FMLA - Bereavement

System

Hi there,

We have a situation where one of our employee's mother passed away. He will get one week for bereavement leave which will be paid for. Additionally, he has asked for an additional week off to care for his father and other family members. Since he will be using this time to care for his father who is grieving and needs his help, could this time be considered FMLA? His father is not truly ill but grieving and needs his assistance.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Rita M. Reed
Human Resources Manager

SMace

Give him the FMLA papers. If a doctor certifies that the father needs the son to care for him physically or emotionally it should be covered. Once you have the certification, then you can make your decision to grant it. You can always ask for a second opinion if you feel it's bogus. This does not sound like an unreasonable request depending on the circumstances. If you do fight it, be ready for an employee with his morale in the toilet.

System

Thank you so much for you advice. This is very helpful.

Rita

Rockie

Generally, FMLA does not cover these types of issues where there is a death in the family. This would not be considered a serious health condition under the law unless a physician certified that the father was so physically or emotionally distraught that he needed the care of his son.

Many individuals feel that FMLA would cover "after the fact" details of an illness such as funeral planning, sorting out the estate, etc. This is not the intent of FMLA.