Time off work when your dog passes

[Arabiannights01]

I just think that I love my dog more than most humans and when it is her time to leave, I will be a distraught- mess for a while, I don’t think work will want a sobbing mess in front of customers. There should be a system where you get some kind of compassionate leave imo.

I was given time off when my cat died, I had 2 days. My boss was very caring about it and just told me to take the time off, he checked in on me as well. I'm very lucky that he's such a good boss.

The whole thing was actually really traumatic as it was completely unexpected, one minute she was fine the next I was rushing her to the vet. I missed her last breath by 20 minutes, as I had gone to work and the train back was delayed, and I'll never get over that.

The loss of a pet is like nothing else.

Adore my dog, but I fully expect to use AL when his time comes.

@Whereismyfleeceblanket sorry for your loss ,I understand exactly how you feel , we are almost a year since losing our dog and it’s very very hard .

But is that right? Just because it’s what you get, do you think it’s reasonably ok?

Because I think in general, most employees are treated like shite in the wake of horrible thinks happening to them.

On your death bed, do you think you’ll be glad you came into work the day after, or the day of, a traumatic event just because you didn’t want to piss off your boss?

My ex husband couldn't go in to work the day after our guinea pig died. I went in as usual and had to tell our boss. (We both worked in the same office at the time)

He is a Director in the Civil Service.

This is indicative of why I left him. He was weak, pathetic and unsupportive when it came to anything really important.

When grief takes over you can't do much about it. I've seen people come into work who couldn't stop crying on & off all day in floods of tears for a full 3 days & thought they should have been at home, but had no A/L to take... people need time to grieve initially & should be able to do so in private not at work imo.

Get a grip. No wonder this country is down the shitter with ideas like this.

This is what annual leave or unpaid leave is for.

It’s a pet at the end of the day. Can I get a hobby farm and everytime something dies expect my boss to give me paid time off. Crazy.

Part of this whole expecting everything on a plate and being too soft.

I’m afraid I agree with what seems like the majority - this is one of the things that annual leave covers.

I am really surprised how many people think annual leave is just for literally being on holiday- not saying that’s you OP, but alot of people don’t realise that A/L is for dealing with all the shit life throws at you.

This made me LOL, which is rare on here.

You do know there’s no right to leave when a person dies (other than two weeks if your minor child dies)… I think we’re quite some way off a right to leave when a pet dies.

There is already a leave that covers this OP. It’s called calling in sick due to mental health. You can do this for one week. Making up a whole new leave for death of dogs or pets is unnecessary.

That's going to make for some interesting conversations with HR.

So, Miss SeaAndStars, do you have any holidays planned this year?
Yes, I'm off to Tenby for a week in June with my Auntie Boyd.
Lovely (makes note on form)
Any pets due to breathe their last?

Dear old Bonzo's getting on a bit.
Could you give a potential death date? Just a ball park would be good?
Not really.
Well, I'll pencil him in for June 6th and we'll review in April.

Jeepers, people are harsh on this thread.

So in your workplace, you can just call in at 7:30 and say you're taking annual leave that day? Do you not have to book it 3-4 weeks in advance and get it approved?

We lost a young dog suddenly last year. It was awful. Two of my teens chose to carry on as normal, one had a day off school.
My DH has had a week off sick in the last 20 years and a week off when his brother died tragically. He took a day off for the dog. He was in bits.
(I work for myself and my work is project based. I dont think I worked the day after, but I would have made it up at the weekend.)
I think specific leave for pet bereavement would be unworkable, but i do think generally there needs to be some provision for the fact that people sometimes have things happen in their lives that mean they need to prioritise those things instead of work.

My much loved cat died aged 18. I was very upset, but christ people need to get a grip.

That’s bizarre that he didn’t call in to work himself. I have worked for civil service and you’d be expected to let your manager know by yourself even if your partner worked in the same office.

Just another example of the lack of resilience nowadays. We should be encouraging people to crack on, not giving them a green light to sit at home sobbing and navel gazing.

Troll post. Use annual leave.

I’ll be devastated when my beloved dog dies, as will my children. I am a single mother and teacher. What am I supposed to do, just leave his dead body at home and go to school?!

Some employers aren't arseholes. I had compassionate leave to attend the funerals of two aunts and a cousin - three years in a row, at around the same time of year each time (my cousin actually died very close to the anniversary of his mum's death). It was a horrible time.

I also had four days off when my grandmother and aunt died in the same week. It was January and we had to wait nearly a month for the funerals, which I was also given off.

It's a family member.

If you aren’t well enough to work (ohysically or mentally) you take time off sick - this would be no different. Sometimes though (depending what you do) work can be a welcome distraction. I went back quite quickly after the death of my mother. Was glad to be somewhere where I was needed physically (rather than emotionally by elderly father) where I understood the routine and where people just spoke to me normally rather than always about how sorry they were. But everyone is different.

Totally right. When I held my Gran’s hand and watched her eyes roll back in her head and her mouth go slack I definitely should have just put on a coat of lipstick and jollied along to my 9am train to get on with my working day, it was Monday after all.

Is that you Ebeneezer?