Bereavement & Compassionate Leave

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Taking time off for both bereavement and other life hardships can be a particularly sensitive area of people management. No one person deals with challenges in the same way, which is why it can be tricky for organisations to create a singular policy to address all situations.

This type of leave typically refers to the time off granted to employees specifically for mourning the loss of an immediate family member, such as a spouse, child, or parent. Employees are given time off to grieve, make funeral arrangements, or help in managing affairs following a family member’s passing. Bereavement leave is intended to acknowledge the profound impact of losing a close family member on an individual’s wellbeing.

Compassionate leave, on the other hand, has a broader scope. It is typically granted for reasons beyond immediate family bereavement. Compassionate leave may cover situations where employees need time off to care for an ill family member, attend to personal emergencies, or support in managing emergencies for close friends or family members. This type of leave acknowledges that personal crises can take various forms and affect an individual’s ability to perform their job effectively. Compassionate leave policies vary widely and can include provisions for both family and non-family related situations.

There is limited employment law in connection to bereavement or compassionate leave.

The Employment Rights Act 1996 outlines that employees are permitted to take time off to attend to personal emergencies or emergency situations relating to a dependent. However, the length of time is not stipulated, only that the permitted time off should be ‘reasonable’.

In terms of pay, while employees have a statutory right to a reasonable amount of time off, this does not extend to the right to be paid during that period. The only law in place to specify leave and pay entitlement is following the death of a child.

Jack’s Law, which was introduced in April 2020, provides employees with a minimum of 2 weeks’ leave and statutory parental bereavement pay following the death of a child under the age of 18 or a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy*, irrespective of length of service.

*Employers should be aware that if an employee experiences a stillbirth after 24 weeks, in addition to parental bereavement leave, they would also be entitled to the usual maternity leave and pay.

Time off. Confirm the exact number of days off employees are entitled to following a death or in an emergency situation. Some organisations have different leave entitlements for different situations.

Pay. Indicate whether your employees will be paid during this time away from the workplace. If so, specify whether this will be at their usual rate of pay, or if this will be calculated another way.

Communicating the request. Your organisation’s policy should outline how employees should make the request for bereavement or compassionate leave, as well as who the request should be made to. It’s important to make this process as streamlined as possible to support the wellbeing of the individual.

Eligibility. Organisations typically extend these entitlements to all employees from day 1.

As there is no set length of time in employment law, each organisation should specify the amount of leave permitted. Employers must remember that whilst their policy may offer, hypothetically, 3 days off following the death of a close family member, an employee may not be ready to return to the workplace at that time. In this case, the employee may choose to extend their period of leave either by requesting to take annual leave or by being signed off by their GP because of a stress reaction or depression.

Whilst there is an entitlement to reasonable time off in certain circumstances, other than parental bereavement leave, there is no requirement to pay employees for time off in connection with bereavement or compassionate leave. However, organisations should consider the impact on the employee in an already difficult situation should their pay be stopped whilst they are away from work.

An XpertHR survey on compassionate leave found that, on average, companies provide five days’ compassionate leave per year and 60% said that this leave was paid.

It’s common practice for organisations to create different tiers within their bereavement and compassionate leave policy.

Allowing flexibility for discretion in policies is key to giving employees the support they need during difficult times. 

Compassionate leave, is designed to offer employees the flexibility to address various personal crises or emergencies that may impact their ability to fulfil their work responsibilities effectively.

Whilst the specific situations eligible for compassionate leave may vary based on company policies, the following examples are a general guideline outlining the circumstances commonly requiring compassionate leave:

  • Serious illness of a family member. 
  • End-of-life care. 
  • Personal emergencies. 
  • Emergency support. 

It’s critical that the organisation’s policy provides example scenarios of acceptable reasons for compassionate leave so employees can clearly understand the purpose of this type of leave, particularly when it is separated in definition from bereavement leave.

It is strongly recommended that employers avoid rejecting requests for compassionate or bereavement leave and instead sit down with their employee to understand the situation in more detail and come to an agreement, demonstrating empathy and flexibility.

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