I came across a blog post yesterday by Michael Maslanka, who, while during some pro bono work, tried to assist an employer in crafting a fair and legally sound corporate bereavement policy.
After talking through the “usual suspects” of loved ones that would qualify an employee for bereavement leave — undoubtedly, a spouse, child, parent, grandparent and sibling — Maslanka says he raised the issue of nontraditional relationships like same-sex partners, step-parents and perhaps even friends or opposite-sex cohabitating partners.
