For rules and policies surrounding planned leave read:
In situations where absence is not planned, employees are entitled to reasonable time off to deal with emergencies involving dependants (eg child, grandchild, parent, partner or spouse etc). Emergencies include:
- illness, injury or assault (eg dependant is involved in an accident)
- having a baby (eg a dependant unexpectedly goes into labour)
- disruption of care arrangements (eg childminder is off sick)
- a child involved in an incident at school (eg suspended due to fighting)
Employers are not obliged to pay employees in respect of emergency time off, subject to the employment contract or policies on compassionate leave.
Employees are also entitled to time off for bereavement (eg to attend a funeral). Employers should have a Bereavement leave policy in place to cover these circumstances.
In some circumstances, such bereavement leave may need to be paid. Parents are entitled to take up to two weeks off where they have lost a child under 18 (or where a child was stillborn after 24 weeks’ pregnancy), on or after 6 of April 2020, to allow them time to grieve. Parental bereavement leave can be paid or unpaid. Unpaid bereavement leave applies to parents from the first day they work for their employer. Paid parental bereavement becomes available to qualifying parents after 26 weeks of continuous employment. For more information, read Parental bereavement leave.