Paid leave for funerals
A very close friend of mine has recently laid to rest a very young grandchild and subsequently taken a few days off work to grieve. Now i thought that for a close relative he'd be entitled to three days paid leave but the boss will only pay for one day, which i think is a bit harsh.
I've done an internet search to try and find his rights but can't seem to find anything, any advice will be greatly received.
I've done an internet search to try and find his rights but can't seem to find anything, any advice will be greatly received.
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IMO, one day as compassionate leave is reasonable for a grandchild.
Our company did have a compassionate leave policy though. As far as i'm aware there are no legal obligations.
Here is the dir gov information.
I have been fair and allowed 5 days for mother, father child and less days the further distant the relative is.
Whilst I sympathise with the OP's friend and realise it is a sensitive issue, it is also difficult for a small company like ours to pay for what is essentially loss of productivity, but we cannot be seen to be callous at times of grief.
In other words it's a minefield !
Most places will give paid leave for the time of the funeral - some will pay compassionate leave for longer if it is a spouse or a child. But these are at the employer's discretion.
Button has been very proactive and very fair. I always recommend to my clients up to 5 days paid leave for the close relatives etc. Compassionate leave officially comes under the time off for dependents banner, and is unpaid. However my belief it is a very poor employer who would not give paid leave to an employee whose parent/spouse/partner/child died. There is case law that states there is no entitlement to compassionate time off to grieve, however I know from bitter experience that having to go to the hospital when a parent has died, all the legalities, funeral to arrange and attend takes a couple of days albeit in a few hours here and there. Being treated with compassion at one of the worst times of anyone's life will raise the employer's standing will all the employees and earn the gratitude of the person who suffered the loss. It is worth keeping a record however, as there is always the person who comes up and says Granny number 3 has just passed away.
Or an employer who simply cannot afford to pay somebody full salary when they aren't there doing their job?
An employer's customers won't continue to give them money if they aren't receiving the service/goods that they have expected but are no longer receiving, and if the grieving employee is the one who actually produces these goods/this service, where is the money supposed to come from to provide them with a full salary whilst they take time off and don't generate any income (never mind any profit) for the company who is paying his wages?
I also have experience of losing both parents and OH has lost his Dad, so we just went with what we thought would be acceptable to us.
Worth noting though is someone whose parents are divorced and both remarried, there could be 8 grandparents in the family and we did have someone a few years ago who had 3 grannies pop off in an alarming short space of time !
It's difficult to be rigid re time off v relationships. Normally immediate family (spouses, children, siblings etc) would expect to attract more. But who's to say that you aren't your Uncle's next of kin, that you'd have to make the funeral arrangements, do all the admin , clear the house etc... should you therefore get less because it's your uncle? I think it needs to be based on the individual's relationship with the deceased.
Also, depends on where the funeral is. You live and work for an employer in Scotland and your uncle's funeral is in Cornwall - one day wouldn't be any good as you need time to travel there and back. But your sister who lives in Cornwall and works in the Cornish branch of the same employer might be entitled to less as travelling time wouldn't be an issue with her.
I think there needs to be a maximum limit but it's difficult to be hard and fast where there are so many variables to take into account.
It is a very sensitive issue, but the question is how would you like to be treated if it was your parent or child who had died ?
Sometimes as an employer you have to take the fair and balanced option, and it does create goodwill among the staff who then would be more likely to go the extra mile when we are extremely busy in the future.
Its quite tricky in the indian culture as cousins, uncles, etc are all considered directly related and you are expect to attend arrangements for several days. But I accept that would have to be either unpaid or annual vacation.
However, the key, in my experience, is not so much the amount of 'extra' paid leave that the bereaved is allowed, but to be flexible with unpaid leave and/or annual leave when the situation arises - i.e to be understanding about the amount of time people need, rather than the money.
I was offered four days - but only took one.
To be honest, he wanted to get back to work as it took his mind off things.
For both my grandparents funerals I took annual leave, it never even occurred to me that I might get or be entitled to compassionate leave.