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There are many types of leave to which employees are legally entitled, but there are various other circumstances when an employee may need time off work that are not covered within statutory leave. Such cases of discretionary leave are subject to an individual employer's policies. Compassionate leave There is no legal entitlement for compassionate leave although employees are entitled to 'reasonable' time off to deal with an emergency involving a dependant, which may or may not be paid. Some employers have a policy for compassionate leave but those without a scheme must use their own judgement and be as reasonable and consistent as possible. When leave is not given, for example in the event of bereavement, then employees may have to use their holiday allowance. Most companies try to be compassionate in the case of a death, but on average employees are given five days before they are asked to return to work. Some employers are more generous, but it depends entirely on their individual policy. Study leave Staff can request time off work for training or to study, but there are strict conditions: the staff member must be classified as an 'employee', have worked for their employer for at least 26 weeks, be intending to undertake training that will help them do their job better and there must be at least 250 people in the organisation. The leave is unpaid unless their employer agrees to pay and certain people are not eligible to take study leave; for example, workers in the armed forces. Gardening leave This type of leave is when an employee is required to serve out a period of notice at home and means they are not working for either the company they are leaving or for a new employer. The employee in this scenario would receive their full wages and benefits but they are prohibited from beginning employment with anyone else until the period has expired. This practice usually occurs in situations where employees have access to confidential information or customers and are intending to start a rival company or join a competitor. Career breaks Employers do not have to offer career breaks and any agreements allowing them exist purely between an employer and their employee. Individual companies will have their own policies and conditions regarding career breaks. For example, some only allow their staff to take career breaks when they have worked for the company for a certain amount of time. Employers are also under no legal obligation to allow an employee to return to their job after a break. Special leave Some companies have specific types of discretionary leave. For example, many public sector employers allow 3 days of special paid leave for an employee to get married, but this policy is patchy and is not consistent among employers. Other companies allow leave for an employee to move house or deal with a domestic emergency such as a fire, flood or burglary but there is no guarantee that if this leave is allowed, it will be paid. Employers have the choice whether or not to allow their staff to take the above types of leave but they can also adjust statutory leave at their discretion. All minimum requirements for statutory leave must be fulfilled, but some companies have policies that allow for extra paid leave in certain circumstances or may adjust their rules to an individual's circumstances. It is, therefore, extremely important that employees check their company's stance on particular types of leave when they begin work. Matt Crumble works in Marketing at PBS UK Ltd, a leading Payroll outsourcing company specializing in HR for small businesses, International Payroll services and Global Payroll management.
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dicretionary leave, discretionary time of, bereavement leave, special leave, career break, gardening leave, non-statutory leave,
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