California bereavement leave gives most employees up to five days off after the death of a spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, or parent-in-law. The right comes from Government Code section 12945.7, took effect January 1, 2023, and applies to private employers with five or more employees along with state and local government employers. The days are job-protected, but whether you get paid depends on your employer’s existing policies and your own accrued leave.
Who Is Covered
Two conditions have to be met. You must have worked for your employer for at least 30 days before the leave starts, and your employer must have five or more employees. That 30-day threshold is short compared with the California Family Rights Act, which requires 12 months, so newer employees still qualify.
Which Deaths Qualify
The statute lists eight relationships:
- Spouse
- Domestic partner
- Child
- Parent
- Sibling
- Grandparent
- Grandchild
- Parent-in-law
That is the complete list. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and other extended relatives are not covered. Your employer can voluntarily grant leave for a death outside the list, so it is worth reading your company’s bereavement policy, but the law itself does not require it.
One trap worth flagging: California recognizes a domestic partner only when both people have filed a Declaration of Domestic Partnership with the Secretary of State and meet the other requirements under Family Code section 297. Living together or sharing finances is not enough. If you never filed the declaration, the domestic-partner category does not apply.
How Many Days and When to Take Them
You get up to five days per qualifying death. If two family members die in the same year, you get five days for each loss. The days do not need to run consecutively, so you can take some time for the funeral and reserve the rest for estate matters or travel later. The one hard rule is that all five days have to be completed within three months of the date of death.
Is Bereavement Leave Paid in California?
The law does not require your employer to pay you during the leave. Compensation works in three ways:
- If your employer has a paid bereavement policy, you receive whatever that policy provides. If the policy covers fewer than five days, the remaining days up to five are protected but unpaid.
- If there is no paid bereavement policy but you have accrued leave, your employer must let you use vacation, sick leave, personal leave, or other accrued paid time off so you still get a paycheck during the leave.
- If there is no paid policy and no accrued leave, the five days are unpaid.
You always get the time off. The only question is whether it is paid.
Documentation Your Employer Can Ask For
Your employer can request verification of the death, but not before the leave. You have 30 days from the first day of bereavement leave to provide documentation, and any of the following is acceptable:
- A death certificate
- A published obituary
- Written confirmation of death, burial, or memorial services from a funeral home, crematorium, religious institution, or government agency
Whatever you turn in has to be kept confidential. Your employer cannot share it except with internal personnel, legal counsel, or when required by law.
If Your Employer Denies Leave or Retaliates
Requesting or taking bereavement leave is a protected activity. Your employer cannot fire, demote, suspend, or otherwise take negative action against you for using it, and the same protection covers employees who file complaints or give information to the Civil Rights Department, whether for themselves or a coworker.
If your employer denies the leave or retaliates, you can file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department within three years of the violation. CRD is reachable at calcivilrights.ca.gov or 800-884-1684. For workers at companies with 5 to 19 employees, CRD runs a mediation program through its Dispute Resolution Division that either side can request before a full investigation begins.
How It Interacts with Other Leave
Bereavement leave is separate from other California leave entitlements. It does not count against your 12 weeks of California Family Rights Act leave or any pregnancy disability leave. If a death coincides with your own serious health condition or another qualifying event, the bereavement days and CFRA days run independently.
Federal law does not add anything here. The Family and Medical Leave Act does not treat bereavement as a qualifying reason for leave, which is why California’s statute exists.