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Bereavement Leave

Page updated 9 August 2022

The Bereavement Leave policy (replacing Compassionate Leave) forms an element of UCD’s family leave policy framework and the University is committed to supporting employees who may require family related leave, such as in the case of a bereavement.

Every individual and every family is different. The University recognises the diverse nature of families and will respect and support all employees in taking the time they need to cope during a time of great difficulty regardless of their religion, race/ethnicity or sexual orientation.

Find out more about the Bereavement Leave Policy and associated entitlements below.

Bereavement Leave Policy

Bereavement Leave is granted at the time of the bereavement to facilitate the employee with paid time off work. The amount of Bereavement Leave that can be availed of varies from 1 to 20 days depending on the nature of the relationship. Full details can be found in the policy.

A summary of the relations covered by the policy is outlined below:

  • immediate relative
    • father, stepfather, mother, stepmother, brother, stepbrother, half-brother, brother-in-law,sister, stepsister, half-sister, sister-in-law, father in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law,daughter-in-law, grandfather, grandmother, or grandchild
  • spouse (including a cohabiting partner)
  • child (including adopted children and children being cared for on the basis of 'in loco parentis')
  • any person in a relationship of domestic dependency
  • aunt, uncle, niece, nephew
  • In the event of a stillbirth or prenatal death of a child after twenty-four weeks pregnancy

The policy outlines the relationship between Bereavement Leave and Annual Leave, roles & responsibilites of the employee and Head of School / Unit and details of the notification process.

Read the (opens in a new window)Bereavement Leave policy now.

This section contains a summary of a UCD policy, however, in all cases the policy remains the definitive source of information on the topic.

Process for Bereavement Leave

  1. Inform your Head of School/Head of Unit/Line Manager as soon as practicable on your intention to take Bereavement Leave 
  2. Complete the necessary Bereavement Leave Application Form as soon as possible, and within 2 weeks of returning to work, before returning it to (opens in a new window)hrhelpdesk@ucd.ie

Forms

Employee Assistance Service

The UCD (EAS) is a 24/7 free and confidential support service designed to assist you in dealing more effectively with any personal or work-related problems you might be facing. The service is operated confidentially by Spectrum.Life, the largest provider of employee health and wellness services in Ireland.

The service can be used by a UCD employee, their spouse, civil partner and dependents where the family member can be described as over the age of 18 and residing in the family home.

Contact the HR Helpdesk

The HR Helpdesk is the primary point of contact for all your employment-related queries by email and telephone.  We are here to help you with any queries on employee benefits, terms & conditions and HR policies & procedures. If we can’t help you directly, we will refer your query to a HR specialist area.

All visitors to UCD HR, Roebuck offices should be by appointment only and arrangements to be made with specific HR staff members.

(opens in a new window)hrhelpdesk@ucd.ie

+ 353-1-716-4900

UCD HR
Roebuck Offices,
UCD Belfield Campus.

UCD Human Resources

Roebuck Offices, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
T: +353 1 716 4900 | E: hrhelpdesk@ucd.ie | Location Map(opens in a new window)