I recently requested to use 2.5 days of bereavement leave for the death of my eldest uncle. My supervisor sent me the bereavement leave policy which requires proof of relationship/death and only applies to “immediate family”. The policy uses a list that enumerates what constitutes as “immediate family.” The list doesn’t include uncles. I asked my supervisor to suggest that HR change the bereavement policy to cover different interpretations of family. Based on my Indian American culture, my uncles, aunts and cousins are my immediate family. I’ve grown up and lived with them for most of my life. Who should set the standard for “immediate family” when so many people have very different family experiences? I’m thankful to say that my company approved the leave and is reconsidering the policy to better reflect its staff. Kudos to my supervisor for advocating for me and my company’s HR for being receptive to feedback. Especially now, many people are dealing with death in concentrated amounts. How do you think HR should shape bereavement policies to be fair for all their staff? #hr #culture #bereavementsupport #mentalhealth #family
Cathy Chalk
3 年
In this instance, I would take my personal time.
To be honest, it's also just ridiculous that you have to ask a company for permission to grieve.
Ginger Lewis
3 年
Just like with FMLA, there are 2 separate issues here. With FMLA - FMLA protects your job but does not provide any salary contuation. With bereavement leave - this is a policy that recoginzes that employees will have a loss and is a "token" of time off that doesn't come out of another pay bank for a certain amount of time for certain relationships. It is not meant to account for or pay you for the full process of grieving a loss. If your company does not allow you to use time above and beyond what it stated in the bereavement leave (whether paid or unpaid) this is the problem. If they say you cannot take breavement leave for your aunt, take vacation/PTO. If a company literally tells you, "you can only take off 3-5 days even though your spouse died because it is our company policy," 1. they suck, 2. get a counselor/PCP to submit FMLA paperwork for dealing with grief/depression and 3. consider looking for a new job.
Jean Singer
3 年
The Evermore foundation is fighting right now for a federal guarantee of paid bereavement leave for all. The issue is being debated in Congress. For more info: https://live-evermore.org/
Ben Carter
3 年
thank you for your post, Namitha. at Workday, thank you to the excellent suggestion made by our international benefits director - John Whitaker , we moved away from the exclusionary “bereavement leave” to the inclusive “compassionate leave”. this provides all employees with the ability to take up to 10 days off with full pay to help for a range of life events, including the death of a loved one, family member or pet; a miscarriage; domestic abuse; a home emergency (burglary, fire, flood, etc.); menopause; and more. at Workday, we truly care about our employees - our #1 core value. and it shows in how we support our employees - in the most compassionate, caring, and understanding of ways. i’m sorry for your experience. my only hope is that more companies will do what we did at Workday - which is to modernize our benefits to ensure we are providing the greatest support for our employees and leading with empathy. thank you, Carrie Varoquiers for raising this post to my attention!
Karen Evans
3 年
?I had no idea restrictions on “family” leave for the death of loved ones or other situations was even an issue. The policies certainly need to be changed to reflect those more current of inclusivity for a variety of customs?. I even remember years ago an employee had her house damaged by a tornado and she was given leave to handle whatever she needed in a disaster?. I also feel certain tornado leave was not in the policy manual but that company acted with appropriate compassion for an extreme occurrence affecting the life of that individual.
Glenn Melcher
3 年
Jim Lesch thank You for taking the time to share this inspirational insight… by illustrating that You have Your People’s best interest at hand You have displayed what will differentiate You and Your organization from the those that could not understand why this is important..
Former Republican State Central Committee Elected Official and Senator Barrow Peacock Legislative Assistant for 12 years; NW La. Public Servant of the Year; Journalism Degree from LSU. Forum Writer, past Times reporter.
3 年I was once told in these exact words after my grandfather died: "He doesn't count." You'd think someone with these types of duties at the company would know how to word it better. Can't stand her to this day. Took off anyway. My boss told me take whatever time I needed when my father died so I marked that I was at work for the week. However, the payroll lady marched in rudely and said, "You can't do that. You only get three paid days."