What is bereavement leave?
Bereavement leave is paid or unpaid time off work after a family member dies, used to attend the funeral, handle arrangements and grieve. No US federal law requires it, so most of it comes from an employer's own policy. A few states require it, and a few more let employees use paid sick leave for it.
To deal with the death of a family member by attending the funeral, making arrangements necessitated by the death, or grieving the death of the family member. Oregon Revised Statutes 659A.159
Bereavement leave meaning
Bereavement leave Time away from work after a family member dies. Oregon's statute sets out the three things the time is for: attending the funeral, making the arrangements the death requires, and grieving. In most of the US it comes from employer policy, not from law.
An employee tells their manager a relative has died and takes the days the handbook allows. Some of those days may be paid, some unpaid, and the employer may later ask for a death certificate or a published obituary.
Other names for it
Grief leave, grieving leave, compassionate leave and, in older handbooks, funeral leave all describe the same thing. Acas calls it compassionate or special leave. The US Office of Personnel Management titles its own guidance leave for funerals and bereavement.
Is bereavement leave required by law in the US?
No federal law requires it, paid or unpaid. The Department of Labor states that the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations, sick leave or holidays, and that these benefits are matters of agreement between an employer and an employee or the employee's representative. So the handbook is the rule for most US workers.
The Family and Medical Leave Act does not fill the gap. Its qualifying reasons are the birth or placement of a child, caring for a child, spouse or parent with a serious health condition, the employee's own serious health condition, and military family reasons. Grieving a death is not among them, which surprises a lot of managers.
States that require bereavement leave
| Law | How much | Paid? | Who is covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| California, Government Code 12945.7 | Up to 5 days per death. The days need not be consecutive, and must be taken within 3 months of the death. | May be unpaid, but the employee may apply vacation, personal leave, accrued sick leave or compensatory time off. | Employers of 5 or more people. The employee must have worked there at least 30 days before the leave starts. |
| Illinois, Family Bereavement Leave Act | A maximum of 2 weeks, or 10 workdays, per event, and up to 6 weeks for more than one event in a 12-month period. | Unpaid. | All public employers and private employers with 50 or more employees. The employee needs 1,250 hours of service in the prior 12 months. |
| Illinois, Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act | 6 weeks for employers of 50 to 249 employees, 12 weeks for employers of 250 or more. | Unpaid. | Parents who lose a child through suicide or homicide. Employers of fewer than 50 employees are not covered. |
| Oregon, Family Leave Act, ORS 659A.159 and 659A.162 | 2 weeks per death, for each family member who dies in a one-year period. It must be completed within 60 days of notice. | Unpaid, though accrued paid leave may run alongside it. | Employees who are eligible under the Oregon Family Leave Act generally. |
The states where paid sick leave covers a death
A newer mechanism is easy to miss. Colorado added bereavement to the reasons an employee may use accrued paid sick leave, covering grieving, attending funeral services or a memorial, and dealing with financial and legal matters that arise after the death of a family member. Minnesota's earned sick and safe time statute carries almost the same wording. In both, the time is already paid.
Maryland works differently again: where an employer of 15 or more already provides paid leave, the Flexible Leave Act lets an employee use it for bereavement. Washington is the useful counterexample, because its paid sick leave statute does not list a death among the authorised purposes. Three states verified this way is not all 50, so check your own state's labor department.
Bereavement leave vs FMLA vs paid sick leave
| Bereavement leave | FMLA | Paid sick leave | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Covers grieving a death? | Yes. That is what it is for. | No. Grieving is not a qualifying reason. | In some states, yes. Colorado and Minnesota name it. |
| Where it comes from | Employer policy, or a state mandate in a few states. | Federal statute. | State or local statute, or employer policy. |
| Paid? | Whatever the policy says. State mandates are generally unpaid. | Unpaid, though accrued paid leave may be substituted. | Paid, once it is accrued. |
| How much | Policy decides. Verified mandates run 5 days to 12 weeks. | Up to 12 workweeks in a 12-month period, or 26 for military caregiver leave. | Whatever the employee has accrued. |
| Who qualifies | Depends on the policy or the state statute. | Employers of 50 or more; 12 months of service and 1,250 hours; 50 employees within 75 miles. | Set by the state statute or the policy. |
If you work for the federal government
Federal employees may use up to 104 hours, or 13 days, of sick leave each leave year for family care and bereavement. A separate 3 workdays of funeral leave covers an immediate relative who died of wounds incurred in a combat zone. Federal rules only.
How to ask for it
- Tell your manager or HR early A sentence is enough. Say who has died and roughly how long you expect to be away. You do not owe anyone the details, and you can revise the dates later. "My father died last night. I need to be away this week and I will confirm Friday."
- Find the policy before you plan Look in the handbook or intranet for bereavement, compassionate or funeral leave. Check how many days it gives, which relationships it counts, and whether the days have to run consecutively.
- Ask what is paid, and what you can add to it Ask which days are paid and whether you may add accrued vacation, sick leave or PTO on top. In California the statute explicitly allows that substitution.
- Ask what proof is wanted, and when California gives employees 30 days from the first day of leave, and accepts a death certificate, a published obituary, or written verification of death, burial or memorial services. Illinois names the certificate or obituary too.
