetic” to an amendment seeking to extend bereavement entitlement for miscarriages before 24 weeks but could not yet commit to supporting it. He said there might be a “better mechanism” to take it forward than the Employment Rights Bill, which the Women and Equalities Committee has said it intends to put forward an amendment to.
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, chaired by Luton North MP Sarah Owen, is seeking to make the two-week leave period available to those bereaved as a result of pre-24 week pregnancy loss.
Jonathan Reynolds told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I know how important this is. Like a lot of people I’ve had some experience of this myself. “It’s very, very difficult, and of course, the campaign being put forward there, I’m sympathetic to what they’re trying to achieve.
“I haven’t seen the amendment yet because the report stage hasn’t been scheduled, and then we’ll be able to get that. I’ve got to balance the rights in that Bill against the overall burdens on business.”. The Employment Rights Bill includes a new right to bereavement leave from the first day of a job.
