Compassionate Leave

Introduce Paid Compassionate Leave for all Workers

Bereavement leave is currently on available to parents following the death of a child under the age of 18. The intention is to make Compassionate Leave available to all workers.

The Current Entitlement

Since April 2024 legislation has entitled parents of a child under 18 that dies to take 2 weeks of paid bereavement leave.

Proposed Changes

The intention is that Parental and Child will be removed from the existing legislation, making compassionate leave and pay a day one right for all.

Entitlement will remain unchanged where a child under the age of 18 dies (two weeks of paid leave). For all other bereavements the entitlement will be to one week of paid leave. Where an employee is eligible to leave and experiences more than one death they will be entitled to leave in respect of each death.

The Bill refers to there been a qualifying relationship between the employee and the person who has died. This is not defined in the Bill but is likely to mirror the relationship requirements used in the Time of For Dependents and Carers Leave Acts.

Top Tips

This could have significant impact on employers who limit compassionate leave to unpaid leave. Many of my clients offer one or two days to deal with the initial shock and the funeral and up to five days if the employee is arranging the funeral. But for most of those the official message is leave is unpaid and then they apply discretion depending on the length of service of the employee and the relationship with the deceased. A jump to one week of paid leave per situation is a big jump, especially for something which could be easily open to abuse.

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