MU Health Care provides Bereavement Leave in accordance with UM HR-412 to support employees during the difficult time following the loss of an eligible family member. Benefit-eligible employees may take paid time away from work to make funeral arrangements, attend services, manage post-death affairs, and grieve. This information is also available in Navex.
Eligible family members include the employee’s:
- Spouse
- Sponsored adult dependent
- Child (including stepchildren and foster children),
- Siblings,
- Parents (including stepparents and parents-in-law)
- Grandparents
- Great grandparents
- Grandchildren.
Employees in 1.0 FTE positions (40 hours per week) may receive up to 24 hours of Bereavement Leave. Those working less than full time receive prorated hours based on their FTE as follows:
| FTE |
Bereavement Leave Hours |
| 1.0 (40 hours per week) |
24 |
| 0.9 (36 hours per week) |
21.6 |
| 0.8 (32 hours per week) |
19.2 |
| 0.75 (30 hours per week) |
18 |
Bereavement Leave may be used from the date of death through the tenth calendar day after the funeral or memorial service. If additional time is needed, or if leave is required for non-eligible family members or outside this timeframe, employees may request to use available Paid Time Off (PTO) in accordance with UM HR-421. Note that unplanned absences related to Bereavement Leave should be managed in accordance with MUHC HR-5016: Staff Attendance & Tardiness – Policy.
Employees must notify their supervisor of an unplanned absence due to bereavement following MUHC HR-5016: Staff Attendance & Tardiness – Policy or departmental guidelines. If a supervisor needs more information before approving Bereavement Leave, they should consult with Employee Relations to discuss appropriate next steps.
Note that regardless of eligibility for Bereavement Leave, all employees and their household members have access to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which offers free emotional wellbeing solutions such as tools, resources, and counseling services. Learn more about EAP here.