BEREAVED parents should be given the legal right to compassionate leave when a child dies, an MP has said.

Tom Harris, Labour MP for Glasgow South, is proposing a bill to amend employment rights to ensure all parents get enough time off work while grieving.

Mr Harris was moved by the case of a man made to return to work five days after his son's death, just before the boy's second birthday.

Mr Harris was surprised to learn there was no legal right for time off to grieve, only guidance under the 1996 Employment Rights Act.

He said: "In the immediate aftermath of a child's passing, bereaved parents must cope not only with their own grief, but that of their family. Siblings must be comforted, family and friends informed.

"To add to the burden, a great deal of administrative work and other arrangements must be undertaken.

"A funeral needs to be organised; schools and benefit offices must be notified.

"However, there is no set limit on how many days can be taken, only a vague definition of 'a reasonable amount of time'."

Mr Harris said the length of the minimum period would be considered in a consultation period if his bid were successful.

He is backing campaign group Jack's Rainbow, a charity set up by bereaved mother Lucy Herd, whose husband had to return to work after five days. The group has tens of thousands of signatures calling for statutory bereavement leave.

Mr Harris said: "The government has stated that it would be difficult to outline the limits of statutory bereavement leave, because 'limits, standards and definitions' would need to be put in place. The government has also argued that it would be difficult to define 'what family relationship would qualify for such leave', and that it would be 'impossible to legislate for every circumstance'.

"I find this argument disingenuous. Surely the government should start from the moral case that parents should be afforded time off if their child passes away, not find obscure excuses not to act."