In this week’s HR article we will delve into the employers responsibilities and best practice for managing bereavement leave within the workplace. 

At present there is no legal right to paid bereavement leave in the UK, apart from Parental Bereavement Leave. However, this could be soon changing as the Labour government has ‘promised’ to introduce a statutory entitlement to bereavement leave at some stage during their time in government. 

Whilst there is no legal right to be paid, there are some exceptions and every employer should have some form of procedure in place to deal with bereavement.

What is bereavement leave?

Bereavement leave is the period of time someone is granted time off work following the death of a family member or a loved one. The time allows the employee to grieve and to manage bereavement matters, such as attending a funeral.

Often, compassionate leave is used interchangeably with bereavement leave, however, they are not quite the same thing. Compassionate leave from work can be due to the death of a family member or friend, and can also be due to terminal illness or serous injury of a loved one.  

The right to time off

Employees are entitled to the right to time off if a dependant dies or their child is stillborn or dies under the age of 18. A dependant could be one of the following:

•    their husband, wife, civil partner or partner
•    their child
•    their parent
•    a person who lives in their household (not tenants, lodgers or employees)
•    a person who relies on them, such as an elderly neighbour

If an employee’s child dies they have a right to take 2 weeks of if the child dies under the age of 18 or is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy. This is called parental bereavement leave and is also known as Jack’s Law, in memory of Jack Herd, whose mother Lucy campaigned on the issue. An employee can get statutory parental bereavement pay if they have worked for you for at least 26 weeks - if they do not have 26 weeks' service, you can offer them unpaid leave, or paid leave if you choose to do so.  

If a child is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy, the birth mother can get up to 52 weeks of statutory maternity leave or pay, and the birth father can get up to 2 weeks of paternity leave or pay.

Both parents will be entitled to 2 weeks of parental bereavement leave after they finish their maternity or paternity leave.

While the legal name for the time off is 'statutory maternity' and 'statutory paternity' leave, some employees might not want to call the time off 'maternity' or 'paternity' leave if their baby has died. Employers should be mindful of this when speaking to an employee as it may cause upset.

Compassionate leave rights

Currently there is no statutory right to compassionate leave entitlement in the UK, although some employees do have leave rights. Staff can take a reasonable number of days off to deal with emergencies; Acas suggest that between one or two days is enough time to deal with an emergency. This leave does not cover the grieving period, and the leave is typically used for emergency situations only.  

Time off for a funeral

An employee does have a right to time off for a funeral if the person who dies is a dependant, but there is no legal right to time off for a funeral if the person who dies was not a dependant. Employers typically tend to offer 1 day's unpaid leave, or employees can use annual leave for those requesting to attend a funeral of those who are not a child or dependant. 

Pay during bereavement leave

Many employers choose to offer pay during bereavement for up to 5 days and this leave is typically called 'compassionate', 'bereavement' or 'special' paid leave. The amount an employer offers may depend on organisation policy or an employee's contract.

It is hard to imagine that one week is enough time to take for a death in the family, as some may struggle to come to terms with the loss for much longer. In some cases employees tend to take sick leave following bereavement and after this the practice should apply the sickness absence policy.

Do be mindful that a loss can take a huge toll on your employee's mental and/or physical health; employers should be lenient when applying the sickness absence policy and avoid a disciplinary process. 

Remember to be sensitive to what each person might need at the time, consider the person's physical and emotional wellbeing, including once they've returned to work and recognise that grief is not a linear process and affects everyone differently – there is no right or wrong way to grieve and it can affect people at different times following a death.