We are often asked about compassionate leave, mainly because there isn’t one clear piece of legislation which sets out rights and responsibilities around this subject. Read on understand the key employment laws you need to be aware of, and some best practice examples to consider when offering compassionate leave to your team.
Time off for family and dependants
Under UK employment law all employees have the right to unpaid time off to deal with emergencies involving a dependant.
A dependant is classed as a spouse, partner, child, grandchild, parent or someone who depends on you for care. That last category could include a wide-ranging number of people; ACAS even suggests an elderly neighbour could count if they rely on you for care.
An emergency is defined as a situation which is sudden or unexpected and which requires the employee to deal with it. This could be arranging alternative childcare if a childminder is sick, but it does not necessarily mean that the employee can take an unlimited amount of time to care for the child themselves.
As an example, in Royal Bank of Scotland v Harrison the tribunal found that Harrison had been taking time off for family and dependants when she took a day off work to care for her children. Even though she had 2 weeks’ notice of having no childcare she could prove she had taken all reasonable steps to find an alternative. Whereas Qua v John Ford Morrison Solicitors found that the time Qua had been taking off to care for her son was not covered under the time off for family and dependants as she had made no attempt to find alternative care, and her son’s need for care, due to his ill health, was to be expected. 
ACAS also suggest that this right could extend to arranging and attending a funeral, registering a death and other similar activities which have to be done when someone dies, and which cannot normally be given to someone else to do. Hence including this piece of legislation in this update.
Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave
Since April 2022 parents who have a child die before they turn 18, or after 24 weeks of pregnancy, are entitled to time off.
The statutory time off is up to 2 weeks, either taken together or as two separate weeks within 56 weeks of the death. This time off can be added to other statutory leaves such as maternity and paternity, and it is paid at the statutory rate (at the time of writing this is £172.48 per week or 90% of earnings, whichever is lower).
To be eligible, an employee must give you notice that they intend to take Parental Bereavement Leave, but unlike other statutory leaves this can be done in whatever form they feel comfortable; text, voicemail etc. It also does not need to be in writing or contain any proof; parents only need state the date of the death of their child and the leave and dates they wish to take.
Carer’s Leave Bill – Watch this space
It is expected that in 2024 the Carer’s Bill will come into force. This bill will allow employees to take up to one week of unpaid carer’s leave per year to care for relatives or other people who depend on them for care to support them to balance their caring responsibilities with their work.
Those are the key laws you need to consider in relation to compassionate leave, however you could choose to go further, enhancing the duration or pay for your team – making yourself stand out as an employer of choice. 
Our Observations
It is very common to allow employees paid time off to attend the funeral of relatives and close friends. Many employers also chose to extend this to 5 days for close family such as an employee’s spouse or partner, children, parents or siblings, especially when the employee is responsible for planning the funeral or managing the estate, or when the employee has a significant way to travel.
If you choose to offer a compassionate leave, we would always recommend that you make this a non-contractual arrangement, that you record it in a handbook or policy and be explicit about the fact that it is at the discretion of the employer. This allows an employer to reduce or extend the time allowed in particular individual circumstances or to remove the benefit entirely if required without having to consult with the employees.
Whatever level of compassionate leave you decide to offer the most important thing to remember is that the people we employ are just; that people. And if someone has experienced a loss their performance and attendance at work may be affected for some time afterwards. Where employers are compassionate and supportive to continue to get the best from them, research shows that employees who feel cared for by their employer are less likely to leave. 
If you have any questions about compassionate leave (or anything people related) or need a policy or handbook, please get in touch.
by Jenny Ryder-O’Regan