Faculty Rights Tip: Paid Bereavement Leave

It is never a “good” time to lose a beloved family member to illness or tragedy, and experiencing loss during the frenetic academic year only compounds stress and grief.

Our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) secures faculty the right to take a week (five workdays) of paid bereavement leave, upon the death of an immediate family member.

Article 23 states that:

“Upon request to the President, a faculty unit employee shall be granted a five (5) day leave of absence with pay for each death in the immediate family” (Article 23.1).

Our family structures are changing and evolving, and many of us have loved ones who may or may not meet the definition of “immediate family.”

In our CBA, “immediate family” is currently defined as:

“the employee’s spouse or domestic partner, parent, grandparent, grandchild, child, child-in-law, sibling, parent’s sibling, stepchild or stepparent of the employee, spouse or domestic partner, and close relative or persons residing in the immediate household of the employee (except domestic employees or roomers). Also included in this definition shall be any minor children or incapacitated individuals for whom the employee has primary responsibility or legal guardianship or conservatorship” (Article 23.3).

Seek out support for requesting bereavement leave if you are grieving the loss of a loved one in your family. While it is often the case that “the work will be there when we return” from leave, it matters that you care for yourself and take leave when tragedy strikes.

If you need additional assistance, contact your CFA chapter representatives on your campus.

Want to learn more? Become active with your local CFA chapter Faculty Rights team. Find your representative here.

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