Bereavement Leave
Paid Bereavement Leave
Paid bereavement leave is granted in this policy by Illinois State University for the reasons and in increments as described below. Unpaid bereavement leave may be taken for the reasons described in the later sections of this policy.
Three Days of Paid Bereavement Leave
An employee shall be granted, without loss of salary, bereavement leave of up to three workdays due to the death of a covered family member as defined in this paid bereavement leave section. Bereavement time is granted to an employee to attend the funeral or alternative to a funeral of a covered family member, to make arrangements necessitated by the death of a covered family member, and to grieve the death of a covered family member.
A covered family member is defined as an employee’s child, spouse, domestic partner (as defined in policy 3.1.13), sibling, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, grandparent, stepparent, or any other relative within the first degree living in the same household.
Child is defined as the employee’s biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco parentis.
A child lost to stillbirth or miscarriage is included in this definition of a child.
Bereavement leave is not intended for use in the event of the death of an individual whose relationship was established by marriage, civil union, or domestic partnership if the relationship has ended. However, in situations where the employee shared a child or children with an ex-spouse, ex-civil union partner or ex-domestic partner (as defined in policy 3.1.13), paid bereavement leave of up to three workdays shall be extended to the employee following the death of the former spouse, civil union partner, or domestic partner (as defined in policy 3.1.13).
One Day of Paid Bereavement Leave
An employee may also be granted, without loss of salary, bereavement leave of one workday due to the death of a relative outside the immediate family or household. This would include the employee’s aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, and cousin (within the first degree). Any relationships established by marriage, civil union, or domestic partnership not described here are not eligible for paid bereavement leave. Bereavement leave is not intended for use in the event of the death of an individual whose relationship was established by marriage, civil union, or domestic partnership if the relationship has ended.
Documentation of the reason for bereavement leave may be required.
Calculation of Time for Paid Bereavement Leave
The calculation of bereavement time is based upon the employee’s standard University working day, either 7.5 or 8 hours, multiplied by the employee’s FTE. Employees who work on a flex schedule will be limited to the maximum hours available to a standard workweek employee in the same classification. Additional leave will normally be charged to vacation, compensatory time, or personal days.
Unpaid Bereavement Leave per the Family Bereavement Leave Act
In addition to the paid leave described above, an employee may also be granted up to ten workdays of unpaid bereavement leave due to the death of the employee’s covered family member and up to six weeks maximum of unpaid leave in the event of the death of more than one of the employee’s covered family members during a twelve-month period under the Family Bereavement Leave Act.
Definitions for purposes of Unpaid Bereavement Leave per the Family Bereavement Leave Act section are as follows:
- Covered family member is defined as an employee’s child, spouse, domestic partner, sibling, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, grandparent, stepparent, or any other relative withing the first degree living in the same household.
- Child is defined as the employee’s son or daughter who is a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco parentis. A child lost to stillbirth or miscarriage is included in this definition of a child.
- Under this section only (based upon the Illinois Family Bereavement Leave Act), a domestic partner includes a person recognized as the domestic partner of the employee under any domestic partnership or civil union law of a state or political subdivision of a state; or an unmarried adult person who is in a committed, personal relationship with the employee and not in such a relationship with any other person and who is designated to the employee’s employer by such employee as that employee’s domestic partner.
In addition to the previously identified eligibility reasons under paid bereavement leave, an employee may be granted unpaid leave due to an unsuccessful round of intrauterine insemination or of an assisted reproductive technology procedure, a failed adoption match or an adoption that is not finalized because it is contested by another party, a failed surrogacy agreement, or a diagnosis that negatively impacts pregnancy or fertility.
Eligible Usage of Unpaid Bereavement Time per the Family Bereavement Leave Act
The leave must be used within 60 calendar days after the date the employee receives notice of the death or date of the event as described in the section above. The employer may require reasonable documentation substantiating the need for the leave. In order to be eligible for leave under this policy, the employee must meet the employment length and hours of service requirements under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Family Bereavement Leave may not be taken in addition to leave permitted under the FMLA and may not exceed leave time allowed under the FMLA. Therefore, employees who have exhausted their FMLA entitlement may not take any additional unpaid days under this Policy.
Unpaid Bereavement Leave per the Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act
The unpaid time available per the Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act applies to situations where an employee experiences the loss of a child by suicide or homicide.
Child is defined as the employee’s biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco parentis.
Eligibility and Leave Usage under the Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act
Employees eligible to use Child Extended Bereavement Leave must be employed in a full-time capacity (1.0 FTE) and must not otherwise be eligible for a leave of absence without pay.
Leave may be taken on a continuous basis or intermittently in increments of no less than 4 hours, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. Leave must be completed within one year after the employee notifies the employer of the loss.
Leave taken as Child Extended Bereavement Leave does not extend the maximum period of leave to which an employee is entitled under the FMLA or any other paid or unpaid leave provided under federal, State or local law, a collective bargaining agreement, or an employment benefits program or plan. An employee taking leave under the Family Bereavement Leave Act, as described above, may not use Child Extended Bereavement Leave because of the death of the same child.
When practical, the employee should provide advance notice of their intention to take leave to Human Resources. Reasonable documentation, indicating cause of death, should be submitted to Human Resources upon request.
Compensation during Family Bereavement Leave or Child Extended Bereavement Leave
Leave taken as Family Bereavement Leave or Child Extended Bereavement Leave will be unpaid. An employee who is entitled to take paid or unpaid leave may elect to substitute any period of such leave for an equivalent period of leave provided for under the Family Bereavement Leave Act or Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act.