Family Bereavement Leave Act

The Family Bereavement Leave Act (FBLA) provides employees who suffer the loss of a covered family member with up to a maximum of ten (10) unpaid days of leave for employees to:

Attend the funeral (or alternative to a funeral) of a child of the covered family member;
Make arrangements necessitated by the death of the covered family member; or
Grieve the death of the covered family member.
Be absent from work due to the following event:

A miscarriage or stillbirth.
An unsuccessful round of intrauterine insemination or an assisted reproductive technology procedure.
A failed surrogacy agreement.
A diagnosis that negatively affects pregnancy or fertility.
A failed adoption match or an adoption that is not finalized because it is contested by another party.

Employees may take leave for the loss of a spouse, domestic partner, sibling, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, grandparent, stepparent, or biological, adopted, foster, or step son or daughter, a legal ward, or a child for whom the employee stood in loco parentis.

The leave must be used within 60 days of the date on which the employee receives notice of the death of the covered family member. In the event of the death of more than one covered family member in a 12-month period, an employee may take up to a total of 6 weeks of bereavement leave during the 12-month period.

An employee shall provide at least 48 hours’ notice that the employee intends to use the leave, unless such notice is impracticable. Bereavement leave must be completed within 60 days after the employee receives notice of the death of the covered family member or the date on which a miscarriage, stillbirth, failed adoption or surrogacy agreement, or other covered fertility-related reasons occurs.

For more information, including how to request a leave and submit any required documentation under the Family Bereavement Leave Act, contact the Benefits Team online or call (312) 362-8232.