Riel Hishon (York University – Osgoode Hall Law School) has posted Grieving Should Not Be a Privilege: Recommended Changes to Bereavement Leave in Ontario on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This paper examines legislation and government policy regarding bereavement leave. The aim of this paper is to compare Ontario’s current bereavement leave policies to those in other jurisdictions, and provide recommendations on how Ontario’s policies can be improved. Recommendations provided include: 1) expand the definition of who the employee can take bereavement leave for (on the occasion of their death); 2) increase the total number of days of bereavement leave offered to five days; 3) require that one of the five days of leave be paid if the death is of an immediate family member; 4) remove the requirement that a person have been an employee for two consecutive weeks prior to taking bereavement leave; and 5) mirror Quebec’s categories of extended leave. Bereavement leave is critical to the mental health of those who have experienced a loss and these changes will improve the mental health of workers and contribute to the de-stigmatization of grief. Grieving should not be a privilege reserved for those who have enough savings and vacation days to afford it.