Family Bereavement Leave Act FAQs

The Family Bereavement Leave Act (FBLA) entitles eligible employees to up to 2 weeks (10 workdays) of unpaid bereavement leave  to attend the funeral (or alternative to a funeral) of a covered family member, make arrangements necessitated by the death, or to grieve following: the death of a covered family member, stillbirth, miscarriage, unsuccessful reproductive procedure, failed adoption match or unfinalized adoption agreement, failed surrogacy agreement, or diagnosis that negatively impacts pregnancy or fertility. 

An employee is eligible for FBLA leave after working for an employer for at least 12 months prior to requesting FBLA and working at least 1,250 hours of service with their employer during the prior 12-month period. All employers covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) must comply with the leave time requirements of the FBLA. In other words, if an employer provides employees with FMLA leave, then their employees are eligible for FBLA leave.

The FBLA does not exempt eligible employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement. In other words, if an employee meets the other eligibility requirements, then they are covered by the FBLA, even if they are covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

Under the FBLA,  a “covered family member” is a child, stepchild, spouse, domestic partner, sibling, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, grandparent, or stepparent.

Unfortunately, no. The FBLA only entitles eligible employees to FBLA leave for the death of a covered family member. 

Under the FBLA, "child” means an employee’s son or daughter who is a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco parentis.

Under the Act, there are two situations where a person is considered a “domestic partner” of an employee. The first situation is where the person is recognized as the domestic partner of the employee under any domestic partnership agreement or civil union of law of a state of political division of a state. The second situation is where an unmarried adult person who is in a committed, personal relationship with the employee, who is not a domestic as described in (a) and who is not in a committed relationship with another person, AND who is designated to the employer by the employee as the employee’s domestic partner.

Eligible employees are entitled to up to 2 weeks (10 workdays) of unpaid bereavement leave time following any of the events listed under the FBLA. Employees are entitled to up to 6 weeks of leave in the event of multiple qualifying events in a 12-month period. In other words, an employee is entitled to enough FBLA to cover 3 qualifying events in a 12-month period. 

Yes, FBLA leave must be completed within 60 days after the date on which the employee receives notice of the death of a covered family member or event that qualifies the employee for FBLA leave.

FBLA leave can only be used by an employee if a qualifying event occurs, and it must be used within 60 days of being notified of the qualifying event. However, paid leave under the Paid Leave for All Workers Act entitles employees with up to 40 hours of paid leave per year that they can use for any reason of their choosing.

No. An employee may choose to substitute any paid leave time an employer provides for time taken under the FBLA. For example, if an employer provides 3 paid days of bereavement leave, an employee may choose to substitute 3 of their unpaid FBLA leave with the 3 days of paid bereavement leave, leaving the employee with 7 days of unpaid bereavement leave. However, an employer cannot require an employee to use any paid leave time to cover the 10 unpaid bereavement leave days required by the FBLA.

Yes. The FBLA entitles eligible employees with up to 10 workdays of unpaid bereavement leave to be used within 60 days of receiving notice of the qualifying event. If an employer provides paid bereavement leave to their employees, this would be in addition to the unpaid FBLA leave UNLESS the employee chooses to substitute any unpaid FBLA days with paid leave.

An employee must provide their employer with at least 48 hours’ advance notice of the employee’s intent to take FBLA leave, unless providing such notice is not reasonable and practicable.

Employers may require employees to provide reasonable documentation from an employee requesting FBLA leave. However, the employer may not require that the employee identify which category of event the leave pertains to. Reasonable documentation may include a birth certificate, a published obituary, or written verification of death, burial, or memorial services from a mortuary, funeral home, burial society, crematorium, religious institution, or government agency.

Reasonable documentation may also be provided by a health care practitioner or an adoption or surrogacy organization, or on a form provided on IDOL’s website. Download the FBLA documentation form here.

Employers may require an employee requesting FBLA leave to provide reasonable documentation for the leave. However, an employer may not require an employee to identify which category of event the FBLA leave pertains to as a condition of applying for or receiving leave. 

In the event of more than one qualifying event in a 12-month period, an eligible employee is entitled to up to a total of 6 weeks of bereavement leave during the 12-month period. In other words, an eligible employee may have enough FBLA leave to cover three qualifying events in a 12-month period. The Act does not allow an employee to take unpaid leave time that exceeds the total unpaid leave time protected under FMLA (12 weeks). For example, if an employee has used 10 weeks of FMLA and 2 weeks of FBLA leave in a 12-month period, and the employee experiences another qualifying event under the FBLA, the employer would not be entitled to additional FBLA leave since it would exceed the total unpaid leave time protected under the FMLA.

If you believe that your employer is not complying with the FBLA, you can file a complaint with the Leave Rights Division of the Illinois Department of Labor. To download a FBLA complaint form, click here. 

No. The FBLA states that “a person who uses leave under the Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act because of the death of a child may not take leave under this Act because of the death of the same child.” 820 ILCS 154/35. 

Any eligible employee (an individual who has worked for an employer for the 12-month period prior to requesting the leave and has actively worked at least 1,250 hours during the previous 12-month period ) may file a FBLA complaint with IDOL. FBLA complaint forms are available on IDOL’s website. To download a FBLA complaint form, click here.

A FBLA complaint form is available on the Illinois Department of Labor website. For more information about FBLA, contact the IDOL Leave Rights Division at:

o   DOL.LeaveRights@illinois.gov

o   312-793-2600

A FBLA complaint must be filed with IDOL within 60 days after the date of the last event constituting the alleged violation for which the action is brought. Employees may also file a private civil action in the circuit court of the county in which they worked.  

No, because FBLA complaints cannot be filed anonymously. FBLA complaints are specific to each individual complainant’s circumstances. Anonymous complaints cannot be investigated.

Your complaint will be reviewed by the Leave Rights Division staff. If your complaint moves forward to an investigation, it will be assigned to a Labor Conciliator who will reach out to the employee. 

No, an employee does not need an attorney to file a FBLA complaint with IDOL.

Additional questions may be directed to the IDOL Leave Rights Division, at

o   DOL.LeaveRights@illinois.gov

o   312-793-2600