A bereavement leave policy is a written rule that sets how much time employees get after a family member passes, whether that time is paid, and who counts as family. No federal law requires one, but a growing list of states does, and two of those rules changed in 2026 and are changing for 2027.
Key takeaways:
- No federal law requires private employers to offer bereavement leave. State law sets the obligations.
- California, Illinois, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington set specific leave rights. Maryland, Minnesota, and Colorado let employees use sick or other accrued leave for bereavement.
- Employers that offer it usually give three to five days for an immediate family member, but there is no legal standard.
- Paid bereavement leave is regular wages, so it is taxed and reported like any other pay.
- For remote and multi-state teams, each employee's work state sets the minimum, so a national policy needs a state-by-state floor.
What does the law actually require?
Start with the federal picture. The Fair Labor Standards Act does not address bereavement leave or bereavement pay. The Family and Medical Leave Act can apply only in limited cases, such as when grief leads to a serious health condition that qualifies for protected leave. Everything else is state law or your own policy.
Bereavement leave laws by state
| State | Who is covered | Leave | Paid? |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Employers with 5+ employees; employee employed 30+ days | Up to 5 days per loss | Unpaid unless your policy says otherwise; employees may use accrued leave |
| Illinois | FMLA-covered employers (50+ employees); employee has 12 months and 1,250 hours | Up to 10 workdays | Unpaid unless your policy says otherwise |
| Oregon | 25+ employees; employee has 180 days and averages 25+ hours a week | Up to 2 weeks per loss, 4 weeks per year | Unpaid unless paid sick time is used |
| Vermont | 10+ employees averaging 30+ hours a week | Up to 2 weeks within a year of the loss, no more than 5 workdays in a row | Unpaid; accrued paid leave may be used |
| Washington | Employees eligible for state Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) | Up to 7 days, taken within 12 months of the loss | Paid through the state PFML program, not the employer |
| Maryland, Minnesota, Colorado | Varies by state sick leave law | Use of sick or accrued leave | Paid to the extent the employee has a balance |
Treat this table as a starting point. Coverage thresholds, waiting periods, and family definitions vary, and cities or counties may add their own rules, so confirm against the statute or a labor attorney before you finalize a policy.
Who counts as immediate family for bereavement leave?
Managers get asked this question most, and a vague policy creates inconsistency. The common baseline is a spouse or domestic partner, children (including step, foster, and adopted), parents, siblings, grandparents and grandchildren, plus the in-law equivalents. State laws differ: Oregon's definition reaches extended blood relatives, while Maryland's is limited to a spouse, parent, or child.
A tiered structure keeps decisions predictable. For example, you might grant five days for a spouse, partner, child, or parent, three days for a sibling, grandparent, or in-law, and one day for an aunt, uncle, close friend, or other person whose loss affects the employee. The tiers matter less than writing them down, because an unwritten rule applied unevenly is how a leave policy turns into a discrimination claim.
The definition is also moving. California's "designated person" rule, effective January 1, 2027, lets an employee name someone whose relationship to them is the equivalent of family. Even if you don't operate in California, adding a short "or someone who is like family" clause to your policy now saves a rewrite later.
Is bereavement leave paid?
Often not by law, but often yes by choice. Most state mandates are unpaid or depend on the employee's sick or PTO balance, which is why paid bereavement leave is usually an employer decision. Many companies pay the full benefit for immediate family because the cost is small and the retention signal is large.
There are three setup choices, each with a different cost. You can offer a separate paid bereavement bank, require employees to use PTO or sick time, or offer only unpaid leave. If you draw from PTO, check your state's rules first, because in some states accrued PTO is treated as earned wages. For salaried employees classified as exempt, docking pay for part of a day can put their exempt status at risk, so unpaid leave is usually taken in full days.
How do you run bereavement pay through payroll?
Paid bereavement leave is regular wages. It is subject to federal income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare, and unemployment tax, and it follows the state payroll tax rules where the employee works.
A few practical rules keep it clean:
- Pay it at the employee's regular rate and record it under its own earning code rather than lumping it into generic pay. A separate line gives you a clear audit trail.
