Funeral and Bereavement Policy

A business owner told me the story about an employee who shortly after she was hired told her employer that she need a day off to attend the funeral of a "church member." He did not have a policy regarding funerals so he allowed her to go to the funeral and because of the paperwork involved in deducting a day's pay paid her for the day.  A month later she requested another day for another "church member's" funeral. The second time he asked a few more questions. It turned out the new employee was on a church committee that aided with funerals and she expected to be able to take time off whenever her turn to help with a funeral came up, every four to six weeks. 

I am aware of another employee who was so devastated by the loss of their mother that a three day funeral leave turned into weeks and finally the employer had to replace the employee.

Our home building company once had to shut down a house under for construction for nearly a month when the carpentry crew who were all related went back to Mexico when a grandfather died. 

Some things you may consider:

·         You may want to establish a base line number of days for close family members such as spouse, parents, mother or father-in-law, children or siblings such as three days to make funeral arrangements and attend funeral.

·         A different policy should be established for extended family or close friends such as cousins or aunts and uncles such as one day.

·         Will you pay for the days off?

·         The policy needs to be flexible enough to cover situations where travel is involved or unusual circumstances. I had an employee quit when I told her that my policy (unwritten at the time) was one day off for extended family members. Her aunt had died and she had requested a week. Turns out her aunt had raised her and the Aunt was more of a mother than and aunt.

·         You may want to establish a maximum time off after which you will need to replace the employee.

As a small business your employees are often as much friends as employees. A written policy will deflect anger and protect the company.

Original Contenr copyright 2010 Thomas Robinson