Am I entitled to time off for my father-in-law's funeral? I work full time. Colleagues have told me I am only entitled to compassionate leave if it is for immediate 'blood' family.
(MH, 3 February 2009)
A.
Sorry to hear about the death of your father-in-law. These things can never come at a good time but it makes the situation easier to cope with if you have a supportive employer.
There is some legislation in place that allow employees to take unpaid time off for Compassionate Leave but unless they are a direct relative it can be uncertain whether you are entitled to it.
What your colleagues are referring to is ‘time off for dependants’, which is also counted as compassionate leave. A dependant is defined as someone who relies on you for their care or lives in your home with you. There is a grey area around elderly relatives but unless your father-in-law lived with you or you were responsible for his everyday care, he doesn’t strictly count as a dependant.
Most employers are reasonable about the need for compassionate leave and will allow you take a necessary amount of unpaid time off. After all, we cannot predict these things and everybody is faced with emergencies or deaths at some point in their working life.
However, unless the person is a dependant then they are not required to do so by law. The first thing to do is to check your Contract Of Employment as this should lay out your company’s policy on compassionate leave. If they say that compassionate leave is available, then they must stick to this promise when the situation arises.
If your contract doesn’t lay out the policy for compassionate leave, or it looks like your situation is not covered, then approach your employer. Tell them the situation and the time that you need to take off and hopefully, as long as it is a reasonable request, they will agree.
It is only compulsory to give employees time off for dependants but as your father-in-law is obviously a legitimate loss, your employer should be willing to offer compassionate leave. Unfortunately, unless it is written in your contract, there are no guarantees that leave will be granted but if not, then you can still use your holiday allowance to take days off as needed.
I am sorry to hear about your loss.As an employer in a small struggling business (ie like many other employers) I am afraid I have to say that I cannot afford for people to take days off at my expense: the holiday allowance is not just there to cover days in the sun but also other unexpected contingencies. What logic is it that says an employer should allow you to have paid time off because you've had bad news?As for getting a Doctor's note that's just dishonest: if you are genuinely ill stay in bed. Otherwise either take holiday or ask if you can take unpaid leave. In addition to paying you for the extra days PLUS your holiday allowance I need to pay for someone else to cover for you OR I need to ask your collegues to work harder or longer to cover for you
Evil employer - 10 January 2012 @ 3:46 PM
My friend lost her mum two weeks ago. She had just started her holiday leave for 2 weeks - a holiday she did not go on as her mum died on the 2nd day of leave. She was due to return to work yesterday but due to her feeling still upset she has been signed off by her doc for 3 weeks. She was not planning to take the 3 weeks as she knows that she needs to cover the office of other members of staff so they can go on their hoildays. Her employer has now hand delivered a letter asking her to attend a meeting in a few days. She can take somone with her, but if she didn't attend then the meeting will still go ahead. My friend is now feeling she has not only lost her mum but is now going to lose her job. Has she gone about this the right way? Should she have asked for compassionate leave and not sickness? I must add that she is still on her 3 month trial for the job. Can she fight for it? Or see it as sign that the company was not for her? Shame as she is a hard worker.
jaw - 5 August 2011 @ 11:44 AM
Same situation as my father has just passed away I have taken 5 days off and have arranged funeral on my day off as I feel pressured to do so which is difficult as I live up north and my dad lived down south, and I've also had to hand his flat back and arrange everything in less than a week cos I feel under pressure to do so. I feel as if I have no time to grieve unless I go to the doctors and say I'm depressed.
tudy - 8 June 2011 @ 10:23 PM
Do I get paid for compassionate leave and if so how many days?
