Beginning January 1, 2023, private employers with 5 or more employees are required to grant their employees up to 5 days of bereavement leave from work upon the death of specifically defined family members. This law defines “family member” to include only a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner, or parent-in-law of the employee seeking bereavement leave.
An employee must be employed for at least 30 days prior to the loved one’s death to qualify for this bereavement leave. An employee is not required to take bereavement leave days all at once, however an employee may only use this leave within three months after the death of the person for which the employee seeks to take the leave for. Employees are not limited to one bereavement leave per year.
An employer is not required to provide a paid leave for bereavement. However, employers may have policies that offer paid bereavement leave. If an employer does not have a policy that offers paid bereavement leave, then an employee may be able to use other paid time off such as California’s paid sick leave. It is usually a good idea for an employee to ask a supervisor about the specifics of an employer’s bereavement leave policies because of the differences from employer to employer.
Because employees may have policies that provide broader benefits than required by California law, it is usually a good idea for an employee to ask a supervisor about the specifics of an employer’s bereavement leave policies.
(See Link(s): Government Code section 12945.7)