My sister-in-law had been battling cancer for over a year, so we knew the end could come at any time. I finally got the call that they had rushed her to ER on Tuesday and did not expect her to make it, so I rushed out of work to gather my family and make the 2 hour drive to Quincy, IL to see her before she passed away. The hospital ended up transferring her to ICU and I had to leave my husband behind with his family because I was supposed to be at work on Wednesday and had already asked to be off for a different reason but was told that the office was too short handed and there were no extra people that would be available to cover my absence. Before I arrived back in Columbia I got the call that the priest had been called in to read last rites and my husband really wanted me by his side when his sister passed. I called my supervisor and was again told we were too short handed, but if I wanted to contact my co-worker & she would agree to cancel her appointment and come to work then I would be granted the next day off. My sister-in-law passed at 3:55 a.m. on Wednesday morning and thanks to my co-worker I was able to be there with family when it happened. Later in the day I contacted HR and was told that sister-in-law is not listed in the policy for bereavement pay, but that if my supervisor would approve the absences I could use vacation. So, I had to use my vacation time for pay on Wednesday as well. There are many families in which brother-in-laws and sister-in-laws are very close and I can not believe that relationship is not in the bereavement policy for MU. I was raised an only child and all my family live too far away to visit quickly, so my husband's immediate family has become my main family that I interact with on a regular basis and because of the MU policy I can not be with that family for the days following the death of my sister-in-law since many of my co-workers had previously asked off for different reasons including the holidays. I am circulating this petition in hopes to get the current policy amended to include sister-in-law and brother-in-law. Please sign if you support this change.

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