After the loss of a family member or close friend, one of the last things someone wants to think about is their job. Unfortunately, they often have to.
The U.S. has no federal bereavement leave policy, meaning workers aren’t guaranteed time off after the death of a loved one to attend a funeral and grieve.
President Joe Biden in 2021 proposed a 3-day bereavement leave policy in his Build Back Better spending package, but the provision was dropped from the social safety net bill after objections from centrist Democrats. Mourning has been a major theme of Biden’s presidency, with him speaking often about losing his son Beau, who died in 2015 to brain cancer at age 46.
“Not being given this time for adjustment puts enormous additional pressure on the mourner,” said Mikolaj Slawkowski-Rode, an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Warsaw and editor of the essay collection “The Meaning of Mourning: Perspectives on Death, Loss, and Grief.”
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Despite the lack of federal bereavement leave, workers dealing with a loss may still have options. Here’s what they should know.
Your employer may have its own policy
Around nine out of 10 U.S. companies offer bereavement leave, according to the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.
“Providing flexibility during a challenging time of loss is something many organizations are willing to work with employees on,” said Julie Stich, vice president of content at the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.
Some employers’ policies are especially generous, Stich said. (Johnson & Johnson, for example, extends 30 days off for workers who have lost an immediate family member.)
“In our survey, there were two companies that offered 40 days for immediate family, grandparents and in-laws,” she said.
The leave companies provide tend to vary based on who in your life has died. The average for an immediate family member was around five days, compared to roughly one day for a close friend, IFEBP found.
A small number of companies even permit workers to take time off to grieve the death of a pet.
Some states offer bereavement leave
In the absence of a federal bereavement leave policy, some states have established their own program or are trying to do so.
A California law guarantees most employees five days of bereavement leave following the death of a family member. In Illinois, workers are generally entitled to up to two weeks off for bereavement, and as much as 12 weeks if they’ve lost a relative to violence or crime. (The leave may be unpaid in both states.)
Options for workers without bereavement leave
Workers without bereavement leave who have recently lost someone can ask their employer if they can use vacation or sick days to mourn, Stich suggested. Working remotely for a period or taking unpaid time off may also be options.
“As grief is a journey, flexibility may be needed over the course of several months or longer,” Stich said.
Grieving workers may have other options still.
While bereavement is not usually an acceptable legal reason to take time off under the Family Medical Leave Act, there are exceptions, said Jeff Nowak, co-chair of the Leave and Accommodations Practice Group at Littler Mendelson. (The FMLA offers certain workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job protected leave for a number of reasons, including the birth of a child or the need to care for a spouse or parent with a serious health condition.)
“FMLA leave likely would be available to the birth mom to the extent that she needs to recover from any medical procedures associated with miscarriage or still birth,” Nowak said.
A worker may also be able to use the FMLA if their mourning has left them with a serious health condition, such as anxiety or depression, that makes them unable to perform their job, he said.
Similarly, the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, protects conditions including depression, and entitles workers to leave, Nowak added.