Eligibility & Rights for Bereavement Leave in Michigan
Under the employment laws of Michigan, apart from requesting for leave for vacations, illness, medical and family reasons under the FMLA and paid time off (PTO), employees can also ask for bereavement leave which are taken upon the event of the death of an immediate family member.
Following are the details of getting a bereavement leave when working in an organization in the state of Michigan:
Bereavement Leave Michigan And Federal Law
Michigan does not have explicit laws or rules regulating the issuance of bereavement leave by the public and private sector of the employment industry in the state. Companies may put in place their own rules and policies regarding leave for family and relative deaths.
For Whom Can Employees Use Bereavement Leave Michigan
The bereavement leave can be used for close relatives and immediate family members including parents, children (foster, adopted, or natural), grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, stepparents, stepchildren, step siblings, spouses, committed partners who are interdependent with the employee emotionally and financially, and relatives-in-law.
How Much Time Off One Can Get For A Bereavement Leave Michigan
Deaths involving close or immediate family members account for reasonable time off which will be decided by the mutual agreement of the employee and the employer in accordance with the policies of the company. This time should be sufficient enough to allow the employee to arrange for the funeral, parting rites, and also grieve the loss of the loved one.
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For more distant relatives such as the passing of in-laws, the leave duration could be as short as a single working day on the day of the funeral or enough time to travel to the funeral and return if the arrangements have been made out of state.
Eligibility to take Bereavement Leave Michigan
While there is no explicit mention of the eligibility criteria for an employee wanting to take a bereavement leave, it is generally implemented across many organizations in Michigan that an employee should be working either full time or at least half-time to be eligible to request for a bereavement leave.
Before approving the leave, the employer may ask you for the death certification, obituary, or any other form of the certificate verifying the death of the individual as well as your relationship to the individual who has just passed away.
Rights Of Employees On Bereavement Leave Michigan
The employee can use their sick leave days as accrued leave days that can be approved as bereavement leave days by the employer upon request.
In the case that there is any form of dispute between the employee and the employer regarding the duration of leave that the latter should get or whether or they can use their accrued sick leave days for this purpose, the Michigan employment laws state that the employee will be given a leave of a minimum of 5 days.
