Bereavement Leave

Overview

Free Law Project aims to support you through the loss of a loved one. One method of support is through time off for bereavement of a family member. "Family member" includes a spouse or partner, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, in-law, or any person with whom the employee had a close familial relationship, including chosen or household family. Employees who experience a reproductive loss event (i.e., a failed adoption, failed surrogacy, miscarriage, stillbirth, or an unsuccessful assisted reproduction) may use Bereavement paid time away and may additionally qualify for an unpaid leave of absence under the State and Federal Leaves of Absence Policy.

While we know the bond with a pet can be deeply meaningful, this policy is specifically intended to support employees grieving the loss of a human family member or loved one. If you are coping with the loss of a pet, please know you are welcome to use your sick or vacation time to take the space you need.

Eligibility

All employees are eligible for this policy.

Benefit

Employees may take up to 10 days per loss to attend a funeral and grieve for a family member (as defined above), or other loved one (defined as any person you hold dear and need time off to attend a funeral and grieve).

We realize the amount of time you will need will vary due to individual circumstances.

Discuss with your manager the appropriate length of time given the circumstances. You should then submit the request in writing with as much advance notice as possible given the circumstances.

Paid Leave

Paid bereavement leave is compensated at 100 percent of the employee’s regular salary according to our normal payment schedule.

Unpaid Leave

After taking paid leave, eligible employees may take additional unpaid leave, not to exceed 4 weeks of combined paid and unpaid leave.

Coordination with Other Policies

The company will maintain all benefits for employees during the paid bereavement period as if they were taking any other company paid leave such as paid vacation leave or paid sick leave. As such, paid time off and vacation days will not accrue while employees are on a bereavement leave.

Version history

Past versions of this handbook can be found in the revision history of this page. Prior to that, revisions are in our old HR repo on GitHub.