How Does Bereavement Leave Work And How To Make A Bereavement Policy

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Each person deals with loss and grief differently. It can entirely disrupt your life. Most people will need some time off work for funeral planning, dealing with estates, and healing. Offering leave tailored to that purpose can help with the process that keeps the office running smoothly while they take the time they need.

Key Takeaways:

There aren’t any federal laws mandating bereavement leave, so it’s up to the discretion of the employer.
Most policies offer a few days of paid leave to attend the funeral and tend to estates.
Bereavement policies can also include aid to pay for the funeral or other expenses.
Most bereavement leave policies only extend to the loss of immediate family: parents, children, siblings, spouses, and spouses’ immediate family.

What Is Bereavement Leave?

Bereavement leave, also called compassionate leave, is leave granted when an employee loses a family member. The exact nature of the leave – such as the number of days and whether or not it’s paid – is not defined, meaning that it can vary from company to company.

The purpose of bereavement leave is to give employees time to take care of any estate planning or funerary arrangements, as well as give them some time to recover mentally and emotionally. Some policies will even offer financial assistance with funerary costs and planning as a way to help ease the burden.

Having a bereavement leave policy in place will help employees know what to expect in the event that they or one of their coworkers deals with a loss. It also shows compassion to your workers and allows them some time to grieve so that they can return to work ready and able to do their job.

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How to Make a Bereavement Policy

As there aren’t any legal guidelines in place, creating a bereavement policy is going to be solely up to the business ownership or management. That can make the task seem daunting or distressingly open-ended. However, there are some guidelines that you can follow to come up with a fair and practical bereavement policy.

When formulating your company’s policy, consider the following:

The needs of your team. This will vary depending on the size of the company and how much say you personally have in the policy. If you work in a large organization, it’s likely to be a one size fits all policy, but that doesn’t mean that you, as a manager, can’t offer more time.

However, considering your team’s individual needs could lead to offering leave for those beyond the immediate family of your coworkers. It could also lead to granting a longer policy or offering help with their funerary expenses.
Other companies’ policies. One of the best resources for coming up with a policy is to look at other companies. Consider what you think is good about these policies and what isn’t. Try putting yourself in the shoes of someone who has to take bereavement leave – what would be important to you and what wouldn’t?
What benefits you wish to provide. A lot of this will depend on what your company can afford. As a rule, though, the more you do for your employees, the more loyalty and good faith you’ll build, not to mention the fact that it’s just the kind thing to do.

Possible additional benefits include:
- Paid time off. Most bereavement leave plans offer a few paid days off, but it’s not a requirement. If you can pay your employee while they take care of their family and take time to grieve, that takes one worry off their mind.
- Aid in funerary expenses. Funerals are expensive. Any financial assistance in taking care of the planning and other arrangements is likely to be a great help. The more you can offer – within reason – the more appreciative your employees will be. And the more you will have helped them.
- Aid with expenses related to estate planning. Exactly how much this will cost will depend on a great number of factors, but any assistance could be helpful.
- Assistance with travel expenses. Not everyone has to travel when they lose a family member, but many will. And even if they don’t have to travel, they likely have other family members who will.
- Grief counseling. Offering to pay for grief counseling or offering them options for it can also help in the case of loss. Under certain circumstances, it may even be required by the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), even though bereavement itself isn’t included in the law.
- Including other types of loss. It’s important to note there are other types of loss and grief besides just losing a member of your immediate family. Offering time off for these major occurrences can help employees with their grief and build trust and loyalty.
  
  Some examples include:
  - Pets. Most people consider their pets part of the family. The loss of a pet can cause intense grief, just like the loss of any member of the family. Pet bereavement policies are also becoming more common. Offering them time off and maybe even helping with the costs is compassionate.
  - Relationships. The end of a very important relationship can also drop a person into grief. This can include divorce, a breakup from a long-term relationship, or even a break with family or a best friend.
  - Health. Being diagnosed with a chronic or serious health condition can also lead to grief. Even if it’s treatable, it’ll change their life forever. In the case of illness, the FMLA covers time off to take care of their health, but it doesn’t cover the grief they may feel.
  - Dreams. Losing the chance to achieve a lifelong dream or goal can be devastating. If this happens, then the person may need time to grieve. It can take time to adjust to your life not going the way you expected it would.
- Additional time off. Most policies offer about three paid days off, which is just enough time to take care of the funeral. In cases where the employee is very close to the person they lost, that amount of time is inadequate to begin to deal with their grief. Any additional paid days you can offer them would be helpful.
  
  Employees can also take vacation days, sick days, or PTO for this purpose, but it helps to know that they don’t have to worry about how many sick days they have remaining.
- Support. Giving your employees support can be extremely important as well, even if it isn’t monetary or anything of that sort. This is a very difficult time in their lives, and knowing that their coworkers are supporting them and trying to be understanding can make it easier.
What information you’ll need from employees. Most employers are going to want some sort of proof before granting the leave. Exactly how you work this is going to depend on your own policies. Usually, less is more. Asking for some sort of hard proof seems uncompassionate and implies you think that they’re lying.
Prepare for sudden leave-taking. No one knows when a loss may occur. That means that one of your employees may end up taking leave at any time. If you have a leave policy in place, it’s also a good idea to build redundancy so that your project won’t fall apart if someone has to take a few weeks off due to a sudden loss.

This is a boon not just to the person taking leave, who may feel badly about leaving their coworkers in the lurch, but also to the team. If something like this does happen, then everyone will be able to pick up the slack and carry on without having to bother their coworker while they’re grieving.
Be compassionate. This is, in many ways, the most important. Consider the best way to help your employees in the event of a loss. Be kind to them, and be willing to make additional concessions or grant additional benefits if it seems like it’s necessary. Be fair with your policy, but rigidity likely won’t serve you well in this circumstance.