Parental Bereavement Act Would Amend FMLA to Provide Leave Upon Death of a Child
Earlier this month, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) introduced the Parental Bereavement Act (S. 1358), which would expand the Family and Medical Leave Act to provide job-protected leave due to the death of an employee's son or daughter. In a press release, Sen. Tester said he introduced the bill because the "last thing [parents] should be worrying about is whether they’ll lose their jobs as they deal with life-changing loss." The Act would allow leave "because of the death of a son or daughter," and it assumes leave would be taken in one block. Like bonding leave, bereavement leave could be taken intermittently only if the employer agrees. Like the FMLA itself, the bill would apply only to employers of 50 or more employees.
Although the Parental Bereavement Act currently has no co-sponsors, it likely has a better chance of passage than the recently-introduced FMLA Inclusion Act (H.R. 2364, S. 1283), which would provide unpaid leave to care for a same-sex spouse or partner, parent-in-law, adult child, sibling, grandchild or grandparent. The latter bill, which has been introduced in Congress several times before, likely would not enjoy the support of a Republican-controlled House of Representatives, even if it were to pass the Senate.
These bills are among several legislative initiatives that have been introduced in Congress over the past year to amend (and often enlarge) the scope of the FMLA. The latest proposal under the Parental Bereavement Act is intriguing, since it builds upon a grass roots initiative imploring Congress to pass legislation providing job-protected leave upon the death of a child. The initiative is led by Kelly Farley and Barry Kluger, both of whom lost children at a very young age. Realizing that he could not take FMLA-protected leave upon his daughter's death (because it is not provided for under the FMLA), Farley instead submitted FMLA paperwork seeking leave to care for his wife, who was dealing with depression in the aftermath of the tragic event. In reality, he suggests, he needed leave to care for himself.
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Comments (4)
Read through and enter the discussion by using the form at the endKelly Farley - July 26, 2011 8:34 AM
Jeff,
Thank you for sharing this important legislative issue here on FMLA Insights. As a bereaved father myself and fully engaged in the grass roots initiative to make this important change, I am encouraged that Senator Testor has introduced the Parental Bereavement Act. The passage of this bill will provide much needed support for parents that find themselves trying to start the healing process after such a profound loss.
Peace.
Kelly Farley
Robin Zimmerman - August 5, 2011 3:43 PM
I lost my wife and mother of my children 3 years ago. I was treated well by my work and was allowed ("anytime I needed"). I had 8 weeks of sick leave available but could not use them since no one was sick ( late someone suggested to have my doctor listed off work for stress but at the time your mind does not think of rational ways to work around the rules). So I took what time I could afford. I started a bill here in Oregon to amend the Oregon Family leave act. The legislative session ran out before the bill. SB506 in Oregon, was able to make it to a vote. I am happy to see this being done on a national level. I bill was passed in California requiring employers give 3 days paid for the death of a family member.
With Hope and prayers
Robin Zimmerman
Drenna Shive - September 7, 2011 11:15 AM
I am a Human Resources Manager and regularly handle FMLA requests. As far as who I work for here in Missouri (and other area employers), we offer three days of bereavement leave with pay and if someone needs additional time, we do excuse leave up to one week in total. In cases where an employee may lose their son or daughter and need time away from work, I would assume the route they would take (under the exisitng FMLA regulations) is to seek counseling and request medical FMLA should a diagnosis support their FMLA request. I have had such instances in the past and in ALL cases, the employee was diagnosed with something that qualified him/her under the current regs....in addition, MOST employers are compassionate enough to allow sufficient time off from work in these situations. For those who don't, well, I suppose this is why we have such laws to make the few fall in line with what the rest of us are essentially already doing and have been doing for years.
Marguerite O'Connor - September 15, 2011 12:11 PM
I appreciate the healthy focus and continued dialogue on this important topic. Thanks very much.