Bereavement Leave definition
Time taken off work by employees, paid or unpaid, following the death of a relative or friend. Organisations differ in how generous they are with bereavement leave. Some will only allow a couple of days in order to make the necessary funeral arrangements, etc, while others will agree to several weeks off, particularly for close relatives such as parents and children.
In the UK, there are no statutory minimums with regard to bereavement leave and it’s entirely up to the employer as to how they handle the situation. It’s a very sensitive issue and hard to strike a balance because all relationships are unique (a close friend may be ‘like a father’) so basing the amount of bereavement leave provided on the relationship between the employee and the deceased is not ideal.
