Illinois recently expanded bereavement leave rights for two groups of Illinois employees: (1) parents who lose a child to suicide or homicide, and (2) family members of those killed in a crime of violence.

Child Bereavement Leave for Suicide or Homicide

On August 4, 2023, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act (SB2034). Effective January 1, 2024, the Act entitles employees who experience the loss of their child by suicide or homicide to take unpaid leave from work to grieve the loss of that child, which includes an employee’s biological, adopted, foster, or stepchild, legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco parentis. This expansion comes a little more than a year after Illinois expanded unpaid leave rights to employees for pregnancy and adoption loss, and the death of a family member, under the Family Bereavement Leave Act.

All employers with at least 50 full-time employees in Illinois are covered by the Act. However, the length of the leave entitlement differs based on whether the employer is considered a “large” or “small” employer. All full-time employees who have worked for their employer for at least 2 weeks are eligible for bereavement leave under the Act.

A “large” employer employs 250 or more full-time employees in Illinois. Eligible employees of large employers are entitled to use up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave following the loss of their child by suicide or homicide. A “small” employer employs at least 50 but fewer than...

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