TL:DR; My boyfriend “Paul” has worked at his current company just shy of 3 months. He took 5 days off for the passing of his father and found out upon returning that he would not be paid for the time he took off.
Paul works in the landscape industry. These companies are notoriously not generous with benefits (5 days PTO per year but only after they've been accrued, only covering 30% of insurance premiums, etc).
Last Monday, Paul's father passed away. It was very sudden and unexpected. Paul basically worked the full day Monday before getting the phone call, at which point he left work. Just a couple of hours after finding out the news, the owner of his company called Paul personally to let him know he should “take all the time he needs”, that he “shouldn't worry about a thing,” and that the company would love to provide a funeral arrangement (which they did). Paul and I were very touched by his phone call, and Paul instantly felt relieved as he understood, from this call, that he wouldn't have to worry about his pay getting docked for these days.
Today, Paul went back to work after taking 5 days to grieve and attend services. He found out that he would not be honored any bereavement pay, and that he has to have been at the company for one year before receiving that benefit. I am honestly disgusted and personally would have had a hard time not quitting on the spot. I understand companies often do not offer benefits right away, but I feel like they were so two-faced offering their condolences and assuring Paul all was taken care of, just for him to come back and find out he will be missing a week's worth of pay. They even called him “part of the family.”
I have told him that he should say something, but I'm not exactly sure what. He hasn't accrued any PTO just yet as he's only been there just about 3 months, so he doesn't have a bank that they can pull from. Do you have any advice for this situation? I understand the company has a policy, and that NYS labor laws dictate that companies are not obligated to provide bereavement pay, but I just feel so disgusted by this lack of human decency.