Illinois: Bereavement Leave Requirements
The short answer
Yes, for covered employees. Illinois provides up to two weeks (10 workdays) of unpaid leave for a covered family member's death or specified reproductive, adoption, fertility, or surrogacy losses. A separate law gives qualifying full-time employees six or 12 weeks after a child's death by suicide or homicide. Coverage, timing, proof, job protection, and claim deadlines differ between the two laws.
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This is the general rule in Illinois. Ezel applies current Illinois law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| 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, but states no separate restoration formula; 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. Current law states no broader bereavement-record confidentiality rule |
| 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 |
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Illinois has two different bereavement statutes
The Family Bereavement Leave Act supplies the ordinary framework. It gives an
employee who meets the federal FMLA eligibility definition up to two weeks, or
10 workdays, of unpaid leave after a covered family member's death. The leave
may be used to attend a funeral or alternative, make arrangements caused by
the death, or grieve.
The same two-week bank also reaches six events that do not all involve a
death: miscarriage; an unsuccessful IUI or assisted-reproduction procedure; a
failed adoption match or contested nonfinal adoption; a failed surrogacy
agreement; a diagnosis negatively affecting pregnancy or fertility; or
stillbirth. The employer may request the statutory documentation, but may not
force the employee to identify which precise category occurred.
The Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act is narrower by event but much larger
in duration. A qualifying full-time employee with at least two weeks' service
receives six weeks at an employer with 50-249 full-time Illinois employees or
12 weeks at an employer with 250 or more when the employee's child dies by
suicide or homicide.
Amount, pay, timing, and overlap
Both statutory allotments are unpaid. Under each Act, an employee may elect to
substitute equivalent paid or unpaid leave already available under another
law, a collective bargaining agreement, or an employer plan. That substitution
does not turn the state-created allotment itself into paid leave.
Ordinary Family Act leave must finish within 60 days after the employee learns
of the death or the listed reproductive/adoption/fertility event occurs. At
least 48 hours' advance notice is required unless that is not reasonable and
practicable. Multiple covered-family deaths can produce up to six total weeks
in 12 months, but the Act does not add leave beyond the federal FMLA maximum.
Extended child-loss leave may be continuous or intermittent in blocks of at
least four hours and must finish within one year after the employee notifies
the employer of the loss. The employer may request reasonable advance notice
unless impracticable and may require documentation that includes cause of
death. An employee cannot take both Acts' leave for the same child's death.
Protection and enforcement differ
The Family Act bars adverse action for using or supporting rights or opposing
a believed violation. It does not state the Extended Act's separate formula
requiring restoration to the same or an equivalent job.
The Extended Act expressly requires restoration to the same or an equivalent
position and preserves benefits accrued before leave. It also bars adverse
action. Neither current Act states a general confidentiality rule for every
death record, although the Family Act protects the precise reproductive-loss
category from compelled identification.
The filing clock is unusually important. A Family Act complaint to the
Illinois Department of Labor or civil action must be filed within 60 days of
the last alleged violation. The Extended Act allows one year. Each law permits
per-employee penalties up to $500 for a first offense and $1,000 for a later
offense, and a circuit court may award injunctive or other appropriate
equitable relief.
What trips people up
The ordinary two-week right is FMLA-gated. A worker can be employed by a
large Illinois business and still miss the Family Act's 12-month, 1,250-hour,
or 50-within-75-miles eligibility tests.
The extended right has different coverage. It requires full-time status,
two weeks' service, and an employer with at least 50 full-time Illinois
employees; it is not limited to federal FMLA-eligible workers.
HB 5208 is not yet the governing text. The House passed the consolidation
and expansion bill 80-26 on April 16, 2026. It received first reading in the
Senate and was referred to Senate Assignments on April 21, with no later action
shown on the official bill page as of July 21. Employers should administer the
two current Acts separately unless a later enactment takes effect.
Common questions
Is Illinois bereavement leave paid?
No. Both statutory allotments are unpaid, although an employee may elect to
substitute equivalent paid leave that is otherwise available.
Can an employer ask for proof?
Yes. The Family Act allows reasonable death documentation and specified
certification for reproductive, adoption, fertility, and surrogacy events. The
Extended Act permits reasonable documentation and allows the employer to
require cause of death.
How long does an employee have to file a claim?
The Family Act uses a 60-day deadline from the last alleged violation. The
Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act uses one year.
Statutes and sources
- 820 ILCS 154, Family Bereavement Leave Act. Official current compiled
Act
(accessed July 15, 2026). - 820 ILCS 156, Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act. Official current
compiled Act
(accessed July 15, 2026). - Federal FMLA definitions incorporated by 820 ILCS 154/5. U.S. Department
of Labor coverage and eligibility FAQ
(accessed July 15, 2026). - Pending HB 5208. Official bill status and
text
(checked August 1, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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