Compassionate Leave UK

Compassionate leave allows employees to take time off work during a personal crisis, whether that's a bereavement, a serious family illness, or another unexpected emergency.

What is compassionate leave in the UK?

Compassionate leave is time off work granted to an employee to deal with a distressing personal situation, most commonly the death of a family member or close friend, or a serious illness affecting someone they care for. There is no single statutory right to compassionate leave in the UK. What you're entitled to depends on your employer's policy, your employment contract, and which specific type of leave applies to your situation.

Compassionate leave is often used interchangeably with bereavement leave, but the two are slightly different. Bereavement leave specifically covers the death of someone close, while compassionate leave is a broader term that can include caring for a seriously ill family member or responding to other personal emergencies.

Is compassionate leave paid in the UK?

Whether compassionate leave is paid depends entirely on the employer. There is no legal requirement to pay employees for compassionate leave (parental bereavement is the exception, see below). Many employers offer paid compassionate leave as part of their policy, typically between two and five days for the death of a close family member. Others provide unpaid leave, or allow employees to use their annual leave entitlement.

If an employee's contract or staff handbook states that compassionate leave is paid, the employer is generally bound by that. Where it is described as a discretionary right, the employer has more flexibility to decide on a case-by-case basis.

How long is compassionate leave in the UK?

The duration of compassionate leave is not set by law, but most UK employers follow these general guidelines:

What counts as immediate family for compassionate leave?

Most compassionate leave policies define immediate family to include: a spouse or civil partner, a parent, a child, a sibling, a grandparent, or a person who lives in the same household. Some employers extend this to step-relatives, in-laws, and grandchildren.

The question of grandparents causes particular confusion. Grandparents are not always classified as immediate family in employment policies, which means some employers may only offer one or two days rather than the full bereavement leave amount. It's worth checking your employer's policy or staff handbook for the specific definition they use.

The statutory bereavement leave planned for April 2027 does not settle the grandparent question either. In its September 2026 response, the government listed the relationships that will qualify: a spouse, civil partner or partner (living together or not), parents, adult children and siblings, including adopted, step and half relations, plus equivalent parental relationships for people raised in kinship or foster care. Grandparents, grandchildren, in-laws, aunts and uncles are not on that list, so leave for the death of a grandmother or a father-in-law stays a matter for your own policy.

There is no legal definition of "immediate family" for the purposes of compassionate leave: it comes down to what your contract or your employer's policy says.

Types of leave for bereavement and family emergencies

UK law provides several distinct types of leave that may apply when an employee is dealing with a bereavement or family emergency. Most of them are special leave categories that sit apart from standard paid time off, and some of them can be used together.

• Compassionate leave The most common term used by employers for bereavement or personal crisis leave. As a form of leave of absence from work, it is usually paid, at the employer's discretion, and the amount varies by company policy. There is no statutory minimum.

• Time off for dependants Under section 57A of the Employment Rights Act 1996, all employees have the right to take a reasonable amount of unpaid time off to deal with emergencies involving a dependant. A dependant is someone who relies on you; typically a spouse, civil partner, child, parent, or someone who lives in your household. This right covers unexpected situations: a dependant falls seriously ill, is injured, or dies and sits alongside other specific rights such as carer’s leave to look after dependants. It does not apply to situations you knew about in advance (for example, a planned hospital appointment). There is no set limit on how often you can use this right, but it is unpaid and intended for short-term emergencies only.

• Parental bereavement leave This is the only type of bereavement-related leave with a statutory right to paid time off (see below for details), separate from more general sick leave entitlements for illness or injury.

The law on parental bereavement leave

Since April 2020, employees in the UK have had a legal right to parental bereavement leave following the death of a child. This is the only area where UK law provides a specific, paid bereavement entitlement.

• Who qualifies: parents whose child dies under the age of 18, or who have a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy. That includes biological and adoptive parents, intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement, the partner of a parent, and people who had day-to-day responsibility for the child, such as foster parents paid by a local authority. In Northern Ireland the right has also covered miscarriage before 24 weeks since 6 April 2026, under the Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay (Miscarriage) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026. In England, Scotland and Wales it does not.

• How much leave: two weeks per child, taken as one two-week block, as two separate weeks or as a single week. A week means the employee's own working week: two days for someone who only works Mondays and Tuesdays. The leave has to finish within 56 weeks of the death or stillbirth.

• Notice: in the first eight weeks, the employee only has to tell you before they would normally start work on the first day off, and a phone call, voicemail, text or email is enough. After eight weeks they give at least one week's notice. They do not have to give proof of the death.

• Pay: Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay is £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower (the rate since 6 April 2026). To get it, the employee needs 26 weeks' continuous employment by the end of the week before the death and average earnings of at least £129 a week. The leave is a day-one right; the pay is not.

A worked example from retail. A sales assistant earns £300 a week on average. 90% of that is £270, which is more than £194.32, so she receives £194.32 for each week of leave. Her colleague works part-time and averages £160 a week: 90% is £144, so he receives £144 a week. A third colleague who averages £120 a week is below the £129 threshold and takes the leave unpaid.

