Bereavement: ACAS guidance on managing bereavement

ACAS has published new guidance for employers on managing bereavement in the workplace available here.

There have been calls for the Government to introduce new laws to allow bereaved parents five days’ bereavement leave. However, the Government said this was not ‘feasible’. This guidance is the alternative, offering a more flexible approach to the issue of employees’ bereavement.

The ACAS guide details the existing statutory entitlements for bereaved employees and offers best practice guidance which employers should follow when an employee suffers bereavement. ACAS has annexed a draft bereavement policy to the guidance which deals with a wide range of situations which may arise in this area. It suggests, for example, that employees could return to work on a phased basis in some circumstances and, when family bereavement has occurred during annual leave, the employee should be able to take that annual leave at a future date.