Notes:

• Effective January 1, 2023, the Illinois Child Bereavement Act was changed to the Family Bereavement Act.
• This website is under review.

Notice related to COVID-19: Due to municipal restrictions on visitation, memorial, and/or funeral services related to shelter-in-place and social distancing guidelines, employees who experience the death of a family member or member of the household as outlined below may choose to delay usage of funeral/bereavement leave benefits until such time that the service is performed. Funeral/bereavement leave must be taken as a block of time when the family member relationship qualifies for more than one day of leave.

 Funeral leave grants employees paid time to attend the funeral, and for travel and bereavement time, upon the death of an employee's immediate family or certain other relatives.

Select one of the following links or scroll down for specific information:

Eligibility
Approval
Length of Leave
Benefits Continuation
Compensation
Resources

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Eligibility

Civil Service employees in a trainee, apprentice, provisional, or status appointment, and all academic staff members are eligible for funeral/bereavement leave.

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Approval

Upon request, eligible employees are granted funeral/bereavement leave when informing their supervisor of the need. Substantiation of the reason for funeral/bereavement leave may be required.

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Length of Leave

Employees are granted five days of paid leave for immediate family members, which includes:

• Father
• Mother
• Sister
• Brother
• Spouse
• Domestic Partner
• Civil Union Partner
• Child, including child of a same-sex domestic partner or civil union partner (if unborn, gestational age must be 20 or more weeks)
• Grandparent
• Grandchild, including grandchild of a same-sex domestic partner or civil union partner
• Individual in a biological, adopted, foster, legal ward, step or in loco parentis relationship
• In-law (grandmother-, grandfather-, mother-, father-, brother-, sister-, son-, and daughter-in-law), including a relative of a same-sex domestic partner or civil union partner (grandmother, grandfather, mother, father, brother, sister, son, and daughter)
• Member of the employee's household

Under the Illinois Child Bereavement Leave Act, employees otherwise eligible for Family and Medical Leave under Rule 11.07 are eligible for an additional five (5) unpaid days to attend the funeral, or an alternative to a funeral; to make arrangements necessitated by the death of the child; or to grieve the death of the child. Employees may use accrued leave benefits to remain in pay status while taking leave under this Act. The Act does not create a right for an employee to take unpaid leave that exceeds the unpaid leave time available under FMLA; therefore, employees who have exhausted their 12-week FMLA entitlement may not take the additional seven days under this Act. Leave provided under this Act must be used within 60 days after the employee receives notice of the death of his/her child. If an employee suffers the death of more than one child in any 12-month period, the employee is entitled to take up to six weeks of unpaid bereavement leave in the 12-month period.

Employees are granted one day of paid leave for a relative other than the above who is not a member of the employee's household - aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, or cousin of the employee. (Such relatives are regarded as members of the immediate family only if in residence in the employee's household.)

Relationships existing due to marriage will terminate upon the death or divorce of the relative through whom the marriage relationship exists. Current marital status will be defined in accordance with Illinois State law.

A designated supervisor may grant additional leave to an employee who cannot, because of special circumstances, return to work at the completion of the allowable funeral leave days. Such leave will be taken without pay, or accrued vacation time may be used.

 

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Benefits Continuation

While on funeral/bereavement leave, employees continue to receive the same State and University benefits as when actively working. All State-paid contributions continue.

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Compensation

Paid funeral/bereavement leave may be used only on days an employee is scheduled to work.

Civil Service employees receive 1/5 of the full-time weekly work schedule of the employee classification times the employee's percent time of appointment. These hours multiplied by the regular straight-time hourly rate (or benefit hourly rate) equals the amount of funeral/bereavement leave to be paid.

Academic staff members receive their regular salary while on paid funeral/bereavement leave.

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Resources

Select from the appropriate campus and/or employee group for specific information.

University System Policies

General Rules Concerning University Organization and Procedure

Policy and Rules for Civil Service Staff

Policy and Rules for Civil Service Staff is currently under review.

University Policies

Urbana: Bereavement Leave
Springfield: Contact the campus Human Resources Office.