Shawnee Love   •  
September 26, 2014

Companies that offer bereavement leave are common in Canada.  The specifics around how early an employee becomes entitled to the leave, the length of the leave, and whether or not it is paid are typically determined within organizations (as long as they meet or beat the minimum standards set by relevant employment law). This information in itself is not particularly blog worthy, but where things get interesting are the relationships that warrant bereavement leave.  Many companies rely on employment legislation to define whose death “warrants” bereavement leave and in Canadian employment law, that definition is typically limited to family. Lately, I have been hearing from clients wondering where to draw the line because employees are asking to broaden the definition. The right approach depends on your philosophy, current culture and what you are trying to achieve as an organization.  There may be plenty of good reasons to stick to the definition provided in employment legislation.  After all, it is widely understood and used, and there is some predictability on a macro level regarding how much bereavement leave will be requested in a typical year based on years past. On the other hand, if you want to offer more flexibility and/or don’t want people at work if their minds aren’t fully tuned to their jobs you might consider broadening your definition of whose death is eligible to include extended family, close friends, and even respected community members (e.g., elders in First Nations environments, pastors in churches, etc.) No matter which end of that spectrum you are on, the request that consistently raises eyebrows is:

What about bereavement leave to mourn a dead pet?

Some of you will be shaking your heads and wondering what next? Perhaps a day off to mourn the “death” of a favourite tv show or loss of a beloved pair of shoes? And practically, while it is difficult to get away with faking the death of a person, it is really easy to kill off a goldfish or iguana. However, for many, pets are family and treated like such.  You don’t have to go far to find a dog with a human name, wearing a coat, sleeping on a couch, or transported in a baby carriage, etc. When these pets die, their “families” grieve the loss of a loved one.  And isn’t that what bereavement leave is for.? What do you think?  Does the loss of a pet warrant bereavement leave?  Please comment below or take our poll[polldaddy poll=8333122].