Bereavement Information

Bereavement Time Off

When you lose a loved one, you have a lot on your mind. In addition to Paid Time Off (PTO), Texas Health offers paid time away from work, called Bereavement Time Off, to give you days away from work to do things like grieve, make funeral arrangements, attend the funeral or settle the estate.

Our workforce is diverse in the ways and the amount of time we each work during any given day or week. For the purposes of paid Bereavement Time Off, one day (as listed below) is the equivalent of your regularly scheduled work shift.

Paid Bereavement Time Off 

Employee’s Relationship* to the Deceased Bereavement Days Available
  • Spouse
  • Child (includes miscarriage and stillborn births)
  • Grandchild
  • Sibling or spouse’s sibling
  • Parent or spouse’s parent
  • Grandparent
  • Great-grandparent
  • Son- or daughter-in-law
  • Brother- or sister-in-law
  • Niece or nephew
 up to five 
  • Aunt or uncle
  • Spouse of grandchild
  • Brother- or sister-in-law of employee’s spouse
  • Niece or nephew of employee’s spouse
  • Great-grandchild
  • Spouse’s grandparent 

up to three

*includes current step relationships

Additional Information

  • Bereavement Time Off should be granted for regularly scheduled workdays and not granted by a set number of hours. For example, if your spouse passes away and your normal workday is:
    • Four hours: you are eligible to take up to five, four-hour workdays of bereavement time off
    • Eight hours: you are eligible to take up to five, eight-hour workdays of bereavement time off
    • Twelve hours: you are eligible to take up to five, twelve-hour workdays of bereavement time off
    • Varying Hours: your standard hours vary each day of the week and you work 10 hours Monday, 8 hours Tuesday, 10 hours Wednesday, 8 hours Thursday, 4 hours Friday. You are eligible to take bereavement time off for each day you miss due to your loss up to a total of five days.
  • Days taken for Bereavement Time Off do not need to be consecutive
  • Days taken for Bereavement Time Off should be used appropriately within a reasonable timeframe
  • Documentation is not requested for the event or to confirm relationship status
  • You may not receive Bereavement pay during any pay week if using it would cause you to exceed the number of hours you are classified to work in the HR/Payroll system
  • If the deceased is a dependent covered by your Texas Health spouse or child life benefit, you may contact the Benefits Department at 1-877-698-4754 prompt 9 for assistance with a life insurance claim.

Benefits to Support You 

We all need support differently to navigate life events and any impact on our mental and emotional health. From free one-on-one EAP counseling sessions to an app that can be accessed anytime to online group support, there are resources to support you—however and whenever you need. Take a look at what’s available here.