Should bereavement leave be made legal?

The policy of granting compassionate leave varies from company to company. Taru Bahl wonders if a clear rule will help

Across the workplace, managers are increasingly sensitised on being empathetic, especially when employees have suffered bereavement. Apart from understanding what the person is going through, there is the need to sanction leave, which is neither a favour nor something that has to be fought for, but part of company HR policy and, therefore, ‘legitimate’ or paid leave.

In the West, bereavement leave is authorised, with paid time off. A fixed or prorated amount is accrued and paid to the employee with the company granting time off. Despite the high costs this entails, companies offer this benefit to build loyalty and retain talented employees. Typically, employees use up to three days of accrued sick leave with two additional days thrown in to attend, arrange or manage funeral services.

 

Where this aspect of employee rights and benefits is concerned, terminology too has evolved to convey changing mindsets. In its earlier avatar, ‘funeral’ leave was granted for a specific physical function, allowing the employee who may be in a nuclear family set-up to fulfill obligations. This was later referred to as ‘bereavement’ leave which factored in intangibles like grief and trauma. ‘Dependent’ leave was slightly more amorphous which, apart from ‘grief management’, took into account things like taking a day off for a dependent mother’s cataract surgery. At present, many Indian companies that do not have a formal bereavement policy, take refuge in the loosely termed ‘compassionate’ leave.

A US-based company working in the social development sector minutely outlines what comprises ‘compassionate and special personal leave’, specifying that in case of an immediate family member’s demise, the employee is entitled to a maximum of three days’ paid leave a year for funeral services. Members of immediate family are defined as spouse or domestic partner, child (including stepchild and adopted child), grandchild, parent (natural, adoptive or step), brother or sister, grandparent, and spouse’s/domestic partner’s parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters. If additional days are required, the employee has to use the accumulated privilege leave or else take leave without pay.

The larger question is what, or rather who, qualifies as “close”? Is it just confined to immediate family which includes parents, siblings and spouse or does it take into account cousins, friends, soulmates, significant others and partners? Also, what about leave when one has lost a pet, who was perhaps one’s only living companion?

Leading integrated infrastructure services company, Human Capital at Feedback Ventures introduced a special bereavement policy five years ago, which allowed employees to take leave for five days, excluding the weekend. It takes into account the immediate family — parents, spouse and siblings — but not the significant other. “At least not yet,” says Rumjhum Chatterjee, the company’s MD and group head. “We also try and have one person from the company visit the employee and family to convey condolences personally. Any other assistance, financial or otherwise, that may be required is also offered,” she adds.

Companies which do not have a formal bereavement policy would rather have discretionary powers to review a leave application on a case-to-case basis, fearing that an ‘open’ policy would be grist to a conscience-less employee’s mill. The key is to determine if the employee’s request is ‘reasonable’. Specifically, see how much leave is being asked for; how many times in the past has he availed of leave under similar circumstances; nature of the company’s work and if it can cope ably in the employee’s absence. When making an exception, the company may wish to keep the details private, lest it become a precedent.

Managers in sectors and companies known to have sound HR policies agree it is their role to encourage a supportive environment and ensure individuals are treated with respect. They agree that from a company’s point of view, it may be a difficult decision to make regarding “special” leave. But it cannot discount empathy for those who have lost someone close to them without quantifying or defining them in company policies. As Vishruta Kaul, associate, Desai & Diwanji, a leading corporate law firm based in New Delhi says, “Offering bereavement leave is entirely a matter of internal company policy”.

(Taru Bahl is a Delhi-based freelance writer)