Bereavement Leave Requirements in Illinois
At a glance
| Governing law and type of leave | Two standalone unpaid rights: the Family Bereavement Leave Act, 820 ILCS 154, for family deaths and specified reproductive/adoption/fertility losses; and the Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act, 820 ILCS 156, for a child's death by suicide or homicide |
|---|---|
| Covered employers and employees | Family Act coverage uses federal FMLA definitions: generally a private employer with 50+ employees for 20 workweeks and an employee with 12 months, 1,250 hours, and 50 employees within 75 miles. Extended Act covers full-time employees with at least 2 weeks' service at Illinois employers with 50+ full-time employees; 50-249 is a small employer and 250+ is a large employer |
| Qualifying deaths, relationships, and events | Family Act: death of a child, stepchild, spouse, domestic partner, sibling, parent, parent-in-law, grandchild, grandparent, or stepparent, for funeral/alternative, arrangements, or grief; also miscarriage, unsuccessful IUI/assisted reproduction, failed or contested adoption, failed surrogacy, fertility-impacting diagnosis, or stillbirth. Extended Act: employee's biological, adopted, foster, step, ward, or in-loco-parentis child's death by suicide or homicide |
| Leave amount, timing, and caps | Family Act: up to 2 weeks/10 workdays, completed within 60 days after notice of death or occurrence of the listed loss; multiple covered-family deaths can total 6 weeks in 12 months, without adding to the FMLA maximum. Extended Act: 6 weeks at a 50-249 employee employer or 12 weeks at 250+, continuously or in increments of at least 4 hours, completed within 1 year after notifying the employer |
| Paid or unpaid; use of existing leave | Both statutory allotments are unpaid. Under each Act, the employee may elect to substitute equivalent paid or unpaid family, medical, sick, annual, personal, or similar leave available under law, a CBA, or a benefit plan |
| Notice, documentation, and proof | Family Act: 48 hours' advance notice unless unreasonable/impracticable; employer may request reasonable death documentation or specified practitioner/adoption/surrogacy certification, but may not require identification of the precise reproductive-loss category. Extended Act: reasonable advance notice unless unreasonable/impracticable; employer may request death/service documentation and may require cause of death |
| Job protection, attendance, and confidentiality | Family Act bars adverse action for exercising, opposing violations of, or supporting rights; reproductive-loss category need not be disclosed. Extended Act expressly restores the employee to the same or equivalent position, preserves pre-leave accrued benefits, and bars adverse action |
| Enforcement, remedies, and deadlines | Family Act: Illinois Department of Labor complaint or civil action within 60 days of the last alleged violation; per-employee civil penalty up to $500 first offense and $1,000 later offenses, plus injunctive/equitable relief. Extended Act: same routes within 1 year, same penalty tiers, and circuit-court injunctive/equitable relief; IDOL administers both and may recover unpaid wages, damages, penalties, and costs |
Requirements one by one
Coverage turns on two different tests
The Family Bereavement Leave Act incorporates the federal FMLA definitions of "employee" and "employer" in 820 ILCS 154/5. The current federal coverage and eligibility rules include the 12-month, 1,250-hour, and 50-employees-within- 75-miles tests. The Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act instead defines an employee as a full-time worker with at least two weeks of service and divides Illinois employers at 250 full-time employees (820 ILCS 156/5).
The leave banks have different clocks
Under 820 ILCS 154/10, the ordinary allotment is "a maximum of 2 weeks (10 work days) of unpaid bereavement leave." The same section permits up to six weeks total after multiple covered-family deaths within 12 months, while keeping that leave within the federal FMLA maximum. It also requires completion within 60 days after notice of the death or occurrence of a listed loss.
Extended child-loss leave under 820 ILCS 156/10 may be taken continuously or in blocks of at least four hours. Its one-year completion period runs from when the employee notifies the employer of the loss. Each Act permits the employee to elect equivalent paid or unpaid leave already available under another law, agreement, or plan (820 ILCS 154/15; 156/15).
Documentation and protection differ
Under 820 ILCS 154/10(d), an employer may ask for reasonable documentation of the death or qualifying loss. For a listed reproductive or adoption-related event, the employer cannot require the employee to identify its precise category. 820 ILCS 156/10(e) allows reasonable documentation and permits the employer to require the cause of death for extended leave.
The Family Act bars adverse action for exercising or supporting its rights (820 ILCS 154/20). The Extended Act adds restoration to the same or an equivalent position and preserves benefits accrued before leave (820 ILCS 156/20).
Claim deadlines are different
820 ILCS 154/30 gives an employee 60 days after the last alleged violation to complain to the Illinois Department of Labor or sue. 820 ILCS 156/35 gives one year for an Extended Act claim. Both sections set per-employee civil penalties of up to $500 for a first offense and $1,000 for a later offense; they also permit circuit-court injunctive or other appropriate equitable relief.
What trips people up
- The two statutes cannot be stacked for the same child's death. 820 ILCS 154/35 bars Family Act leave when the employee uses Extended Act leave for that child's death.
- The pending consolidation bill has not taken effect. HB 5208 passed the House on April 16, 2026, and was referred to Senate Assignments on April 21. The official action table still ended there on September 27, 2026.
Common questions
Does the Family Act reach a public employer?
Its "employer" definition incorporates the federal FMLA definition; the federal coverage rule expressly includes public agencies. The employee must still satisfy the applicable eligibility test.
What if an employee has no accrued paid leave to substitute?
The statutory bereavement allotments are unpaid. The substitution provisions let an employee use equivalent leave that is already available; they do not condition the unpaid entitlement on having a paid balance.
Statutes and sources
- 820 ILCS 154, Family Bereavement Leave Act. Official current compiled Act (accessed September 27, 2026).
- 820 ILCS 156, Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act. Official current compiled Act (accessed September 27, 2026).
- Federal FMLA definitions incorporated by 820 ILCS 154/5. U.S. Department of Labor coverage and eligibility FAQ (accessed September 27, 2026).
- Pending HB 5208. Official bill status and text (checked September 27, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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