Bereavement Leave or Funeral Leave
Information on Taking Time Off from Work When a Loved One Dies
Aug 11, 2009
When a loved one dies, in addition to coping with the loss of the person and Navigating the Grief Journey, the family left behind is left to deal with many other issues.
Some of these post-death issues include arranging a funeral or memorial service and burial, dealing with personal belongings, property and settling of wills. These additional issues require time to plan and complete and often require taking time off from work.
What is Funeral or Bereavement Leave?
Bereavement leave or funeral leave is the time off given to an employee by his or her employer to settle all of the matters and issues surrounding the funeral and reading of the will. The time span ranges from a few days to a few weeks, in the best of circumstances. Bereavement leave may be granted by an employer with or without pay.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Funeral Leave is a benefit that is a matter of agreement between the employer and an employee. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require payment for time not worked, including attending a funeral.
In some companies, bereavement leave is considered to be a type of sick leave and falls under the employee's personal time off or PTO time or their vacation time. Some employers may pay employees for bereavement leave by applying other forms of accrued leave, such as personal leave or vacation pay.
For other companies bereavement leave may be classified as a separate type of leave and be a paid benefit. Under the California State University Bereavement Leave Policy paid time off is provided to employees for the purpose of arranging, planning, attending and/or traveling to a funeral for the employee's immediate family or close relative.
Bereavement leave or funeral leave should be specified in hiring contracts. The employee can check with his or her companies human resources department or employee assistance program to determine the type of bereavement leave offered.
Coping with More than the Loss of a Loved One
With some companies and work situations, the employee may be unable to take any time off from work without being penalized. In many work settings, particularly if the person is a part-time employee, a new employee, self employed or an independent contractor, the person grieving a loss may experience a triple blow or a triple whammy when a death occurs. In addition to coping with the loss and the aftermath of the death, the person may also have to cope with not being allowed to take time off, or taking time off from work without pay, time that is not covered by their job, either as bereavement leave, vacation time or personal time off.
After the Funeral
After the funeral, the grieving person is expected to return to work once their bereavement leave time is up. Depending on the company and the workplace setting, this time may range from two days to two weeks. A grieving employee returning to work while the grief still fresh may be expected to "dealt with" the grief and to "get on with life" when what the person needs might be some additional time to cope with the loss.
One potential way of helping the person left behind to cope with the loss and grief is to make it possible for the grieving employee to take additional time off from work if needed with pay to cope with the death of a loved one. One way this could happen is if bereavement leave was included under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Family and Medical Leave Act
As it currently stands, bereavement leave is not included under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). This act provides certain employees (those who have worked at least 12 months or 1,250 hours in the last 12 months) with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year.
According to the Department of Labor website, "FMLA is designed to help employees balance their work and family responsibilities by allowing them to take reasonable unpaid leave for certain family and medical reasons." Employees can take time off for the birth and care of a newborn child, to care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition and can take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition.
Recent Examples of High Profile Bereavement Leave
Both President Obama and Vice President Biden took breaks and stepped off the campaign trail during the 2008 presidential campaign to attend funerals of family members. Reuters reported October 6 that Vice President Biden attended the funeral of his mother-in-law. Reuters reported October 23 when President Obama broke away from the campaign to pay a last visit to his grandmother before she died and just weeks before being elected President.
In early August 2009 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was in Massachusetts on August 7 to be at the beside and cope with the impending death of his mother-in-law Eunice Kennedy Shriver and then with the events surrounding her death. In addition to being present to offer support to his wife Maria Shriver, he was present August 13 at her wake and participated in her funeral mass on August 14. (Associated Press issued two different news reports on August 11 and August 14 regarding actions taken while Lt. Gov. John Garamendi was the acting Governor of California.)
It is possible that these personal family experiences from high-profile politicians may pave the way for bereavement leave eventually being included as part of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.
Extending the time available for employees to cope with the death of a family member may make it easier for the employees to return to work after taking time to attend the funeral and begin to process the loss.
Resources:
Funeral Leave. Leave Benefits. U.S. Department of Labor.
Family and Medical Leave Act. Leave Benefits. U.S. Department of Labor.
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