Require Documentation for Bereavement Leave?

Caroliso · May 2003

Do folks require something in writing from the employee who is taking funeral/bereavement leave?

Right now we just allow employees to put the leave on their timesheet. I'm considering adding something that requires an employee to document the request for leave (after the fact if necessary) so they are required to state who it is who passed away. I've read the other posts on bereavement policy and don't want to require announcements or leaflets from the service, at least not yet. I'm thinking just a note or an e-mail will suffice.

What do others do?

LindaS · May 2003

In my current company we simply take the employee's word but in a prvious company, we required documented proof for bereavement leave. This was typically in the form of an obituary or the handout from the funeral home. In some instances, I actually had employees present a "note" from the funeral director verifying that the employee was there. This requirement was something that was written into our CBA and was there when I started.

HRMaiden · May 2003

We have one form that we use for requesting any time off whether it be vacation, floating holiday, attendance bonus day, bereavement day or unpaid time off. On this form we require the employee to list the relationship of the deceased so that we can determine whether the leave falls within the guidelines of our bereavement policy. Other than this, we do not require any proof that the employee actually attended the funeral.

Lola815 · May 2003

ditto to HRMaiden. I also keep track of who the leave was for. so far we have not had any abuse with this policy.

JulieP · May 2003

We don't require any proof, we use the honor system. But, I do make a note on their attendance card stating who died in their family so that if they have 20 grandmothers or 5 mothers, etc. pass away, we know that something is wrong.

scottorr · May 2003

I agree with this. We take our employee's word but request the employee document the relationship of who has passed away to make sure the relationship falls with in our policy.

Require Documentation for Bereavement Leave?

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