{"id":752,"date":"2015-05-07T11:20:09","date_gmt":"2015-05-07T15:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/policies\/?page_id=752"},"modified":"2026-07-06T18:10:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T22:10:36","slug":"sympathy-leave","status":"publish","type":"r_policies_policy","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/policies\/sympathy-leave\/","title":{"rendered":"Employee Handbook – Section 304 Sympathy Leave"},"content":{"rendered":"

304 Sympathy Leave<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n

Sympathy Leave is an authorized paid absence from work granted when a death occurs in an employee\u2019s family.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

304.1\u00a0<\/span><\/b> Eligibility<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

All regular, full-time employees and regular, part-time employees scheduled to work at least 50% of the regularly scheduled workweek are eligible\u202fupon\u00a0hire\u00a0for Sympathy Leave.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

304.2\u00a0<\/span><\/b> Accrual\/Length of Leave\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Eligible employees may be granted up to three (3) days of Sympathy Leave\u202feach calendar year for the death of a family member, unless otherwise required by applicable law.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

304.3\u00a0<\/span><\/b> Usage<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Paid Sympathy Leave may only be taken in hourly, half-day, or full-day increments on regularly scheduled, consecutive workdays following the family member\u2019s death, unless otherwise required by applicable law.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For purposes of Sympathy Leave, family members include the employee\u2019s spouse, parents, parents-in-law, children-in-law, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, children, members of the same household or any other relation required by applicable law.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If an employee\u00a0requires\u00a0more than the three-day\u202fSympathy Leave period, or\u00a0in the event of\u00a0an absence from work due to the death of a person who is not a family member, an employee may request\u00a0additional\u00a0time off from\u202ftheir supervisor. The\u00a0additional\u00a0time off must be charged to\u00a0applicable\u00a0accrued\u202fpaid time, unless otherwise required by applicable law.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

304.4<\/span><\/b> Compensation and Benefits<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Sympathy Leave is paid at the employee\u2019s base rate of pay at the time of absence for the number of hours the employee otherwise would have worked that day.\u00a0Sympathy Leave is not counted as hours worked for purposes of calculating overtime.\u00a0Employees\u00a0maintain\u00a0their regular pay and benefits while absent from work on\u202fan approved Sympathy Leave.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

304.5 Requests and Approvals<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Employees should request Sympathy Leave from their immediate supervisor\u202fvia a Time Off Request in Employee Self Service, by informing them of the death and the number of days requested.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In administering this policy, the University may require verification of death and relation to the deceased, to the extent\u00a0permitted\u00a0by applicable law.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

304.6 Other Provisions<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Sympathy Leave provided\u00a0pursuant to\u00a0this policy will run concurrently with any other applicable leave of absence for covered reasons, to the maximum extent\u00a0permitted\u00a0by applicable law.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"parent":0,"template":"","responsible-office":[195],"policy-category":[2216,12,222],"policy-type":[544],"keyword":[588],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/policies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/policies\/752"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/policies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/policies"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/policies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/r_policies_policy"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/policies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"r_policies_office","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/policies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/responsible-office?post=752"},{"taxonomy":"r_policies_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/policies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/policy-category?post=752"},{"taxonomy":"r_policies_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/policies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/policy-type?post=752"},{"taxonomy":"r_policies_keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/policies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}