A bill Introducing Mourning Leave has been submitted to the Dutch Lower House. This bill provides a legal basis for bereavement leave. What will this legal mourning leave mean for employee and employer?
Usually nothing is regulated
Legally, nothing is currently regulated for mourning leave. A Panteia study used a random sample to look at the 105 largest collective bargaining agreements that cover 80 to 85 percent of employees. In 21 collective bargaining agreements, there was some form of bereavement leave. This means that four of the five largest collective bargaining agreements did not include a bereavement leave arrangement.
Reporting sick?
The situation of employees who are struggling with the loss of a loved one and therefore cannot (yet) return to work is now often accommodated in leave arrangements that are not specifically intended for that purpose. Many times these employees feel compelled to call in sick. A number of them sometimes struggle with this because they are not actually sick and thus do not experience recognition of their situation. Visiting a company doctor and the tension that this entails can be experienced as burdensome when returning to work.
Duration and conditions for taking mourning leave
Statutory bereavement leave is used in the event of the death of a partner if the employee is caring for one or more minor children, or the death of a minor child. Employees in this situation are given the opportunity to take paid mourning leave at least once the weekly working hours. The employer is required to pay for this leave.
The leave can be taken flexibly from the day after the funeral until one year after the death of the loved one.
It is possible to deviate from the minimum duration in favor of the employee or to make the mourning leave apply in more situations. Employers can, however, argue that there is a compelling business interest that prevents inclusion.
Financial impact
The financial impact on employers is estimated at four million euros per year. In all likelihood, some of these costs are already incurred by employers, but are now accommodated in sick leave or existing non-statutory bereavement leave arrangements.