When an Employee’s Parent Is Dying: A Guide for Troy Employers

Updated September 2026. Written and reviewed by the Lily Hospice clinical team.

When an employee’s parent is dying, the most useful thing a Troy employer can do is point them to hospice early, explain their leave options plainly, and let them keep some control over their schedule. Hospice brings a nurse, aide, social worker and chaplain home, so your employee is not doing it alone.

Lily Hospice is a family-owned, Medicare-certified hospice based on Butterfield Drive in Troy and a member of the Troy Chamber of Commerce. We wrote this page for owners, managers and HR teams in Troy and across Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties, because we meet your employees at kitchen tables every week. Many of them are trying to hold a job and a parent’s last months together at the same time, and most of them have not told work how hard it is.

What you are likely to see first

Caregiving rarely announces itself. Before an employee asks for leave, you tend to see the edges of it: more late arrivals and early exits, phone calls taken in the parking lot, a normally steady person missing details, or a string of half-days around a parent’s hospital stays. By the time the word “hospice” comes up, many families have already been through several emergency room visits and a hospital discharge or two.

A short, private conversation helps more than a policy memo. Ask how their parent is doing, ask what would make the next few weeks workable, and tell them where the leave information is. Many employees do not know that hospice exists for the months before the very end, not only the final days, or that Medicare pays for it.

The one thing worth telling every employee

Hospice is not a place and it is not giving up. It is a team that comes to wherever the person lives: a house in Troy, an apartment, assisted living or memory care. Under the Medicare hospice benefit, the team typically includes a nurse on call 24 hours a day, aide visits for bathing and personal care, a social worker, a chaplain, the medications and equipment related to the illness (a hospital bed, oxygen, a wheelchair), and grief support for the family afterward. Medicare Part A pays for hospice care related to the terminal illness; families usually pay nothing, or at most small copays for some medications.

For a working caregiver, that changes the math. Instead of leaving work every time something goes wrong, they can call a nurse at 2 a.m. and have someone come. Medicare also covers short respite stays, up to five days at a time in an approved facility, so a caregiver can rest or travel for a family event. For the details, see what Medicare covers for hospice.

Leave options in Michigan, in plain language

This is general information, not legal advice. Check with your HR adviser or employment attorney about your own policies.

• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Private employers with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks are covered. An employee who has worked for you at least 12 months, has at least 1,250 hours in the past year, and works at a site with 50 or more employees within 75 miles can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period to care for a parent with a serious health condition. Leave can be taken intermittently, a few hours or days at a time, when medically necessary.
• Michigan Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA). Since February 21, 2025, Michigan employees accrue at least one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Employers with 11 or more employees must allow use of up to 72 hours a year; small businesses with 10 or fewer employees, which came under the law on October 1, 2025, must allow up to 40 hours. Earned sick time can be used to care for a family member, including a parent or grandparent.
• Your own policies. Bereavement leave, remote work, flexible scheduling and shift swaps often matter more day to day than any statute. Written or not, they are what your employee will remember.

Practical things that help, and cost little

• Predictable flexibility. A standing arrangement (“Tuesday and Thursday afternoons remote for the next two months”) is easier on everyone than daily negotiations.
• One point of contact. Let the employee tell their story once, to one person, and have that person handle the rest.
• Permission to take the call. Hospice nurses and social workers often call during the workday. A quiet room to take those calls matters.
• A heads-up plan for the last days. Agree in advance on what happens when the employee needs to leave suddenly, so they do not have to ask.
• Bereavement that fits reality. Grief does not end after three days. Hospice bereavement support continues for at least a year after a death; tell your employee it is available to them.

How to point an employee to hospice

You do not need to know medicine to help. If an employee mentions repeated hospital stays, a parent who is sleeping most of the day, weight loss, or a doctor who has said “months, not years,” it is reasonable to say: “Have you talked with anyone about hospice? It is worth a phone call.” Families can call a hospice directly; they do not need a doctor to call first. Our free “Is It Time?” guide and the short self-check are good things to forward.

If they want to compare hospices, the Metro Detroit Hospice Directory lists all 104 Medicare-certified hospices serving Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties, with Medicare’s quality measures side by side, and how to choose a hospice gives them the questions to ask.

For Troy Chamber members

Lily Hospice joined the Troy Chamber of Commerce in September 2026. We are happy to be a resource for fellow members, whether that is a question from HR about a specific employee’s situation or printed copies of our family guide for your break room. Call (248) 955-5100 and tell us you are a Chamber member. Read the announcement.

Common questions

Can an employee use FMLA for a parent on hospice?

Generally yes, if both the employer and the employee meet FMLA’s coverage rules. A parent receiving hospice care has a serious health condition, and the employee may take the 12 weeks all at once or intermittently.

Does hospice mean the employee has to stop working?

No. Many hospice caregivers keep working. The hospice team handles nursing, personal care visits, medications and equipment, and a nurse is on call around the clock.

Who pays for hospice?

For people with Medicare, the hospice benefit under Part A covers hospice care for the terminal illness. Medicaid and most private insurance also cover hospice. Families usually pay little or nothing.

Can hospice happen in assisted living or memory care?

Yes. Hospice comes to wherever the person lives, including assisted living and memory care in Troy. See hospice in assisted living and memory care.

How fast can hospice start?

Often within a day, including Fridays and weekends. See same-day hospice admission.

Is Lily Hospice a Troy business?

Yes. Lily is family-owned, founded in 2021, with its office at 2125 Butterfield Dr, Suite 299, Troy, and is a member of the Troy Chamber of Commerce. More on the Troy page.

Talk to us

Hospice isn’t giving up. It’s showing up. Call (248) 955-5100; a real person answers, 24 hours a day. Serving Troy and all of Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.