How much time would you need to grieve? We have been looking into the length of time you are allowed from work with full pay in the UK.
Q. My company has said that I have to take holiday to go to a member of my immediate family’s funeral – I am disgusted. Can they do this?? I have never asked for time off before.
A. Can they? Yes. There is no statutory entitlement to such leave in the UK, though almost all public sector employers allow it so it is often taken as read that it IS statutory. Each employer will have its own policy on bereavement leave, and it sounds as if yours is one that does not permit outside of your holiday entitlement. But to answer your specific question, yes they are quite entitled to refuse to allow you to go unless you use annual leave.
We are currently supporting an e-petition to increase bereavement leave from 3 days to up to 12 weeks sign the petition here
show-your-support
Update*****
An article on Huffington has highlighted that in the US people only get 4 days leave surely this is not enough, does anyone know if there is a similar petition for the US?
