For compassionate leave, notify the employer as soon as you can, identify the period you need and ask how any required evidence can be provided privately. You can keep the initial message simple while the practical arrangements are being resolved.
Compassionate leave has its own qualifying circumstances. It is not simply another label for annual leave, nor does it depend on having accumulated a sick-leave balance. Check the current entitlement and any more beneficial workplace arrangements.
Check the circumstances and employment system
Fair Work’s compassionate and bereavement leave guidance explains the National Employment Standards entitlement. Qualifying circumstances include specified deaths or life-threatening illness or injury affecting immediate family or household members, and specified pregnancy-loss circumstances.
Under that guidance, the entitlement is two days for each qualifying occasion. Full-time and part-time employees receive paid compassionate leave, while casual employees receive unpaid compassionate leave. Check the official definitions and any applicable additional entitlement rather than assuming every relationship or absence is treated identically.
If the national system does not cover your employment, identify the relevant system before relying on these rules. A workplace policy may provide additional support, but a colleague’s experience does not settle your circumstances.
Make the first message manageable
You can communicate the leave need without recounting private family events in detail. Say which dates are affected, whether the duration is still uncertain and how the employer can safely contact you about the arrangements.
Here is an original fictional example. The person, dates and circumstances are invented.
Dear Manager,
I need compassionate leave following a death in my immediate family. I expect to be away on Monday and Tuesday. I will let you know promptly if the arrangements change.
Please confirm how the leave should be recorded and the private channel for any evidence you reasonably require. I would appreciate keeping the details restricted to the people who need them for this process.
Kind regards,
Alex Example
Use the truthful reason that applies to you. Do not describe someone as an immediate family or household member merely to make a template fit.
Ask about evidence without oversharing
The Fair Work guidance explains that an employer may request reasonable evidence, such as a funeral notice or statutory declaration. Ask what is needed and where to send it. If a document is not yet available, explain that instead of sending unrelated records or promising a date you cannot meet.
Keep evidence separate from operational messages to colleagues. A handover can say that you are unavailable and identify an authorised contact without describing the event behind the leave.
Discuss additional time separately
Travel, family responsibilities or recovery may require more time than the minimum compassionate-leave period. Ask which other entitlement or arrangement may be available in the circumstances. Do not assume extra days automatically fall under the same leave category.
If another type of leave was already booked, ask how any qualifying compassionate leave affects the record. Keep the response with your leave confirmation so payroll questions can be resolved later.
Check the record when practical
Confirm the dates and leave category once you are able to review them. Raise any discrepancy privately with the appropriate contact. If the entitlement remains disputed, use current official information or seek advice about the actual situation.
Our employment-arrangement comparison provides general context. This leave conversation should focus on the particular absence, the applicable rules and the minimum information needed to organise it.
