(WSIL) -- The Family Bereavement Act, an amendment to the Child Bereavement Leave Act, was signed into Illinois law Thursday.聽
The act expands leave time requirements to cover pregnancy loss, failed adoptions, unsuccessful reproductive procedures and other diagnoses or events impacting pregnancy and fertility.聽
SB3120 also mandates leave after the loss of family members previously not covered in the act.聽
The Support Through Loss Act requires employers in the state to provide for two weeks of unpaid leave for employees who experience 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 can also utilize this time off to support a spouse or partner experiencing one of these losses.聽
The original Child Bereavement Leave Act, signed into law in 2016, allowed parents and guardians to take leave in the case of the loss of a biological or adopted child, a foster placement, or a stepchild. The amended act addresses the grief parents feel during pregnancy loss and failed adoptions.
The act also requires employers to provide ten days of leave to employees attending the 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.聽
The bill expands the definition of a covered family member to include children, stepchildren, spouses, domestic partners, siblings, parents, parents-in-law, grandchildren, grandparents, or stepparents.
The bill was originally proposed and written by聽Kyra Jagodzinski, a sixteen-year-old volunteer for State Senator Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake).
鈥淥ver my life, I watched as my parents struggled with the loss of family, and saw people close to me struggle with fertility challenges and pregnancy loss,鈥澛�said Kyra Jagodzinski.聽鈥淎s a 17-year-old, I did my best to comfort them but found a system that left them without support. The Act provides Illinois residents with time to grieve the loss of immediate family members and to-be family members. I am grateful to have worked with a leader in our legislature, Senator Melinda Bush, attorney Ashley Stead, Governor Pritzker, and the Illinois Legislature to support our communities in their time of need.鈥�
