But how a company handles it's legal obligations is also interesting. When my father died the company that employed me at the time said, essentially, "Go away

But how a company handles it's legal obligations is also interesting. When my father died the company that employed me at the time said, essentially, "Go away and come back when you feel ready". This despite the fact that the only other member of my direct team was the other side of the world and there was no one with domain expertise was available so it would have been infuriating for them to cover support. There was certainly no mention of statutory pay or anything. They also let me leave on multiple occasions at short notice in the preceeding years when he was ill. Their being incredibly generous with compassionate leave allowed me to deal with the personal stuff without worrying about money/job stuff. It also meant that I worked remotely, covered support, and generally made sure that everything ran as smoothly as possible. These choices make business sense, as well as being the decent thing to do.