UK employment law has no general statutory right called "compassionate leave". The term usually means paid or unpaid time off that an employer grants when someone close to an employee dies or is seriously ill, and the amount is whatever the contract or staff handbook says. Underneath that, two statutory rights apply. Every employee may take a reasonable amount of time off for dependants, including to deal with the death of a dependant, but the employer does not have to pay for it. A parent whose child dies under 18, or is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy, is entitled to 2 weeks' Parental Bereavement Leave from day one of employment. If they meet the qualifying conditions, they also receive Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay of £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, for 2026/27.
Compassionate leave and the statutory rights compared
| Compassionate leave | Time off for dependants | Parental Bereavement Leave | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Source | Contract or policy | Section 57A, Employment Rights Act 1996 | Section 80EA, Employment Rights Act 1996, and 2020 regulations |
| Who | As the policy defines | All employees, from day one | Bereaved parents and parents' partners, from day one |
| How long | As the policy defines | A reasonable amount | 1 or 2 weeks per child |
| Paid? | As the policy defines | No statutory pay | Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay, if eligible |
GOV.UK says that where time off for dependants is not given, the employer "may allow you 'compassionate leave'", paid or unpaid, and that the contract, handbook or intranet will set out the details. Compassionate leave is therefore an employer benefit sitting on top of the statutory minimum.
Time off for dependants after a death
Section 57A gives an employee the right to a reasonable amount of time off during working hours to take action that is necessary for any of these reasons:
- Illness or injury. To help when a dependant falls ill, gives birth, or is injured or assaulted;
- Care arrangements. To arrange care for a dependant who is ill or injured;
- Death. To deal with the consequences of the death of a dependant;
- Disrupted care. To deal with the unexpected disruption or ending of care arrangements;
- School incidents. To deal with an unexpected incident involving the employee's child during school hours.
A dependant is a spouse or civil partner, a child, a parent, or someone who lives in the same household other than as an employee, tenant, lodger or boarder. The employee must tell the employer the reason for the absence, and how long they expect to be away, as soon as reasonably practicable. GOV.UK confirms that this notice does not need to be in writing or supported by proof.
"Reasonable" is not defined. GOV.UK says there is no set amount of time because it depends on the situation, and the right is limited to action that is necessary. It is unpaid unless the contract says otherwise, and that gap is where a compassionate leave policy does most of its work. An employer must not refuse reasonable time off, treat the employee unfairly or select them for redundancy because they took it.
Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay
An employee whose child dies before turning 18, or who has a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy, can take 2 weeks of leave for each child. The leave can be taken as a single block of 2 weeks, two separate weeks, or one week only. It must be taken within 56 weeks of the death or stillbirth.
- Notice within 8 weeks of the death. Before the employee would normally start work on the first day of the leave. A phone call, text or email is enough;
- Notice from week 9 to week 56. At least one week before the leave starts;
- Proof. The employee does not need to provide proof of the death or stillbirth for the leave;
- Pay eligibility. 26 weeks' continuous employment by the end of the week before the death, still employed on the date of death, and average earnings of at least £129 a week;
- Pay claim. Within 28 days of the first day of the week being claimed, giving the employee's name and the date of death, with a one-off written declaration of their relationship to the child.
Worked example
An employee earning £400 a week takes 2 weeks' Parental Bereavement Leave. 90% of £400 is £360, so the lower rate of £194.32 applies. The employee receives £388.64 of Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay through payroll, taxed as normal. The employer can usually reclaim 92% of that, which is £357.55, or 109% under Small Employers' Relief. Many employers top up to full pay under their compassionate leave policy, and that top-up is ordinary pay that cannot be reclaimed.
What the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes
The Employment Rights Act 2025 amends section 80EA to require regulations giving a wider right to bereavement leave. It will cover employees who meet conditions about their relationship with any person who has died, and those affected by a pregnancy loss of a specified kind. The Act requires at least 2 weeks where the person who died was a child and at least one week in other cases. These amendments are in force only for the purpose of making the regulations. Until those regulations take effect, the operative statutory rights are the two described above, so employers should watch for the commencement date before changing their policies.
A compassionate leave policy checklist
- Eligibility. Which relationships qualify, for example partner, child, parent, sibling, grandparent and anyone the employee cared for;
- Entitlement. Days per bereavement, and whether managers have discretion to extend them;
- Pay. Full pay, a set number of paid days, or unpaid, and how this interacts with statutory bereavement pay;
- Other situations. Serious illness of a relative, and pregnancy loss before 24 weeks;
- Process. Who to tell, and confirmation that no paperwork is needed at the time;
- Return. A phased return, annual leave or unpaid leave if more time is needed, and access to support such as an employee assistance programme;
- Payroll coding. Separate pay elements for statutory bereavement pay and company compassionate pay.
Sources: GOV.UK guidance on time off for dependants, Parental Bereavement Pay and Leave and the employer guide; sections 57A and 80EA of the Employment Rights Act 1996; and regulation 20 of the Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (General) Regulations 2020. For other family pay, see our guide to statutory maternity pay.
Acumon processes statutory bereavement pay, company top-ups and HMRC recovery as part of payroll management. If you are drafting or updating a leave policy, our outsourced payroll team can check it works in the payroll system before it goes live.