Entitlement of compassionate leave in a leave cycle

I lost my two grandparents within a span of two months. I asked our HR Manager to give me a compassionate leave to attend the burial of my grandparent who died in January, 2021. I was granted 4 days, In February my second grandparent also died. I asked for another compassionate leave but the HR Manager told me that I have exhausted my compassionate leave for the year 2021 leave cycle and was asked to take unpaid leave otherwise my second compassionate leave will be deducted from my annual leave or other leaves due to me in the 2021 leave cycle. I believe the law does not support what the HR manager told me and would like to know if the law limits a total number of days of compassionate leave an employee is allowed to take.
JJ, Dar

The law prescribes the total number of days of paid compassionate leave the employee is entitled in a leave cycle. Under section 34(1)(b)(ii)(b) of the Employment and Labour Relations Act [Cap. 366 R.E 2019], the employee is entitled to a total number of four days of paid compassionate leave in a leave cycle for the death of an employee’s, child, spouse, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling. According to section 34(3)(b) of the Employment and Labour Relations Act, four days of paid compassionate leave are the total number of days to which the employee is entitled as a right irrespective of how many such relatives die in a leave cycle. After exhausting the four days of paid compassionate leave, the employer has the discretion to give the employee more days of compassionate leave with or without conditions of deducting the extra days from the employee’s other leaves due in a leave cycle, or by giving the employee extra days of compassionate leave on condition that the extra days shall be unpaid.

Since you had already taken the 4 days of paid compassionate leave, unfortunately you had no right to claim another paid compassionate leave for the death of your second grandparent or death of any other relative mentioned under the law. The HR manager was thus right in the guidance you were given.