What is Compassionate Leave?

Compassionate Leave offers employees a form of paid leave to help them adjust to a crisis and to help alleviate some of the financial stress associated with this situation. An employee can take a compassionate leave under conditions like:

• Mourning: Taking some time to mourn the death of a close one.
• Personal emergencies: If an employee is dealing with an emergency, they can take a CL.
• Medical emergency: Employees can take time off when dealing with medical emergencies like seriously ill family members or accidents.

Compassionate leave policy

The compassionate leave policy differs across various countries, but most companies allow employees to take a few days off work in case of unforeseen circumstances. If you are developing a compassionate leave policy for your company, you need to highlight these things:

• Clearly define what type of life events qualify for CL. While you can leave some room for flexibility, you need to lay the ground rules on what qualifies as compassionate leave.
• Set a limit on the length of compassionate leaves an employee can take at a stretch and allow employees to apply for an extension.
• Specify whether the compassionate leave is paid or not. If employees take CL beyond the set period, will this leave be paid or unpaid?

What is an example of Compassionate leave?

An employee taking CL for mental health issues wherein they are taking time off to attend therapy sessions is an example of compassionate leave.

FAQs

Is compassionate leave paid?

The rules for compassionate leave are different across regions, but most organizations offer paid CLs, while some offer a combination of paid and unpaid CLs.

What is the difference between compassionate leave and bereavement leave?

While compassionate leave is granted for a range of circumstances, bereavement leave is only given when an employee needs some time off due to the death of a loved one.

How long can you take a compassionate leave?

The average length of compassionate leave is 3-5 days, but it differs from employer to employer.