The City of Stow recognizes that a death in the family creates a very difficult time and seeks to ensure that the employee is able to attend to important family matters. To that end, the City has adopted the following guidelines for bereavement leave.
(a) Eligibility. All full-time City employees are eligible for bereavement pay.
(b) Notice of Bereavement Leave. Employees shall make their request for bereavement leave to their supervisor in writing as soon as possible.
(c) Bereavement Leave: Immediate Family.
(1) Absence due to a death in an employee's immediate family will be excused and paid up to a maximum of three (3) eight-hour days. "Immediate Family" is defined as the employee's or spouse's grandparents, brother, sister, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, father, father-in-law, mother, mother-in-law, spouse, child, grandchild, a legal guardian, or other who stands in the place of a parent.
(2) Additional days may be granted using paid or unpaid time. The duration and starting date of a bereavement leave will depend on such factors as distance to be traveled and responsibility of the individual. This is a matter of supervisory decision on a case by case basis.
(d) Computation of Pay. Pay for bereavement leave is computed at the regular hourly rate to a maximum of eight (8) hours for one day.
(e) Unpaid Leave for Employees who are Not Eligible for Bereavement Leave. Unpaid leave shall be available for employees not eligible for paid bereavement leave (i.e. part-time employees).
(f) Evidence for Bereavement Leave. Upon making and/or requesting leave under this provision, the employee may be required by the City to furnish verification of the absence, including proof of death, relationship to the deceased, and/or proof or attendance at the funeral prior to granting and/or paying bereavement leave.
(g) Bereavement Leave Not be Granted. Bereavement leave will not be applicable (granted and paid) if the death in the immediate family occurs while the employee is on a leave of absence, layoff, or absent for any other reason (except vacation).
(h) Collective Bargaining Agreements Prevail. Employees who are subject to a collective bargaining unit should reference their respective Collective Bargaining Agreement for bereavement (extraordinary) leave policy. Where any provisions of this bereavement leave policy conflict with the terms of one of the City's Collective Bargaining Agreements, the terms of such CBA(s) shall prevail.
(Ord. 2010-167. Passed 10-28-10.)