Bereavement leave is a policy many companies have so that employees can deal with the grief associated with losing a loved one. Bereavement leaves applies to an employee losing a family member, including a spouse, parent, child, sibling or any other relationship.
The employee will need to inform his or her employer of the death immediately, and three days of paid leave are generally granted. This allows the employee to grieve in private and focus on his or her well-being while not focusing on work-related responsibilities. This also gives the grieving party time to plan and attend the funeral. All full-time employees should be capable of taking advantage of this policy should the need arise. Exceptions include a business that has unusual staffing requirements, and if that is the case, employees should be able to use any available vacation time.
Bereavement leave is usually a paid leave. Reasons for bereavement leave are serious illness or death of a family member or a friend.
Bereavement leave is leave taken by an employee due to the death of a family member. The time is usually taken by an employee to grieve the loss of a family member, prepare for and attend or make funeral arrangements, paying respects to the family at a wake or visitation, dealing with the deceased’s possessions or will, attend to any other immediate post-death matters and any ancillary matters that employees must address when a loved one dies.
There are multiple scenarios that may occur when it comes to bereavement leave. First of all, if your employer offers a bereavement leave, you should consult with him or her or your HR department about your contract conditions and company policy.
However, if the company does not offer a bereavement leave, employees have multiple options: take a few days off, take unpaid days off or decide to work from home.
For the company, this policy covers all regular employees and probationary employees who have served the company in good moral standing for three (3) months.
Here are the guidelines to be followed by the employee when opting to take a bereavement leave:
- An employee who wishes to take time off due to the death of an immediate family member should notify his or her immediate head as soon as possible. If an employee leaves work early on the day he or she is notified of the death, that day will not count as bereavement leave.
- Bereavement leaves will normally be granted unless there are unusual business needs or staffing requirements. Employee may also use their remaining credits of vacation leave which is subject for the Department Heads approval.
- Bereavement pay is calculated based on the base pay rate at the time of absence, and it will not include any special forms of compensation, such as incentives, commissions, bonuses, overtime or shift differentials.
- The company grants monetary assistance to the bereaved employee in the amount of Three Thousand Pesos Only (Php 3,000.00) for every deceased family member.
- Employees are allowed up to five (5) consecutive days off from regular scheduled duty with a regular pay in the event of the death of his/her spouse, children, step-children, parents and siblings.
- To be eligible for paid bereavement leave, the employee must present a DEATH CERTIFICATE as proof of death and relationship.