Bereavement Leave
Janet
124 Posts
Our company has a defined policy regarding paid bereavement leave. Past practice has been that we require the EE to provide some type of "proof" (obituary, notice from funeral home, etc.) that the EE is actually a survivor of the deceased. Otherwise, we figure we'd have EE's with mothers and fathers dying multiple times. x:'( One of our longtime EE's decided that TODAY is the day to argue about this--how "sick" it is that we would ask him to do this. . .
Just curious--
Does your company ask for proof for paid bereavement? Or are we as "sick" as the EE claims?!
Just curious--
Does your company ask for proof for paid bereavement? Or are we as "sick" as the EE claims?!
Comments
Good Luck!
I think it should be seen on a case by case basis. For instance, everyone I work with was aware of the seriousness of the situation with my step-mother. I lost an uncle on Sept. 27th, and everyone I work with was aware he was in the hospital. My co-workers were also aware of my mad scramble to catch a plane to be able to attend his funeral. (My family has had a rough year with many illnesses and deaths.) If I suddenly started talking about a relative no one had ever heard of who died, I could sure see why proof would be required. Or if there had been a rash of deaths in the department, or something else suspicious was going on proof would make sense then too.
Our bereavement policy says up to 3 days and lists specific family members. The up to 3 days part is considered also on a case by case basis. At first glance I would say being a small company is what helps it work for us, but we borrowed this policy from our owner company who has over 2,000 employees. I think on some issues you must be firm and equal with everyone no matter what, but in the case of a loss of a loved one it can be counter productive to be too firm (as in the case of the offended employee above). For instance, should we just say one day for an uncle no matter what? What if the uncle is someone you only met once compared to the uncle that raised you? It just makes more sense to me to use the "may" word in your policy regarding requiring proof and use common sense and good judgement after that.
In order to encourage healthy grieving, our agency offers 5 full days of paid leave for bereavement across the board -- for full and part time employees -- no questions asked. This is in addition to PTO and sick time. Our policy identifies nine relatives that bereavement leave can be used for.
And no, we do not require verification or any kind of proof (like an obituary or a memorial tract) and I'm relieved that I don't have to work at place that does. It saddens me to read about the abuse of this necessary benefit in the replies to this post.
However, I can understand why verification would be necessary for the airlines. Indeed, our agency has had to provide "proof" to the airlines for our grieving family members. But that is unreleated to this post's question, isn't it?
Your comment interested me. My uncle passed away in Souther California. Forest Lawn handled the details. The counselor there suggested to my aunt and other family members handling the arrangements that it was a good idea NOT to put an obit in the paper. They said it brought all the crazies out. What will your organization do when the situation there spreads across the country? Isn't it disgusting what some people will do to get an advantage so that now honest hardworking people can't announce to ex-coworkers, etc that someone has died?
Our policy says "may" require documentation, but we've never asked for it yet. I lost my mother and my sister since I've been here (they lived in another city) and no one said anything but take all the time you need.
I can see a need for this type of proof if serious abuses occur. We're prepared to ask if we see the need (and ask everyone) but I'm going to avoid that until something or things start happening.
>immediate family, as defined, during new employee orientation and we
>marked them off when the employee took bereavement leave. We even had
>a form for the list! It did help keep grandma from dying more than
>once.
Since you no longer work there, I hope you won't be offended to learn that I am adding this example to my list of dumbest HR policies of all times. I would have personally refused to provide a list of my family members who might die so that somebody could track my honesty and make sure none of them died twice. This is very near the top of my list of dumb policies. But, I appreciate your mention of it.
As a society (and a workplace) we've forgotten, we get what we ask for. I politely but firmly discuss how we got to this "sick" point with employees, when they protest such work rules. Most, have never connected the dots prior to our conversation.