As noted earlier, bereavement leave is a type of leave provided any employee who loses a loved one, typically a close relative. This is granted so that employees have time to mourn and make the appropriate arrangements.
The tricky part is that there is no statutory bereavement leave in the UK, though most employers choose to grant it.
Because there is no set law governing bereavement leave, the current rules are a hodge-podge of various applicable laws.
The most significant is the Employment Rights Act of 1996, which grants employees the right to take time off to deal with an emergency situation.
This employment law defines an "emergency situation" as any emergency involving the death of a dependent. However, it does not clarify how much time can be taken off for a dependent. The law simply states that the leave entitlements should be 'reasonable'.
It does not, however, grant any statutory right to be paid for bereavement leave. Many employers still elect to do this out of respect for the grieving, though they are not obligated to do so.
In 2020, the U.K. passed Jack's Law for working parents, the first law granting parental bereavement leave in the world.
Under the new law, working parents who lose a dependent child under the age of 18 will receive two weeks of statutory bereavement leave to allow them time to grieve. The time off for dependents can be a block of two weeks or two separate weeks taken across the year following the child's death.
This allows working bereaved parents to allocate their time off for the moments they need it most.
The new law makes the UK one of the few countries in the world to offer statutory bereavement leave. In addition, it is the only country in the world to offer two complete weeks. The law came into effect on 6 April 2020.
In addition, the new UK law extends to miscarriages and stillbirths. This is vital for couples.
If your baby is born dead before 24 weeks of pregnancy, it is legally considered a miscarriage. But, it is considered a stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy. This is a critical distinction because a miscarriage does not grant you rights to maternity, paternity, or shared parental leave.
If your baby was stillborn, you are still entitled to all of your maternity rights. This also applies to when the baby was born alive and later died (even one second later). This means you can get up to 52 weeks of statutory maternity leave or parental bereavement pay.
That said, employers may still offer time off even if you had a miscarriage. This would be part of your ordinary sick leave, not maternity or paternity leave.
While bereavement leave is loosely defined outside of parental leave, it is still vital for employers to offer it. Here are a few reasons why.
For one thing, offering bereavement leave shows that you're an empathetic employer.
A 2018 State of Workplace Empathy Study by Businessolver found that 96% of employees surveyed believed it was important for their employers to demonstrate empathy.
In addition, 80% of employees, HR professionals, and CEOs agreed that an empathetic workplace has a positive impact on business performance. It also affects motivating workers and increasing productivity.
The reason is simple. When you feel that your workplace cares for you, you're more likely to care in return. You tend to feel motivated to show that their care and consideration is well-placed.
Considering almost all employees value empathy, it should come as no surprise that an empathetic workplace leads to loyalty.
In fact, 93% of employees said they're more likely to stay with an empathetic employer.
A bereavement leave policy shows that you care about your employees. More than that, you're offering them support in the moments when it matters the most.
There’s no doubt an empathetic workplace will impact company culture positively. In the company’s efforts to provide a better work-life balance, bereavement leave should not be disregarded.
Positive workplace cultures have long been shown to be more productive. They're also one of the best ways to attract (and keep) the best talent.
While Western culture encourages us to grieve quickly, attend a funeral, and quietly return to work ASAP, the reality is different. Encouraging needed time off work is essential to cultivating a healthy work environment. It's vital to combat presenteeism, which is when employees burn out because they feel they can't take time off. When dealing with a major life event like the loss of a loved one, that time off is essential to processing the loss and slowly returning to ordinary life.
However, because the law does not protect an employee’s right to bereavement leave, it’s important to have a clear policy in place.
With that in mind, it's important to implement your bereavement leave policy strategically. Everyone grieves differently, so your terms and conditions may serve as more of a guideline than a strict rule.
Here are a few tips to help craft your policy from the ground up.
One essential element of your leave policy is to define the amount of paid leave.
In this case, it's important to set a guideline and stay flexible. Remember, not everyone grieves the same way--some people grieve immediately, while others take weeks before they need time off to process their grief.
With that in mind, implement your policy and be prepared to talk to bereaved employees when the situation arises. Make adjustments depending on the relationship between the employee and the passing person.
On a similar note, it's also important to define who is considered "family" under your bereavement policy. In addition, what bereavement leave is granted based on the family member in question.
Keep in mind that people may have different responsibilities depending on who passed away. A devastating loss to one person may be less devastating to someone else--it depends on the relationship.
Define who is considered family and consider making adjustments in the case of friendships or pets. Everyone's family is different, and these losses can be just as devastating as losses in the nuclear family.
Once you have your policy, you're ready to share it with your employees. The best way to do this is to write an employee handbook and share it on a resources database.
Consider creating a time off policy for bereavement leave that includes the full amount of time off allowance and define which employees are entitled to it. By working with a time-off manager like kiwiHR, the bereavement leave policy will be clear for everyone.
However, keep in mind that by law, an employee has the right to keep their bereavement private from work colleagues. While everyone needs to know your policy, that does not mean that all employees have a right to know when someone is using bereavement leave.
If you’re using a shared company calendar like kiwiHR, you can set the bereavement leave to be displayed simply as “out of office” under the time off policy settings. By using a GDPR compliant HR system, you will be respecting your employees’ privacy.