Take all the time you need...

[LillFilly]

The 'I don't care who's dying' thread reminded me of something a manager I worked with told me.

He was a manager at another company. He had one girl that didn't like to work much, didn't come-in, called-out a lot, etc. One day he got a call from her that she'd had an unexpected death in the immediate family! So he did all the forms to give her bereavment, etc. He and other employees covered her shifts for a week. When she finally came back he asked her how she was doing, was it a nice funeral, etc. She went into detail how all the family got together, the ceremony was beautiful, everyone had been so supportive, etc.

He then asked her, if he could, which family member had passed.

.....

Her cat.

...............................

HER CAT!!!!

Needless to say he kind of flipped-out on her about what bereavment leave is supposed to be used for. She was upset because she didn't understand why her cat didn't qualify.

Wow.

[Bright_Star]

I'm just...I was....I mean....a CAT???.

[Bliss]

Well, not to become the defender here, I know it's not the same as a human relative, but our cat is a very close member of our family of three (including him) and the day he's gone, I know it'll be a huge hit on us.

[lupo pazzesco]

I can understand mourning the loss of a pet. They are, in a sense, family.

On the other hand. A weeks bereavement leave to have a funeral for a cat? Not so much, no. I think the girl was a few fries short of a happy meal.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I won't begrudge the co-worker for mourning her pet.

I do, however, think an entire week off work is a bit excessive. Especially if it's going to be paid time off. A day or two might be more reasonable.

And besides, employers' policies regarding bereavement leave are very specific as to the amount of time off allowed, which family members count under the policy, and so forth. I don't know of any place that provides paid bereavement leave for pets.

[LillFilly]

I completely understand where the girl was coming from. I took time (not paid) for my dog when he had to be put down, but I told my work why and truly, I could not function for 2-days. She led her manager to believe it was a human family member. I don't know if she did it intentionally, or if she was just that upset that she was convinced it counted. I can see people abusing the policy on purpose though.

[Andara Bledin]

I'm really attached to my pets, too, but I still wouldn't call work and say that "an immediate family member" had died if I lost one of my cats.

I might take a day or two off (I haven't, yet), but I certainly wouldn't expect to receive bereavement leave for it.

^-.-^

[Fox One]

I called out when my kitten died, but that was an unpaid day off that I wasn't really needed for anyway. He had fought a loooong battle with diabetes, and was in the final stages of renal failure, though we didn't know how bad. I went to feed him and give him his insulin injection one morning...and there he was...I don't know how I could've stood to take tables that day...

Ahhhh, sh*t, I'm tearing up again...

[Cat]

I love my cats more than some of my immediate family, and I would def take a few days off to mourn them. Then again, I wouldn't lie about it to my boss, since he love his dogs, he would understand where I cam from.

When I was an Asst. Manager, I let a coworker go home when her ex-bf's dog died.....it was the first time she had ever dealt with death and was very very upset.

Still, she was up front and honest about it, and didn't try to make it out as something other than it was.

[Red_Dazes]

I did take two days off work when my Ferret died.

Alot of people don't understand, but you can become very attached to those little fuzzy critters. They can become as much a part of your family as any human can...

I was more devastated from losing him than I have been about some of my family that have passed... may sound heartless but I was that close to him.

[GhostHelwig]

While I don't understand letting your employer believe you've lost a human member of your family, I can almost understand getting too emotional to be rational and upfront with what's going on. Almost. When we had to put my dog to sleep (), I was, thankfully, unemployed, because I was a wreck... If anyone had asked me, though, what was going on, I'm pretty sure I would've mentioned that I was mourning my dog. It just would've come up when I was explaining why I was so upset.

As much as I love my dog even now though, and as much as he was one of the most important parts of my life for many years, I never would've expected to be given days off from work for his death. Would I have taken them because I needed them? Absolutely. But expected to be given paid leave? No way. That takes a very strange, naive worldview... Or, given the behavior you mentioned this girl exhibiting previously, a total lack of care for her job.

[tigger222]

When my dog passed away my mom came and pulled me off the sales floor to let me know and my boss sent me home. I can understand mourning a pet but I wouldn't lead my boss to believe that it was a human family member passed away.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

As much as I love my dog even now though, and as much as he was one of the most important parts of my life for many years, I never would've expected to be given days off from work for his death. Would I have taken them because I needed them? Absolutely. But expected to be given paid leave? No way. That takes a very strange, naive worldview... Or, given the behavior you mentioned this girl exhibiting previously, a total lack of care for her job.

And that's the issue to me--the fact that she took paid time off because her cat died.

Paid bereavement leave is like any other benefit--it can go away if it's abused too much. And then you have to take unpaid time off if an immediate relative dies and you have to help plan the funeral, write up the obituary notice, settle their legal affairs, etc.

[PepperElf]

back when she was in her teens, Mom had to go home when she found out one of the dogs died. However jsut one look at her face and the boss was pretty lenient about letting her go home.


as for our own family pets, we gave the first family cat had a funeral in the back yard. we buried her and put a stone on her grave with the cat's name written on it in nail polish. when we moved out of the house, we left her there, in the yard she'd played most of her life, but took the marker stone to remember her by.

[MrSmiley]

Someone i work with recently had his BROTHER suddenly pass away. He was given 2 days off from the workplace and had another day off from his regular schedule. During those 3 days he had to travel 360miles (by bus) there and back.

When we had to put my dog to sleep (), I was, thankfully, unemployed, because I was a wreck... If anyone had asked me, though, what was going on, I'm pretty sure I would've mentioned that I was mourning my dog. It just would've come up when I was explaining why I was so upset.

I'm still not sure I'm over my dog dying. That was 8 years ago.