What is Compassionate Leave?
Compassionate leave is a specific type of paid absence offered to employees dealing with a sudden, significant personal event.
The purpose of compassionate leave is to give the affected employee some breathing space to process what’s happened, focus on family, and take care of any urgent matters without the additional stress of work.
Fundamentally, compassionate leave recognises that people are human beings first and employees second. Difficult moments rarely happen at a “convenient” time, and when they do, the way your business responds speaks volumes about your culture.
What counts as compassionate leave?
There are no set guidelines on the types of events or circumstances that can count as compassionate leave. In fact, companies are not even legally required to provide compassionate leave—but most do, recognising that difficult personal situations can impact an employee’s ability to work (and it’s the right thing to do).
The companies that do offer compassionate leave typically have a clear policy outlining what qualifies as compassionate leave. While those policies can vary, the most common scenarios where compassionate leave is given include:
The death of a close family member
Serious illness or injury of a dependent
Caring responsibilities or emergencies
The emotional or psychological impact of a traumatic event
The amount of time given, and whether that time is paid, depends on the organisation’s compassionate leave policy, the nature of the situation, and the discretion of managers/HR.
How compassionate leave differs from other types of leave
Compassionate leave is distinct from other types of leave because it’s specifically intended for urgent and sensitive personal situations. Sometimes, this can overlap with other types of leave, such as:
Bereavement leave, which is specific to grieving the loss of a loved one and often has its own terms in a company policy.
Parental bereavement leave, which is the legal right for parents to take paid time off following the death of a child.
Emergencies involving dependants, which is the legal right to respond to an emergency involving a dependant.
Carer’s leave, which is the legal right to take unpaid, planned time off to care for a dependent with a long-term health need.
While some scenarios are covered under UK law, many situations are at the employer’s discretion. In practice, compassionate leave is a flexible type of leave that can apply to a wide range of planned and unplanned situations, with the length of leave and pay depending on the organisation’s policy.
What are employers in the UK legally required to offer?
In the UK, compassionate leave isn’t a single, clearly defined legal entitlement. Instead, the rules are spread across different pieces of legislation, and much of the detail is left up to employers to address in company policies.
For example, under the Employment Rights Act 1996, employees have the right to take “reasonable” unpaid time off to manage an emergency involving a dependant. However, some companies go beyond the legal requirement and offer this type of paid leave as a benefit.
To sum it up, there is no statutory requirement for employers to offer paid compassionate leave in the UK. That means it’s up to each business to decide if and how they provide it.
Why it’s worth offering paid compassionate leave
While the law sets a minimum baseline for different types of leave (such as parental bereavement leave or carer’s leave), it’s normal for businesses to go beyond what’s legally required.
Offering paid compassionate leave says a lot about your organisation’s values, and over time, can help:
Strengthen team morale
Foster psychological safety within your organisation
Cultivate a culture of kindness and empathy
Reduce presenteeism and long-term absenteeism
Drive employee loyalty
Boost your reputation as an employer
Offering paid compassionate leave certainly comes with its short-term costs, but the long-term gains in engagement, productivity, and retention can far exceed that investment.
Practical advice for handling compassionate leave
Even small teams can navigate compassionate leave, but there has to be a clear and well-considered policy in place. Here are three practical tips for handling compassionate leave in your organisation.
1. Set clear, thoughtful policies.
A compassionate leave policy doesn’t need to be long or complex. It just needs to be written in writing and applied consistently throughout your organisation.
When drafting your policy with your HR partner, make sure to clarify the following points:
What is compassionate leave in your business? What is its role?
What situations qualify for compassionate leave?
Will compassionate leave be paid or unpaid?
How much leave is typically offered?
What is the process for making requests for compassionate leave?
It’s also a good idea to outline how managers should handle requests that fall outside the typical criteria. Building in some flexibility allows you to respond to unexpected or sensitive situations with empathy, while still setting out clear expectations for everyone.
2. Train managers to respond with care and clarity.
Line managers are often the first point of contact when someone reaches out to request compassionate leave. How managers handle this conversation can set the tone for the entire experience, and it’s important they know how to:
Listen with empathy
Refrain from unnecessary questioning
Explain the next steps clearly
Maintain confidentiality
By giving managers training on both the human and procedural sides of compassionate leave, you empower them to provide support that feels personal, consistent, and fair.
3. Plan for the practicalities.
The nature of compassionate leave is that it happens unexpectedly and at short notice. This can have a ripple effect on teams, so it’s important to have a plan in place for managing workloads.
A few proactive measures you can take include:
Keeping key process documentation up to date
Identifying how essential tasks will be covered and who will cover them
Reallocating duties temporarily to avoid overloading one person
Cross-training employees across teams and departments
Open communication is key here, both with the employee taking leave and the wider team, so everyone understands the arrangements and can work together to support each other.
Final thoughts
How you handle compassionate leave is a reflection of your values as a business.
A clear, consistent policy lets everyone know where they stand, giving line managers a solid framework for responding to urgent requests when needed. The empathy behind the policy also helps foster a culture of kindness, mutual respect, and trust.
Need help creating a compassionate leave policy that works for your business?
Get in touch, and we can help you create a compassionate, people-first approach that aligns with UK employment law.