Bereavement leave laws vary sharply by state: only California, Oregon, and Illinois require private employers to grant dedicated time off after a family member’s death, Maryland lets workers redirect leave they have already earned, and a handful of other states allow paid sick leave to be used for bereavement purposes. Everywhere else, what you get is set by your employer’s handbook or a union contract, not by law. No federal statute requires private employers to offer bereavement leave at all.1U.S. Department of Labor. Funeral Leave
California: Up to Five Days
Under Government Code Section 12945.7, any employer with five or more workers must grant up to five days of bereavement leave after the death of a family member.2California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 12945.7 – Bereavement Leave Covered relatives are a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner, or parent-in-law. The days don’t have to run consecutively, but you must finish the leave within three months of the death.
The time is unpaid unless your employer already pays for bereavement, though you can substitute accrued vacation, personal, or sick time to get paid during the absence. You need at least 30 days on the job to qualify.3Civil Rights Department. Bereavement Leave California Law FAQ
An employer can ask for documentation within a reasonable timeframe. A death certificate, published obituary, or written verification from a funeral home, crematorium, religious institution, or government agency all count.2California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 12945.7 – Bereavement Leave Retaliation for requesting or using the leave is unlawful, and complaints go to the California Civil Rights Department.3Civil Rights Department. Bereavement Leave California Law FAQ
Oregon: Up to Two Weeks Per Death
The Oregon Family Leave Act (ORS 659A.150–659A.186) covers employers with 25 or more workers in the state.4Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 659A.153 – Covered Employers Eligible employees get up to two weeks of bereavement leave per family member’s death. Multiple deaths in a year each trigger a fresh two-week entitlement, capped by the overall OFLA limit of 12 weeks of family leave in any one-year period.5Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 659A.162 – Length of Leave, Conditions, Rules
To qualify, you must have worked for the employer for at least 180 days and averaged 25 or more hours per week over that period.6State of Oregon. Oregon Family Leave Act
Oregon’s definition of family is unusually broad. It reaches spouses, domestic partners, children, parents, siblings, stepsiblings, grandparents, grandchildren, and their spouses or domestic partners, plus anyone related by blood or by close personal association whose relationship is equivalent to a family bond.7Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 659A.150 – Definitions for ORS 659A.150 to 659A.186 That catch-all can cover a lifelong friend who acted as a parent, or a chosen-family member in a close caregiving role. The leave is unpaid but job-protected, and complaints of denial or retaliation go to Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries.6State of Oregon. Oregon Family Leave Act
Illinois: Ten Days, With Reproductive Loss Included
The Illinois Family Bereavement Leave Act (820 ILCS 154) applies to employers covered by the federal FMLA, which generally means 50 or more employees. Eligible workers get up to 10 work days of unpaid leave to attend a funeral, make arrangements, or grieve the death of a covered family member.8Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 154 – Family Bereavement Leave Act
Covered relatives include a child, stepchild, spouse, domestic partner, sibling, parent, stepparent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, and grandparent. Illinois also extends the same 10-day entitlement to pregnancy loss, stillbirth, an unsuccessful round of fertility treatment, a failed adoption, a failed surrogacy agreement, or a diagnosis that negatively affects pregnancy or fertility.8Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 820 ILCS 154 – Family Bereavement Leave Act
One catch: the law doesn’t add time on top of the FMLA. If you’ve already used your 12 FMLA weeks for the year, bereavement leave under this act may not be available as extra time. Eligibility tracks the FMLA’s rules, generally 12 months of employment and 1,250 hours worked in the prior year.
Maryland: Redirecting Leave You Already Have
Maryland doesn’t create standalone bereavement days. The Maryland Flexible Leave Act (Labor and Employment § 3-802) lets employees at businesses with 15 or more workers use leave they have already earned — sick, vacation, or compensatory time — after the death of an immediate family member.9Maryland Department of Labor. Employees and Employers – Important Guidelines Immediate family here means a child, spouse, or parent.
The practical effect is that if your employer restricts sick days to personal illness, Maryland overrides that restriction for bereavement. The law only applies where the employer has 15 or more workers and already offers some form of paid leave.10Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Labor and Employment 3-802 – Leave With Pay – Bereavement Leave Smaller employers, or employers with no paid leave at all, aren’t covered.
States Where Sick Leave Can Be Used for Bereavement
A growing number of states have no bereavement-specific mandate but allow earned sick leave to be used after a death. The structure is consistent: the state requires paid sick leave, and the list of approved uses includes bereavement-related needs like attending a funeral, making arrangements, or handling legal and financial matters tied to the death.
Colorado’s Healthy Families and Workplaces Act requires all employers to provide paid sick leave that workers can apply to bereavement. Minnesota’s Earned Sick and Safe Time law similarly covers bereavement for employees who work at least 80 hours per year. In both states, workers accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, capped at 48 hours per year. Other states with broad sick-leave laws may permit bereavement use depending on how their statutes define covered purposes. If your state requires paid sick leave, check the list of approved reasons; bereavement often appears even when it isn’t the headline feature.
What Federal Law Does and Doesn’t Do
The Fair Labor Standards Act sets wage and hour rules but doesn’t require pay for time not worked, including funeral attendance or grieving. It doesn’t require any vacation, holiday, or sick pay either.11U.S. Department of Labor. Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act
The Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave, but its qualifying reasons are a serious personal health condition, caring for a family member with a serious health condition, the birth or adoption of a child, and certain military-related situations.12U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28A Employee Protections Under the Family and Medical Leave Act Attending a funeral or settling an estate isn’t on that list.
There is a narrow workaround. If grief triggers a diagnosable condition like major depression or an anxiety disorder severe enough that you cannot perform your job, that condition may itself qualify as a serious health condition. You’d need certification from a healthcare provider, and the FMLA protects the treatment, not the funeral planning. You are not taking bereavement leave in that scenario; you are taking medical leave for a condition caused by a death.
Federal employees have separate rules. Through the Office of Personnel Management, they may use up to 104 hours (13 days) of sick leave each year to make arrangements for or attend a family member’s funeral,13U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet: Sick Leave for Family Care or Bereavement Purposes and a separate three-day funeral leave applies when an immediate relative dies from wounds or disease incurred during armed forces service in a combat zone.14U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Fact Sheet: Leave for Funerals and Bereavement These federal-employee provisions don’t extend to the private sector.
If Your State Has No Bereavement Law
In most states your rights come from your employer’s policies, a union contract, or what you can negotiate. Start with the employee handbook or HR: many private employers voluntarily offer three to five paid bereavement days even without a legal obligation. If your employer provides paid sick leave, look at whether bereavement is a listed reason, because more state sick-leave laws now include it.
If grief leaves you unable to function at work, the FMLA can act as a safety net through the serious-health-condition route described above.12U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28A Employee Protections Under the Family and Medical Leave Act That leave is unpaid unless you substitute accrued paid leave, and it only applies if your employer has 50 or more employees and you meet FMLA eligibility.
Whatever your state, put your leave request in writing, keep a copy of the employer’s response, and hold onto documentation of the death. Certified death certificates typically run $15 to $30 depending on the jurisdiction, and processing takes time, so gather what you need early if your employer requires that specific document.