Weird question and of course I will ask my company directly but before that I’d like to hear if anyone has been in the same situation.
Unfortunately I need to return home to attend a funeral in a few weeks. I will need 5 days off in total. I have 3 days of normal paid leave left and I wanted to use 2 days that I’m owed as bereavement pay (忌引き). It dawned on me that in Japan this leave is usually taken immediately after the death because funerals here take place very soon after death, so I’m worried it’s not going to be as simple as me just saying I want to use my 2 days off together with paid holiday as an extension.
I’m asking my boss today but honestly if you can only use it after death I have to be a bit tactical regarding when I tell them.
Thank you and have a good weekend
7 comments
Completely depends on your company, but I have no idea why you suspect it’s necessary to take directly after the death. I wouldn’t have thought that at all. You’ll probably need to provide some sort of proof of the death and/or the funeral date.
I never had a problem with it but my HR is pretty understanding.
Never had any problems. But talk to them as soon as possible. Godspeed
My dad passed away in January, I was able to use regular paid leave to visit him at that time. We just had the funeral in August (my family waited for a number of reasons). For the funeral, my company allowed me to take the full 7 days of bereavement for death of a parent. Apparently they do have a rule that bereavement should be taken within 2 months, but they waived that for me since no funeral had been held yet and they understood the difficulties of being from abroad.
I’m sorry for your loss.
Depending on the company and the relationship to the individual, the company may allow for bereavement leave to be taken within a set time frame (within 1 month). This will be written in the general rules/guidelines.
If you are working as a ALT or at an Eikaiwa, this may be tricky. I’m not too familiar with how they handle this type of situation. However, I have a friend who is an ALT that seemed to have trouble taking days off because of a death in the family.
You should be able to take it well after the death; I just did so a month ago for my grandfather, in Florida where there is a two-week (?) delay before someone who dies can be cremated. If you get some kind of record while you’re back there, bring it to your company as proof.
My grandfather would have turned 96 today. I’ll miss him until my own time comes. Go back to be with your family even if your company makes it difficult; you’ll be glad you did.
When I got those days, I was told I could take them anytime, whenever I wanted and had no expiration.
I did not show any proof of the death, no certificate or anything (it was in the opposide side of the world and we did not travel because it was during the pandemic and our Embassy adviced us not to as they would not be able to help us get in to our country nor come back to Japan if necessary)