Worker's Bereavement Leave Denied By HR After Corporate Says A Death Certificate Is Insufficient 'Proof'
To further burden the employee during a time of personal tragedy is truly insulting.
Antonio Guillem | Shutterstock Losing a loved one is a painful and devastating experience, one that demands kindness and compassion. Yet one employee on Reddit was denied bereavement leave by his work, drawing attention to the overwhelming lack of empathy within the corporate world.
The worker's bereavement leave was denied by HR after corporate said a death certificate was insufficient 'proof.'
In a since-deleted Reddit post, the employee explained that his father tragically passed away two weeks ago. He requested two days of bereavement leave from work to cope with the loss and provided a death certificate as proof.
Bereavement leave laws vary from state to state and unfortunately, there is no federal law requiring employers to provide it. While this Redditor's company technically offered bereavement leave, HR demanded additional evidence from the grieving worker.
The employee received an email from HR claiming that because the death certificate did not specifically include the employee’s name or relationship to the deceased, further proof was necessary to approve his requested leave. They suggested providing a letter from a funeral home or an obituary that included the employee's name.
The Redditor found this demand to be both confusing and deeply insulting. While it is not unheard of for a company to request documentation, an official official death certificate is universally recognized as valid proof of death. Yet it wasn't enough for this worker to qualify for his company’s bereavement leave policy.
The response from HR was not just frustrating but also emotionally distressing.
Losing a loved one is a deeply personal experience, and for many, the time following a death is filled with grief, shock, and a range of emotional challenges. The request for additional proof at such a sensitive time feels not only unnecessary but downright cruel. No work is so important that an employee should be prevented from taking time off following the death of a parent.
The grieving employee added that their family wasn't holding a traditional funeral, and they have not yet published an obituary, which complicated the process of providing further documentation.
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Different people and cultures honor their loved ones in various ways, and not every family chooses to publish an obituary or hold a traditional funeral service. Yet, the company’s rigid demand for specific documentation failed to recognize these differences and showed a complete lack of sensitivity and empathy.
This situation raised significant questions about the nature of bereavement leave policies in the corporate world.
Unfortunately, "the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require payment for time not worked, including attending a funeral," the U.S. Department of Labor notes. "This type of benefit is generally a matter of agreement between an employer and an employee."
As to be expected nowadays, when decisions are left up to corporations, money and greed often take precedence over human compassion.
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While companies need to have protocols in place to verify eligibility for leave, they must also recognize the human aspect of grief. Rigid policies that demand additional paperwork from grieving employees, can harm both the employee’s well-being and their perception of their employer’s support.
The issue here isn’t just about whether or not the company was within its rights to ask for more documentation. It’s about the lack of flexibility and empathy in dealing with personal tragedies.
Grief is unpredictable, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to handling the aftermath of a death. Not all families follow the same traditions or have the same resources, and the need for compassion in these moments should outweigh rigid bureaucratic requirements.
Erika Ryan is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news, and human interest topics.