The following are commonly asked questions regarding the Bereavement Leave Policy. Please click on the question to be directed to the relevant policy section.

I. Policy

The University of Puget Sound (the “university”) provides paid bereavement (funeral) leave for an eligible staff member to attend to family matters when there is a death of an immediate family member.

II. Eligibility and Scope

A regular full-time or part-time staff member may be granted up to three days of paid time off for bereavement in the event of a death in his or her immediate family. For purposes of this policy, “immediate family” includes a spouse, domestic partner, child (including an adopted child, foster child, step-child, and a child for whom a staff member is a legal guardian), parent (including legal guardian and step-parents), parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, sibling-in-law, or persons living in the same household. Bereavement leave is available in addition to a staff member’s other available, unused leave.

A staff member in a non-exempt position will be paid for bereavement leave at their regular hourly rate for all regularly scheduled work hours that fall within up to three days of paid time off for bereavement. Hours recorded as bereavement leave will not be included in the calculation of overtime.

A staff member in an exempt position should report bereavement leave in full-day increments. If the staff member works any part of the day, no leave should be reported.

Death of a “distant family member”: A regular full-time or part-time staff member may be granted time off with pay for up to one day to attend the funeral or memorial service of a relative not listed in the definition of “immediate family” above.

Death of a university faculty, staff member, or student: A supervisor or department head may approve bereavement leave for a staff member to attend local funerals or memorial services held for university faculty or staff colleagues or students.

Death of other individuals: Authorized time off to attend funerals or memorial services for others will be considered leave without pay. However, a staff member may request to use available vacation leave to cover the time off. A supervisor of a staff member in a non-exempt position can request or approve that the time off be made up within the workweek.

A department head may recommend an extension of bereavement leave under special circumstances (e.g., required travel, sole survivorship, estate settlement). Extension of bereavement leave must be approved by the area vice president and the Associate Vice President for Human Resources or their designee.

III. Notification

To be eligible for paid time off for bereavement, a staff member should notify his or her supervisor at the earliest opportunity so that the supervisor can try to arrange coverage for a staff member’s absence.

A staff member on paid vacation leave at the time of a family member’s death may be granted bereavement leave in the same manner as if the death had occurred while he or she was working.

Origination Date: 11/1975.
Revised: 1996, 3/16/2011, 4/2013.