Death Benefits

A relative of mine just recently lost his wife. The death was unexpected as she was in her forties and had not been ill. She passed away on a Sunday.The funeral was scheduled to take place the following Saturday, to allow out of town relatives the time to make travel plans. My relative's company, like mine and many others, allows employees 3 days off to deal with a death in the family. That is 72 hours in which to grieve, plan the funeral, and deal with the shock of losing a loved one. My relative had already survived through 5 lay-offs with this company, and was now working a reduced shift. He took his paid 3 days off, and returned to work the Thursday before the funeral. He could not afford to take 2 more days off without pay. When my father passed away 2 years ago, I was faced with the same dilemma. I took my alloted 3 days and then 2 more days. Those 2 extra days had to come from my own vacation time or I would not be paid for them. 3 Days is barely enough time to get the funeral arranged. Wouid a couple of extra days of paid bereavement time really break these companies?