Bereavement Leave

[simonw]

My Father passed away on Saturday morning, I was just about to leave on my 2.5 hr journey to see him, when we got the call to say he had passed away 10 mins earlier. He'd fought a short battle with cancer, diagnosed just before Christmas.

 

I emailed my SMT's (I work PT TT in 2 schools, 31 hrs total) asking to be advised of my bereavement leave. Both have been really good and said take what time I need, but at the same time haven't been able to confirm how much time I'm allowed to take.

 

Does anyone know what entitlement is typical?

 

Thank you.

Simon

[HarryMonkey]

Sorry to hear your news. It's 5 days here. Make sure you take your full entitlement. You'll need it.

 

EDIT: I forgot to add, that's 5 days paid leave.

Edited February 6, 2017 by HarryMonkey

[Boredguy]

It appears we are entitled to 2 days unpaid for a domestic incident (which a berevement of a dependant comes under).

 

Under our previous Head, I got a week off when I had to travel up to Scotland to deal with my grandmothers death since I was the executor (and it was a bit hard to talk to the undertakers and get all the certificates processed via phone)

[pcstru]

My condolences.

 

"Typical" very difficult to say - a few days; one or two for a reasonably close relative, 3-5 for a dependant. It can and does vary wildy and is largely at the discretion of the employer. Most try to have a policy to get some consistency so worth checking. It's also something that affects people very differently so some people need more time than others.

[elsiegee40]

My condolences.

 

"Typical" very difficult to say - a few days; one or two for a reasonably close relative, 3-5 for a dependant. It can and does vary wildy and is largely at the discretion of the employer. Most try to have a policy to get some consistency so worth checking. It's also something that affects people very differently so some people need more time than others.

 

My condolences too. As pcstru suggests there is no legal basis, but most employers take a pragmatic approach to compassionate leave. You may have it laid out in your staff handbook or contract . Beyond what is there, it will be at the discretion of your employer.

[pcstru]

My condolences too. As pcstru suggests there is no legal basis,

That's not quite correct. There is a statutory right to reasonable amount of unpaid time off under the Employment Rights Act to allow people to deal with unforeseen matters and emergencies involving a dependant. The slight difficulty is what is "reasonable". Many employers do better than that and have policies which allow paid time off up to a point (usually a few days) after which time can be taken unpaid. I think the thing to do is talk with your manager/employer and agree what time you need and then how much of that would be paid. If you need two weeks off unpaid, they really should not be objecting; how people react to loss varies wildy so some people might even need longer while others turn up for work after a half day off for the funeral.

[witch]

Sorry to hear about your dad.

My LA has the amount of leave stated in the contract. It is something awful like 2 days. But don't worry, if the schools are happy then that should be fine