Although it won’t become effective for a few more months, be advised that earlier this summer, Illinois enacted amendments to the Child Bereavement Leave Act, expanding the law’s scope and renaming it the “Family Bereavement Leave Act” (FBLA). The amendments are effective January 1, 2023, and they: (1) expand the definition of family members covered by FBLA; and (2) include fertility-related losses in the acceptable reasons an employee may use leave under the FBLA. Governor JB Pritzker signed the extension amendments into law back on June 9 of this year. Eligibility to take family bereavement leave is granted under the same requirements as the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), namely that an employee must work for an employer with at least 50 employees and the employee must have worked at least 12 months for employer. Furthermore, the amendments expand the definition of a covered family member to now include children, stepchildren, spouses, domestic partners, siblings, parents, parents-in-law, grandchildren, grandparents or stepparents. Covered employers are required to grant employees 10 days of unpaid leave annually to grieve the death of a child.