Bereavement Policies in Connecticut - The Unwritten Law

With all the talk about , FMLA, ADA and the alphabet soup that is our employment laws, one thing you won't find in any of the laws is "bereavement leave".

What is "bereavement leave"? Quite simply, it is time off to attend a funeral or mourn the loss of a friend or family member.

While FMLA leave is designed to provide leave to care for a family member (particularly in the end stages of life), an immediate death may not qualify and it does not seem to cover attending funerals.  Indeed, do a search for "death" or "funeral" in the Connecticut FMLA regulations and your searches will come up empty.  Thus, employers have crafted their own set of rules.

Local employers have to confront these issues on an frequent basis. (Indeed, the tragic car accident this week involving a Simsbury teen is an all-too painful reminder of the swiftness and harshness that death can take.)

How should an employer respond to a death in the employee’s family? Here are four factors to consider when an employee experiences the loss of a loved one:

1. Are your bereavement policies are established? If so, are they non-discriminatory?
2. What practices do you have to help the grieving worker communicate with colleagues? And do you have a employee assistance program that you can refer employees to?
3. How can you help co-workers express their sympathy, particularly if the loss is actually in the workplace?
4. How do you help the bereaved employee and his or her supervisor deal with any lingering productivity issues?

(Hat Tip: HR Magazine, September 2003.)

Obviously, top on this list is having a well-drafted bereavement leave.

There is no "typical" policy, but some employers give two or three days off with pay for "immediate family members" and no pay for any additional time, unless employees arrange to use personal days or vacation time. Interestingly, a SHRM 2004 Benefits Survey showed that 90 percent of respondents offer paid bereavement leave.

Defining "immediate family member" helps in the successful implementation of this policy. Immediate family members can be defined as "an employee’s spouse, parents, stepparents, siblings, children, stepchildren, grandparent, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, or grandchild."  Some employers expand this further, some keep it more restrictive and may give only a day off, for example, for "extended" family members.   

And remember, with Connecticut's same-sex marriage law in effect, those marriages should be treated the same as so-called "traditional" marriages.