Bereavement Leave

[Cletus918]

This station is my first station I've been employed full time, and I was wondering what kind of bereavement leave is given to other stations employees. Last Friday my grandpa died, and so I took the day to be with the family. I found out on Monday any additional time beyond Friday's 8 hours had to be taken out of my vacation. For a grandparent, I feel it's worth at least 2 days. After looking in our employee handbook, I see that If it's a parent, sibling, or one of your children that's the only time you qualify for 2 days of leave (At least 4 days in my opinion). Is everyone else's bereavement "package" as ****ty as this? Should I automatically assume this is going to be the same everywhere I go?

[austinsatguy]

Way back in the early 90's when I worked at KENS-TV in San Antonio I took 3 days of for my father death. I was charged two vacation days. Our management truly had a big heart.....

Bill

[Chicago Dog]

First off, sorry to hear about your grandfather. A death in the family is never easy to deal with, and I wish you the best.

Second, it really depends on who you work for. I've had family emergencies in the past (not a death): I was allowed to use sick days instead of vacation days. That was a relief, especially since I used what few vacation days I had to visit family back home when I lived so far away.

You might be able to sway them and use up a couple sick days instead, especially if you live far from home like I did.

Good luck!

[cameradog]

It sounds to me as though you're not feeling very well after your grandfather's passing. The trauma has made you ill. You should just call in sick and use a sick day. If they challenge you on it, offer to come to work and puke on their desks.

[shootist]

i've always thought that i'll take what you give me....then take what i need and we'll sort it out later.

so far at my current company (20+ years) it's been an issue only twice. first was the death 10 years ago of the man my mother married about 10 years earlier. technically my "stepfather" but really not if you know what i mean. found out that "stepfather" gets you 0 days. now for me? no biggie....but i suggested that anyone seriously connected with a stepparent refer to the deceased as "parent" if they need the time.

anyway...i said i needed bereavement time....they said i got none because he wasn't my real father. i told them i don't need the time for me but for my aging mother...as in helping her arrange things like a funeral...wills/paperwork...house plans...life plans...

response? no time coming. i told them that i'd be leaving town that evening and returning when everything's handled. expect 3 days...could be more...could be less and i'll call in "sick" each morning until i'm ready to come back. i told them i was doing what i felt necessary and they could do the same. anyway, they accepted the "sick" days without comment as expected...but the reality was i made a decision to what i needed to do and would deal with whatever they came up with. apparently they realized the same thing.

2 years ago an aunt died. my mother was wintering in florida and flew to her sister's bedside for the last few days. I found out i receive 1 bereavement day for an aunt...so i left town at 4:00am to drive across the state (5 hours) for a 10:00 funeral and apres-funeral activities....then helped move my aunt's belongings (apartment) to her daughter's place in Philly (another 2 1/2 hours)...left Philly around 11:00 driving my mom home and got in around 4:00am.

i was a zombie the whole next day at work so what would have been the bad thing about getting a second day?

[Eightmile]

It does make you wonder if, in the future, with more kids that were raised in split families or by grandparents grow up and enter the workforce, how much that will change. I know one set of grandparents were like an extra set of parents for me and hold them in the same regard. I'd probably need as much time for a parent death when they go.

[servo]

Dad died, got 5 days.

[cameragod]

We have an interesting complication in New Zealand. It’s called a Tangi – Maori funeral practice (http://www.griefcare.org.nz/options/tangi.html). They take about a week and as they are a cultural thing management cannot decline time off to attend them as that would be seen as discrimination.

[newz2me]

A friend of mine I worked with had his Grandfather die while he was on vacation visiting home and they converted 3 of his days into bereavement leave and gave him back 3 vacation days.

[detroitsprings]

My station gives 5 days, My mother passed away a month ago, they have me a 15 days, I work for a great station. family is a big deal here.

[A Step Above Productions]

My grandfather died back in 1999 and the station gave me over a week of time off. Not sick days not vacation time just paid days off. I was told that I should come back when I was ready and not a day sooner. They were great and it helped me knowing I had nothing to worry about, I was able to spend time with my family. They also sent flowers to my parents house.

The time off wasn't company policy - I just had a great GM and ND who put family first.

[LongTimePhotog]

My station gave me 5 days for my father-in-law this year. He was out of state so maybe that made a difference. Our plan is 1 day for a cousin, aunt/uncle, 2 for a grand parent and 5 for parents or children. The 5 is just a guide though, some have gotten up to 10 for a parent/child.

[Sore Shoulder]

When my grandpa died the station I was at gave me 3 days.
At a different station when my grandma died they gave me 3 days.
My last station when my close friend died I got none. Had to mark the day of
the funeral as if I worked, then give them a day later when I appeared not to have worked.

[Land Rover]

We have Family Leave / Sick days but I don't know if there is anything different for bereavement, I'll have to check. We do get a lot of sick days here so I'm thinking they consider it all the same. You should get at least two days for a member of the family no matter what. Its insensitive not to.

[photogisme]

10 years ago I lost my Grandma. She lived next door to me and was like a 2nd Mom. The assignment manager at the station I worked for said:

"Do you have to have a day off for both the wake AND the funeral? They're pretty much the same thing and we're really short handed."

I did go to the wake AND the funeral and they tried to guilt trip me. I left that station not long after.

To answer your question, my current station offers 3days.

[Latin Lens]

Sorry to hear about your loss.....I just lost my grandma two months ago.....and my station has a 3 day bereavement policy.....it sucks because it hardly seems like enough time.....but if I needed more time I could have pulled from vacation, sick, or personal days.

[shooterguy]

This station is my first station I've been employed full time, and I was wondering what kind of bereavement leave is given to other stations employees. Last Friday my grandpa died, and so I took the day to be with the family. I found out on Monday any additional time beyond Friday's 8 hours had to be taken out of my vacation. For a grandparent, I feel it's worth at least 2 days. After looking in our employee handbook, I see that If it's a parent, sibling, or one of your children that's the only time you qualify for 2 days of leave (At least 4 days in my opinion). Is everyone else's bereavement "package" as ****ty as this? Should I automatically assume this is going to be the same everywhere I go?

My station's the same as yours. The heartless bastards in TV news don't care about that. There's no one to take your place if you don't work your regularly scheduled shift because they've trimmed so much staff and don't want to pay OT.