This week we saw the headlines that an employee, Emma McNulty, claimed that she was sacked on the same day her family dog died. She claimed that she was so struck with grief that she couldn’t attend work but she was told by her employer that she must find cover or risk being dismissed from her role (which they subsequently followed through with) 

As a result of this experience she has now started a campaign for employers to offer bereavement leave when an employee suffers the loss of a pet and for employers to recognise pet bereavement in the same way they would a human family member. 

What is the law? 

Currently all employees have a right to time off to deal with an emergency involving a dependant. Legislation dictates that a dependant could be a spouse, partner, child, grandchild, parent or someone who depends on you for care. However, there is no provision for pets and it’s unlikely that most employers would extend this right to their employees.  

There are two schools of thought on this topic (discuss it with your friends and family and you’ll soon find this out!) and a clear divide between those who’s view is that losing a pet is no different to losing a human family member and those who believe that there is no comparison between a human life and a pet’s life. However, it’s important to remember that in some cases animals can mean more to people than their human family and, on that basis, shouldn’t individuals be allowed the same time and space to grieve their loss? 

Trends 

We have seen a trend recently towards more businesses offering their employees time off to deal with the loss of a pet and some employers have started to acknowledge that, in some cases, the loss of the pet can be equally as distressing as losing a human family member.   

These businesses have recognised that grief can have a huge effect on employees and their presence in the office during this difficult time can have an impact on the wider team. More importantly, if an employee is grieving it’s highly likely that their work will suffer and therefore them being physically present in the office is of little or no benefit. It’s these issues that led to businesses pro-actively looking at how they deal with bereavement leave following the loss of a pet. 

What next? 

Ultimately whatever the situation, time away from the workplace is likely to assist people in getting over their loss, will be much appreciated by the employee and make for a smooth and welcome return to work.  

You will need to decide the best approach for your own business but our advice is that a compassionate and supportive approach will demonstrate that you value your employees and this can go a long way to build trust and loyalty amongst your team. 

The wide coverage of this case has opened up the debate on what support and time off pet owners should expect for bereavement leave and we predict that this is just the beginning. With some businesses offering ‘Pawternity Leave’ already, this is likely to be a discussion that continues to be in the headlines. 

Watch this space for more updates or join our mailing list to ensure you don’t miss HR and legal updates which may impact your business and, if you feel strongly that this movement is something your business should support then contact us to discuss amending your absence policy.