Sunday, July 26, 2009

Funeral Leave

When a person has an 8-5:00 job, even if he has paid time off, it's still not fully his prerogative to decide whether or not he wants to use his time off for a funeral. Bosses expect notice about days off, and have to shuffle work around among other employees, many of whom are vacationing this time of year. The boss can't let too many people be gone on the same day. It's one thing if it's your kid's funeral, or your dad's funeral, or your sister's funeral; a boss will understand the importance of that. But it's another thing altogether when it's somebody very close to you who isn't on the boss's List Of People Whose Funerals Constitute Excused Absences From Work.

Throw in a 9-hour roundtrip,
and now what?


That was definitely one of the nice sides of Gary's flexibility in his schedule as a pastor.

4 comments:

  1. Gary's godmother. And his mom said that the family would like Gary to assist with the funeral. We were VERY happy when the funeral director called today and said that they'd be planning the funeral for Saturday. Putting off a funeral for a whole week seems long, so I'm wondering if they did that so that Gary would be able to come.

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  2. It depends on the boss and the type of work. But honestly many people just don't get to do everything they want, even if it's something as important as a funeral. It's just one of those sacrifices you sometimes have to make for having a stable job...

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  3. Kim, I think you're completely right. But some people don't quite understand that and in their grief may take it wrong when someone has to make that sacrifice to keep the stable job.

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