Policy No. D. 6.00
Date of Issue 12/22/2022
Employees who experience a death in the family may request bereavement leave according to the following guidelines:
6.01 |
Up to three days with pay for the death of an immediate family member: parent, step-parent, spouse, domestic or civil union partner, child, step-child, sibling, grandparent or in-law of the same status. |
6.02 |
In addition, in accordance and consistent with the Illinois Family Bereavement Leave Act (FBLA), 820 ILCS 154/1 et seq., employees who are eligible for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) are also eligible under the FBLA to take up to a maximum of two weeks (10 working days) of unpaid bereavement leave to: (a) attend the funeral or alternative to a funeral of a covered family member; (b) make arrangements necessitated by the death of the covered family member; (c) grieve the death of the covered family member; (d) be absent from work to due to (i) a miscarriage, (ii) an assisted reproduction technology procedure (as defined in the FBLA), (iii) a failed adoption match or an adoption that is not finalized because it is contested by another party, (iv) a failed surrogacy agreement, (v) a diagnosis that negatively impacts pregnancy or fertility, or (vi) a stillbirth. The term “covered family member” includes an employee’s child (son or daughter who is a biological, adopted, or foster child, or a legal ward), stepchild, spouse, domestic partner, sibling, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, grandparent, or stepparent. The FBLA does not create a right to take unpaid leave exceeding or in addition to the leave time permitted by the FMLA. The bereavement leave must be completed within 60 days after the date on which the employee receives notice of the death of the covered family member or the occurrence of the pregnancy-related or adoption-related event. In the event of the death of more than one covered family member in a twelve-month period, an employee may take up to a total of six weeks of unpaid bereavement leave in the twelve-month period. |
6.03 |
An employee shall provide his or her supervisor at least 48 hours’ advance notice that the employee intends to use bereavement leave, unless the employee can demonstrate that providing such notice is not reasonable and practicable. IIT reserves the right to require an employee to provide reasonable documentation to support the request for bereavement leave. This could include a death certificate, a published obituary, or other written verification of death, burial, or memorial services from a mortuary, funeral home, burial society, crematorium, religions institution, or government agency. For leave resulting from an event listed in paragraph 6.02(d) above, reasonable documentation shall include a form, to be provided by Human Resources, to be filled out by a health care practitioner who has treated the employee or the employee’s spouse or domestic partner, or surrogate, for an event listed in paragraph 6.02(d), or documentation from the adoption or surrogacy organization that the employee worked with, certifying that the employee or his or her spouse or domestic partner has experienced an event listed in paragraph 6.02(d), but the employee is not required to identify which category of event the leave pertains to. An employee may substitute any paid or unpaid leave available from IIT, which shall run concurrently with any bereavement leave. Further, should an employee be eligible for time under Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Illinois Family Bereavement Leave Act will also run concurrently. The FBLA does not give an employee the right to take unpaid leave that exceeds the unpaid leave time allowed under, or that is in addition to, unpaid leave permitted by the FMLA. |