Incredibly, NC doesn’t give many state employees bereavement leave | Opinion
Unfortunately, each of us will probably experience the death of a loved one while we’re working full-time. In that painful moment of crisis, the last thing on our minds should be clocking in at work for the day. Yet, for our state employees who face a loss, that’s exactly what happens.
Bereavement leave is generally commonplace: about 90% of North Carolina companies provide between three and five days of paid leave for the death of a close family member. But for our hundreds of thousands of state employees and teachers, there is no guaranteed leave when a loved one dies. And because bereavement leave is seen as standard in the private sector, many public employees might only discover they do not have this benefit when they are faced with the death of a loved one — as was the case for me.
I was a senior advisor in the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services when my father died suddenly on March 14, 2020. As I was navigating the burial process in the midst of the COVID pandemic, my manager contacted Human Resources to inquire how many days our bereavement leave policy was, only to learn that this designation doesn’t exist. Since then, I have heard similar stories, like the UNC-Chapel Hill employee who exhausted her paid leave and “worked remotely many days from the ICU” while her mother was ill, only to have no leave left when she died. And, the Department of Justice attorney who described piecemeal leave policies as “a Band-Aid on a bullet hole” when she had just watched her father take his last breath.
When a death occurs, state employees must have vacation or sick leave already accrued to use for paid bereavement leave. Public school employees may also be able to use their two annual personal leave days for bereavement, however at least five days’ advance notice must be given.
Neither the Federal Medical Leave Act, — which is unpaid — nor the state’s Family Illness Leave can be used for bereavement. The state does not track how employees use any leave for bereavement, so we have no data on how they manage (or don’t) to cover their pay. Those experiencing a death shouldn’t have to face the additional indignity of cobbling together leave. They deserve a straightforward policy for paid time off.
Bereavement leave is an essential benefit for all employers to provide, particularly in a post-pandemic economy. Employees are given some time and space to grieve with loved ones, instead of being pressured back into an untenable work environment — which can have a high price tag when it comes to reduced productivity and absenteeism. One study put that cost at $75 billion.
Our neighbors in South Carolina and Tennessee have implemented bereavement leave for their public employees. So why haven’t we?
Well, we’ve tried. Between 2005 and 2016, six bills were filed for three days of paid, non-accruable bereavement leave for public employees in North Carolina. None made it out of committee.
This year, we’re going to try again. Rep. Zack Hawkins, a former public school teacher and current state employee, is championing access to bereavement leave. “I know firsthand what it feels like to not have bereavement leave as a state employee,” said Hawkins, who has lost both his son and his mother. “It doesn’t make sense — three days of leave should be a minimum when someone close to you dies.”
Rep. Vernetta Alston, who plans to co-sponsor new legislation alongside Hawkins, said: “After over a decade of attempts to pass this legislation, now is the time to make this simple change for our state employees.”
Those on the front lines of supporting our state and our children do not have the support they deserve. Bereavement leave is the basic expectation of care we should provide to those in our workforce who are grieving. Let’s get behind bereavement leave for North Carolina’s state employees, once and for all.
Rebecca Feinglos is founder of GrieveLeave.com, and is a former senior policy advisor for the NC Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Mandy Cohen.
