Bereavement

Guidelines for Bereavement Practices

1. All employees are entitled to three working days of bereavement leave, with pay, for a death in the family to be used to attend to personal business including funeral services. This leave must be taken within a 10-day period after death. Bereavement leave is available for use following the death of the employee’s spouse or partner, the employee’s child, the employee’s spouse’s or the partner’s child, parent, stepparent, brother, sister, grandparent, or grandchild.
2. The College may recognize the death of an employee or a member of their immediate family with an official notice by email to the campus faculty and staff. The department chairperson or department/division manager head should email the President’s Office, the appropriate Dean/Vice President, and the Human Resources office with notification of the family member’s death and funeral arrangements if available. If requested by the employee, the campus should then be notified by email.
3. Spending levels from division or department budgets for gifts to the bereaved family for tangible items such as food, flowers, or memorial gifts to Rhodes should not exceed $75 per item or $150 in total. Memorial gifts to Rhodes may include a donation to the college′s library, scholarship fund or other programs at Rhodes in memory of the deceased. Memorials to other nonprofits are not allowed from Rhodes funds due to the College’s tax-exempt status.
4. Cash memorials from college funds cannot be made to other non-profit organizations. Gifts to these organizations should be by personal donation only.