What's changing: statutory bereavement leave from April 2027

The Employment Rights Act 2025, which received Royal Assent in December 2025, creates a day-one right to unpaid bereavement leave for employees who lose a loved one, including pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. The detail comes in regulations. After a consultation that closed on 15 January 2026 with more than 1,900 responses, the government published its decisions on 22 September 2026, and its implementation timeline (updated 22 October 2026) puts the start in April 2027, subject to parliamentary processes. At the end of October 2026 the regulations had not yet been made.

What the government has decided:

• Who qualifies: employees whose spouse, civil partner or partner (living together or not), parent, adult child or sibling dies, including adopted, step and half relations, and equivalent parental relationships for people raised in kinship or foster care.

• Pregnancy loss: all types of loss before 24 weeks, including miscarriage, termination and IVF embryo transfer loss. The person who was pregnant can take the leave, and so can their spouse or partner, the other parent, an intended co-parent and intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement.

• How much: up to two weeks, based on the employee's average working pattern, taken in single days if they prefer, within 56 weeks of the death or of learning about it.

• Notice and evidence: in the first eight weeks, notice before work starts on the day, or as soon as reasonably possible after; one week's notice after that. Any form of notice counts, and employees will not have to provide evidence of the death.

• Pay: none by law. The leave is unpaid; paying for it, or offering more of it, stays your choice.

Until the regulations take effect, compassionate leave for anyone other than a child remains a matter of employer policy. The new right sets a floor. Many employers already give paid compassionate leave, which stays the more generous offer.

Bereaved Partner's Paternity Leave

Since 6 April 2026, a father or partner in England, Scotland or Wales whose partner dies within a year of their child's birth or adoption placement can take Bereaved Partner's Paternity Leave to care for the child. The leave is unpaid, a day-one right and taken in one continuous block, up to the child's first birthday or the first anniversary of the placement: at most 52 weeks. It can be taken before or after ordinary paternity leave and other parental leave, and the employee does not have to prove the death.

Can an employer refuse compassionate leave?

For general compassionate leave, yes; an employer can refuse a request if there is no contractual or policy entitlement. Compassionate leave (outside of parental bereavement and time off for dependants) is not a statutory right, so the decision rests with the employer.

However, there are limits. If your employment contract or staff handbook states that compassionate leave is available in certain circumstances, the employer must honour those terms. Where it is listed as a discretionary benefit, they have more room to decline but should do so consistently and fairly to avoid potential claims.

Refusing compassionate leave to someone experiencing a bereavement or serious family emergency, while routinely granting it to others in similar situations, could lead to disputes or tribunal claims based on inconsistent treatment.

Compassionate leave, sick leave and a fit note

Grief can make someone unfit for work. When it does, the absence is sickness absence: the employee self-certifies and then gets a fit note, as for any other illness, and Statutory Sick Pay applies on the usual terms. Once the paid compassionate days run out, an employee who is still unwell moves to sick leave rather than unpaid leave. Consultation responses asked the government to make clear that employers should not push someone who qualifies for sick pay onto unpaid bereavement leave, and guidance is promised alongside the new right. Keep the two apart in your records, so compassionate days never count towards absence triggers.

Compassionate leave on a shift rota: a worked example

Take a chef in a pub kitchen who works four shifts a week, Thursday to Sunday. Her father dies on a Monday.

• Today: she has the right to reasonable unpaid time off for dependants to deal with the death and arrange the funeral, because a parent counts as a dependant. Anything more, such as three paid days, comes from your compassionate leave policy.

• From April 2027, if the regulations take effect as planned: she can also take up to two weeks of unpaid bereavement leave based on her working pattern, so up to eight shifts. She might take four shifts straight away, one for the funeral two weeks later and one on the first anniversary, all within 56 weeks.

• If it is her father-in-law: no statutory bereavement leave, because in-laws are not on the list, and time off for dependants only applies if he lived with her or relied on her for care. Your policy decides.

For the manager, the hard part is the rota: four shifts at short notice in a kitchen, with Friday and Saturday to cover first. In Shiftbase the chef requests the leave in the app under the absence type you use for compassionate leave, you approve it with the schedule for those days next to it, and you can open her shifts so a colleague claims them. The leave stays visible in your absence management and separate from sick days in the reports.

How to build a compassionate leave policy

A clear compassionate leave policy, documented in your staff handbook, removes ambiguity for both managers and employees at an already difficult time. Align it closely with your broader employee attendance policy and procedures. Here's what to include:

• Who is covered: Define which relationships qualify and for how long, and how compassionate leave interacts with any personal leave entitlements you offer

• Whether leave is paid or unpaid: And whether annual leave in the UK can be used as an alternative

• How to request it: The process for notifying the HR department or line manager, and what necessary documentation (if any) may be required, tied into a clear system for managing time off requests fairly

• Flexibility provisions: Whether reduced hours or a phased return is available after a bereavement, and how this approach supports your efforts to understand and manage overall absence rates

• Discretionary cases: Acknowledge that some situations fall outside standard definitions (loss of a close friend, a pet or a grandparent) and will be handled on a case-by-case basis, while ensuring repeated or extended absences are addressed through fair attendance write‑up procedures

• Readiness for April 2027: check that the policy at least matches the statutory floor that is coming, with the qualifying relationships, up to two weeks in single days if needed, 56 weeks to take it, no evidence, and leave after a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks

The most effective policies balance structure with compassion. A manager who has a clear framework to work from is better placed to respond sensitively than one who has to make difficult calls without guidance.