- Agree how you come back Ask who covers your work, what can wait, and whether the first week back can be lighter. Grief does not end when the leave does, and this is easier to agree before you go than after.
What a bereavement leave policy should say
- How many days, and which of them are paid
- Which relationships count, and whether chosen family is included
- Whether days must run consecutively, or may be split
- Whether pregnancy loss, failed adoption or surrogacy is covered
- What documentation is required, and how long the employee has
- That any documentation is kept confidential, as California requires
- Extra time or travel days when the funeral is far away
- How the leave stacks with accrued vacation, sick leave and PTO
- Who decides an extension, and how an employee asks for one
Bereavement leave in the UK
| Time off for dependants | Parental Bereavement Leave | |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | Time off when a dependant dies, to deal with the emergency. | The death of a child under 18, or a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy. |
| How long | A reasonable amount. No set number of days, because it depends on the situation. | 2 weeks, taken together, as 2 separate weeks, or as a single week. |
| Paid? | Your employer may pay you, but does not have to. | Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay, if you qualify for it. |
| Who qualifies | Employees. Agency, casual and zero-hours workers are typically excluded. | Available from the first day of employment, for each child who died or was stillborn. |
| Window | At the time of the emergency. | Must finish within 56 weeks of the date of the death or stillbirth. |
How many days of bereavement leave is typical?
There is no US-wide legal standard and no reliable national average, whatever the round numbers circulating online suggest. What does exist are floors written into statute. California requires up to 5 days. Oregon requires 2 weeks per death, and Illinois 2 weeks per qualifying event, rising to 6 weeks for more than one event in a year. Federal employees may draw on 13 days of sick leave a year.
Everywhere else, typical means whatever your handbook says. Read it, and read your state's rule alongside it, because one of them may be more generous than the other. If the policy is silent or the days feel too few, the statutory floors above are the fairest benchmark to argue from.
When the person writing the policy also has to fill the role
A one-line brief becomes structured filters, one group about the person and one about their current employer.
The Cognitive is recruiting software with no payroll, benefits or leave-tracking features. It helps with hiring only. You describe the role in plain English, and it turns that into structured filters, then ranks the people it finds.
The short version
- Time off after a family member dies, for the funeral, the arrangements and grieving
- No US federal law requires it, paid or unpaid, so the handbook usually decides
- California, Illinois and Oregon mandate it; Colorado and Minnesota route it through paid sick leave
- FMLA does not cover grieving, which is the mistake managers make most often
- In the UK there is no general right to paid time off for bereavement
Related HR answers
What is a 9/80 work schedule? · What is a stipend? · What is a hiring manager? · Job description templates
Frequently asked questions
What does bereavement mean at work?
At work, bereavement means the period after a family member has died. Bereavement leave is the time off an employer gives for it, covering the funeral, the arrangements the death requires, and grieving. In most of the US it is a policy benefit rather than a legal right, so the handbook usually defines who counts as family and how many days you get.
What is typical bereavement leave?
There is no US-wide legal standard and no reliable national average. Where states mandate it, the floors are up to 5 days in California, 2 weeks per death in Oregon, and 2 weeks per qualifying event in Illinois, rising to 6 weeks for more than one event in a year. Federal employees may use up to 13 days of sick leave a year. Everything else is set by the employer's policy.
Is bereavement leave paid or unpaid?
It depends entirely on the employer. No federal law requires payment, because the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require payment for time not worked. The state mandates are generally unpaid, though employees may usually add accrued vacation, sick leave or PTO. Colorado and Minnesota are different: there, bereavement is a permitted use of paid sick leave.
Does FMLA cover bereavement leave?
No. The Family and Medical Leave Act's qualifying reasons are the birth or placement of a child, caring for a child, spouse or parent with a serious health condition, the employee's own serious health condition, and military family reasons. Grieving the death of a family member is not one of them. An employee's own health condition arising afterwards is a separate question.
Is grief leave the same as bereavement leave?
Yes. Grief leave, grieving leave, compassionate leave and funeral leave are all names for the same benefit, and which one your employer uses is a matter of house style. Oregon's statute is the clearest on what the time is actually for, describing the covered activity as grieving the death of the family member.
Who counts as family for bereavement leave?
It depends on the policy or the statute. California's list runs spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner and parent-in-law. Illinois covers the same ground and adds stepchild, mother-in-law, father-in-law and stepparent. Employer policies are often narrower than either, which is why the relationship list is worth checking before you plan anything.
Can an employer ask for proof of a death?
Often, yes. California allows an employer to require documentation within 30 days of the first day of leave, and accepts a death certificate, a published obituary, or written verification of death, burial or memorial services. Illinois names the certificate or obituary as well. California also requires that the employer keep the request and the documentation confidential.
Does bereavement leave cover a miscarriage or a failed adoption?
In some places. Illinois's Family Bereavement Leave Act covers a stillbirth, a miscarriage, an unsuccessful reproductive procedure, a failed adoption match, a failed surrogacy agreement, and a diagnosis that negatively affects pregnancy or fertility. For those events, documentation from a healthcare provider or an adoption or surrogacy organisation is accepted instead of a death certificate. Most employer policies are silent on all of this.
Explore: What is a 9/80 work schedule? · What is a stipend? · What is a hiring manager? · What is talent acquisition?