Bereavement leave followng death of a pet

Well the thing I learned from this is that you're not legally entitled to time off for a bereavement at all unless it's a dependent. It's entirely at the discretion of the employer.

Given that, I think it's a good idea to simply publicize the name of this sandwich shop and let their customers be the judge.

Ignoring the bereavement angle, an employer who was doing no more than they are legally required to do could technically make you choose between bringing your dog to the vet in an emergency and keeping your job. Thankfully most employers aren't that callous, but it just shows how poor the legal protections are in this area.

It'd be interesting to see if you could sign yourself off sick citing stress as a result of grief though. In the UK you do have the right to take sick leave without a doctor's note for up to 7 days, but you do need to provide a reason. The problem with anything related to mental health is that it's not taken seriously by a lot of people.

Anyway, they've only just introduced a law to allow people who's kids have died 2 weeks off to grieve, so I think dogs are going to be a long way down the list (well actually it doesn't come into effect until 2020).
 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-49346408

This is likely to get those who think there is a "snowflake" generation howling in an apoplexic rage but is there a case to be made here? Personally think the lady should have just rung in sick but a bit of compassion from her employer wouldn't have gone amiss.
This.

My dog died after being run over. I couldn't go in because I was in shock. My manager who also has dogs understood and gave me comp leave. Personally I went back the next day. The shock had subsided but the grief was still there.
 
If I was an employer, I would tell my staff to take the day off and get themselves sorted, I've lost a few dogs over the years and its traumatic if they have been part of the family for years..! Making someone come into work and not be productive because they are grieving makes less sense all round as their colleagues will also rally round and stop doing their work..! Lose Lose for the employer..!
 
The girl was sick with grief which is perfectly understandable. A living thing that she has known all her life is gone. I would imagine that had she just said she was sick she might have got more sympathy from the employer (or maybe not). In my mind she was in an unsafe state to work - even in a sandwich shop - if her mind was elsewhere.

My only fear with people changing the law is that people would abuse it. Maybe it should just be left with the "stress" label for now.
 

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