Bereavement Leave

The issue of bereavement leavehas been very much in the news of late.

There is currently nostatutory entitlement to bereavement leave. Bereavement leaveis usually dictated by a short reference to entitlement in a policyor procedure or is at the gift of the employer usually a day off toattend a funeral and a couple of days to deal with the death of adependant supplemented by either a sick note or the bereavedemployee's annual holiday entitlement.

It is recognised that two orthree days may be insufficient although, a proposal for newlegislation embodying a statutory right to bereavement leave willno longer progress and will instead be replaced by new guidanceprepared by ACAS. The guidance is expected to be published bysummer 2014 and will, it is anticipated, promote a flexibleapproach by employers towards this highly emotivesubject.

This article is for general guidance only. It provides useful information in a concise form. Action should not be taken without obtaining specific legal advice.