Bereavement

In the event that you have suffered a bereavement, please contact your line manager in the first instance who can provide support and guidance at this difficult time.

Our Employee Assistance Provider (EAP), Health Hero, can be contacted 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and is completely free of charge. Talk in confidence with one of their qualified team members, or access online resources.

You can also find information about understanding and managing grief from the charity Cruse.

Cruse offers support, advice and information to children, young people and adults when someone dies. The Cruse website has articles on grief and bereavement and resources to help support you and others. The helpline number is 0808 808 1677​ and is open Monday 9.30am-5pm, Tuesday-Thursday 9.30am-8pm, Friday 9.30am-5pm (excluding bank holidays).

In consultation with your line manager you may be entitled to up to five days paid compassionate leave if a member of your immediate family dies, is seriously ill, or in severe distress. 

“Immediate family” will usually mean spouse, civil partner or partner, parent, parent-in-law, brother, sister, grandparent, and grandchild (this list is not exhaustive). 

The loss of a child is devastating and we recognise the need to provide bereaved parents with as much support as possible.

Employees will be granted two weeks fully paid bereavement leave in the event of the death of a child under 18 years old.

Eligibility:

• the parent
• the partner of the child’s parent, who lives in an enduring family relationship with the child and their parent
• the “parent in fact”, which means that, for a continuous period of at least four weeks before the child passed away, they have been living with the child and had “day-to-day responsibility” for the child (but who is not being paid to look after the child)
• an adoptive parent
• a parent of a child born through surrogacy
• a parent who has suffered a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy. 

In the distressing event of a stillbirth after the 24th week of pregnancy, the employee will be entitled to take maternity leave or paternity/partner leave and be paid in the same way as a live birth.

If an employee has a miscarriage in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, there is no entitlement to maternity leave or pay however the employee will ordinarily qualify for sick pay.

The University recognises that a situation such as stillbirth or miscarriage can be a shocking experience which may feel traumatic and employees may wish to contact the University’s Employee Assistance Programme, Health Hero, for further advice, support and counselling.  

• Emergency Dependants Leave Policy 
• Compassionate Leave Policy 
• Parental Policy 
• Flexible Work Policy 
• Shared Parental Leave Policy