Compassionate leave in the UK is a mix of statutory rights and contractual extras. Every employee has a day-one legal right to take a reasonable amount of unpaid time off to deal with an emergency involving a dependant, and separate statutes give paid leave to parents who lose a child or whose newborn is admitted to neonatal care. Anything beyond those minimums, including paid time off for a bereavement in the wider family, depends on your employment contract and your employer’s own policy.
Emergency Time Off for a Dependant
Section 57A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 lets you take a reasonable amount of time off during working hours when something unexpected happens to a dependant. It covers a dependant falling ill, being injured, or being assaulted; arranging care for them; dealing with their death; sorting out an unexpected breakdown in childcare; and responding to an incident involving your child at school.1Legislation.gov.uk. Employment Rights Act 1996 – Section 57A
This is a day-one right. You do not need any minimum length of service to use it, and there is no set cap on how often you can call on it during the year, provided each absence is genuinely unforeseen.2Acas. Time Off for Dependants A planned hospital appointment or a scheduled school event will not qualify.
Who Counts as a Dependant
A dependant means your spouse or civil partner, your child, your parent, or someone who lives in your household who is not simply an employee, tenant, lodger, or boarder.1Legislation.gov.uk. Employment Rights Act 1996 – Section 57A For illness and injury situations only, the definition widens to include anyone who reasonably relies on you for help, such as an elderly neighbour you regularly check on, even if they do not live with you.
How Much Time Is Reasonable
The statute does not fix a number of days. Reasonableness depends on the situation. A day or two to arrange emergency childcare after a school closure is different from the time needed to organise a funeral and handle immediate affairs after a death. Acas advises employers to be as flexible as they can, depending on the employee’s circumstances.2Acas. Time Off for Dependants
The leave is designed to cover the immediate crisis, not long-term caregiving. Taking a day to get a parent to hospital and arrange follow-up care fits within the right. Taking three weeks off to nurse them back to health does not. For longer absences, employees typically rely on annual leave, a contractual compassionate leave policy, or a negotiated unpaid absence.
Will You Be Paid
There is no statutory right to be paid for time off under Section 57A. Your employer may pay you, but the law does not require it.3GOV.UK. Time Off for Family and Dependants Whether you receive your normal wages depends on your contract or your company’s internal policy.
Many employers do offer paid compassionate leave, often three to five days for the death of an immediate family member. Others provide nothing beyond the unpaid statutory minimum. Check your contract, staff handbook, or company intranet before you need it. If the contract is silent, the default is that the time off is unpaid.2Acas. Time Off for Dependants Some employees use accrued annual leave to keep their income running during a longer absence.
Losing a Child: Jack’s Law
Parents who lose a child have a more generous statutory entitlement introduced in 2020. Known informally as Jack’s Law, the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act 2018 gives eligible employees up to two weeks of leave when a child under 18 dies, when a baby dies shortly after birth, or following a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy.4GOV.UK. Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Leave – Overview
The leave itself is a day-one right. You can take the two weeks as a single block or as two separate weeks, and you have up to 56 weeks from the child’s death to use it. Eligibility extends beyond birth parents to adoptive parents, intended parents in surrogacy arrangements, and partners who lived with the child in an enduring family relationship.
Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay is available on top of the leave. From 6 April 2026, the rate is £194.32 per week or 90 percent of your average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. To qualify for the pay element you must have been continuously employed for at least 26 weeks and earn above the lower earnings limit, and you need to request the pay within 28 days of taking your leave. During the leave you continue to accrue holiday, benefit from any pay rises, and retain the right to return to your job.4GOV.UK. Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Leave – Overview
Neonatal Care Leave
Since 6 April 2025, parents whose newborn spends time in neonatal care have a dedicated statutory entitlement that sits alongside the compassionate leave framework. If a baby is admitted to neonatal care within 28 days of birth and stays for at least seven consecutive days, each parent can take up to 12 weeks of Neonatal Care Leave. It is a day-one right with no minimum service requirement, and the leave must be taken within 68 weeks of the birth. It runs on top of existing maternity and paternity leave rather than replacing them.5GOV.UK. Statutory Neonatal Care Pay and Leave – Employer Guide
If Your Employer Refuses or Punishes You
If your employer unreasonably refuses to let you take time off under Section 57A, you can bring a complaint to an employment tribunal. The complaint must be filed within three months of the refusal, and the tribunal can order compensation based on what it considers just and equitable, taking into account the employer’s failure and any financial loss you suffered.6Legislation.gov.uk. Employment Rights Act 1996 – Section 57B
Being dismissed or selected for redundancy because you took or asked to take time off for dependants counts as automatically unfair dismissal under Section 99 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.7Legislation.gov.uk. Employment Rights Act 1996 – Section 99 Automatically unfair means the usual two-year qualifying period does not apply. You can challenge the dismissal from your first day of employment.2Acas. Time Off for Dependants
How to Notify Your Employer
The statute sets the notification rules. Tell your employer the reason for your absence as soon as reasonably practicable, and give them an idea of how long you expect to be away. If the emergency is so sudden that you cannot notify them before you leave, do so as soon as you can afterwards.1Legislation.gov.uk. Employment Rights Act 1996 – Section 57A
A phone call to your manager is the most practical first step. Follow it up with an email or a message through whatever system your workplace uses, so the request is on record. If the situation changes and you need more time than you first estimated, send an update rather than going silent. Most employers are reasonable when kept informed, and a written trail protects you if a dispute arises later. Before any crisis hits, check your staff handbook or HR policy so you already know what paid compassionate leave, if any, your employer offers on top of the statutory floor.