CHICAGO (WAND) - Gov. JB Pritzker has signed the Family Bereavement Act into law.
The new law amends the Child Bereavement Leave Act to expand leave time requirements to cover pregnancy loss, failed adoptions, unsuccessful reproductive procedures, and other diagnoses or events that impact pregnancy and fertility.
According to the governor's office, Senate Bill 3120 also mandates leave after the loss of family members previously not covered in the act.
“Illinoisans should have time to mourn and heal after an unimaginable loss like a miscarriage or stillbirth,” said Pritzker. “There are no words to erase such immense grief, but today, we take action to ensure that our residents are given the support and grace they deserve. This bill would not have been possible without the advocacy of one of Senator Bush’s dedicated volunteers, Kyra Jagodzinski. Illinois is a better, more compassionate state because of your hard work.”
In the Support Through Loss Act, employers in the state must provide for two weeks of unpaid leave for employees who go through a miscarriage, an unsuccessful round of intrauterine insemination or other assisted reproductive procedure, a failed or non-finalized adoption match, a failed surrogacy agreement, a diagnosis affecting fertility, or a stillbirth. Employees will be able to use this time off to support a spouse or partner going through one of these losses.
In the original Child Bereavement Leave Act, which became law in 2016, parents and guardians were able to take leave in the case of a loss of a biological or adopted child, a foster placement or a stepchild. The amended act address immense grief parents feel in pregnancy loss and failed adoptions. State leaders said these situations tend to be under-recognized as traumatic events that require time for recuperation and healing.
Employers will also be required in the new law to provide 10 days of leave for employees going to a funeral of a covered family member, making arrangements necessitated by the death of a covered family member, or grieving the death of a covered family member. It expands the definition of a covered family member to include children, stepchildren, spouses, domestic partners, siblings, parents, parents-in-law, grandchildren, grandparents and stepparents.
Copyright 2022. WAND TV. All rights reserved.
