I have an employee who has just experienced a miscarriage early in her pregnancy. She was already using Intermittent FMLA for her appointments and so we are prepared for her to use FMLA for this unfortunate event. My question though is that since our company also offers Bereavement, does this event fall under this category as well? Our policy for is 3 days for “Immediate Family member”. I was asked this question by a fellow employee in HR who handles the coding for payroll, etc. Any advice? Thanks so much!

Wow. I am so sorry for her loss. So, definitely FMLA. Bereavement Leave, in this case, is going to be argued by the beliefs of the individual and brings up a whole string of uncomfortable conversations we really shouldn’t be having at work. Given the rulings of the Supreme Court on the matter of when life begins, I am going to say that Bereavement Leave is not applicable here. If your BL is 3 days paid and you are seeking a way to pay her, then giving her the option may be a nice idea. But, automatically taking the leave away would penalize her down the road if she needs time to grieve a parent or other immediate family member. If the BL is unpaid, then deducting the 3 days only penalizes her. She is already job-protected without pay under FMLA. This is where an argument would come in that the employer would likely lose if pushed in the future. I hope this helps. Sorry again for her loss.