- Do not count bereavement hours as hours worked for overtime, since the employee was not working. Check how your system treats this.
- If a state program such as Washington PFML pays part of the benefit, coordinate with it so the employee is not double paid and your top-up, if any, is calculated correctly.
- Decide in advance whether unused bereavement days are paid out at termination. A standalone bereavement bank usually is not accrued, but a policy that draws from PTO may trigger payout rules.
How do bereavement leave rules work for remote and multi-state teams?
The rule that applies is generally set by where the employee works, not where your company is headquartered. A startup based in Texas with one engineer in Washington and another in California has two different sets of obligations.
The cleanest approach is to set one company-wide policy at or above the most generous state floor you are subject to, then add a short state addendum for the places where the law gives employees more than your baseline. Review it whenever you hire in a new state, since a policy that was compliant with employees in two states can fall short in a third.
How to write a bereavement leave policy
A good policy answers the same eight questions every time, so managers do not have to improvise during an already hard week.
- Eligibility: who qualifies, including part-time employees and new hires, and any waiting period.
- Covered relationships: your tiers, plus a clause for people who are like family.
- Days by relationship: a clear number for each tier.
- Pay: paid, unpaid, or drawn from PTO, and how state benefits coordinate.
- Timing: whether days must be consecutive. Many employees need time for a funeral weeks later, and some states set a window, such as Washington's 12 months.
- Notice and requests: who to tell, and that notice should be as soon as practical, not a precondition.
- Documentation: what you may ask for and when. Keep it light, ask after the leave begins rather than before, and keep records confidential.
- Extensions and exceptions: how an employee requests more time, and how it interacts with PTO or unpaid leave.
Here is sample language you can adapt. Have counsel review it against the states where you employ people.
Bereavement Leave:
We support employees who have lost a family member. Full-time and part-time employees are eligible from their first day of employment.
- Up to 5 paid days for the death of a spouse, domestic partner, child or parent.
- Up to 3 paid days for the death of a sibling, grandparent, grandchild or in-law.
- Up to 1 paid day for the death of another person whose relationship to the employee is the equivalent of family.
Days may be taken consecutively or separately within 12 months of the death. Please notify your manager as soon as practical. We may request reasonable proof, such as an obituary or funeral notice, after leave begins, and we keep all documentation confidential. If you need more time, talk to your manager or People team about using PTO or unpaid leave. Where state law gives you greater rights, we follow state law.
Edge cases to decide before they come up
The hard calls are rarely the spouse or parent. Decide in advance how you will handle pregnancy loss, which Illinois and California both address in separate leave laws. Decide whether the loss of a pet is covered, which is increasingly common as a goodwill benefit though not required anywhere. Decide how you will treat an employee who learns of a death while already on PTO, and one who needs to travel overseas for services. Writing these down once is far cheaper than negotiating each one with a grieving employee.
How to set up bereavement leave in Warp
For bereavement leave specifically, the policy you write is the policy you can run. Bereavement is its own earning type on a US payroll run, so paid days land on a distinct line with the right tax treatment instead of being buried in generic pay. Time off lives in the same HR platform as payroll, so employees request leave, managers approve it, and admins can enter time off on someone's behalf when an employee simply calls their manager.
The cleanest setup is a separate, occurrence-based time-off type for bereavement. That lets you track bereavement leave usage independently of PTO or sick leave. Here is how to set it up:
- Open Time Off, then Policies.
- Create a bereavement time-off type and set it to occurrence-based.
- Create the policy under that type and set your request limits: the minimum and maximum length of a single request and whether employees can submit past-dated requests. Consider allowing past dates, since people often file after the fact.
- Choose how requests are approved. Route them to the employee's manager for review, or turn on Auto-approve requests so bereavement days go through without waiting.
- Assign eligible employees to the policy from its assignment screen.
You can also skip the clicks and ask the Warp agent in plain English. Describe the policy the way you would explain it to a colleague, for example:
Set up bereavement leave. Create a separate occurrence-based time-off type called Bereavement so it is tracked apart from PTO and sick leave. Create a policy under it that lets employees request up to 5 days at a time, allows requests for past dates, and sends each request to the employee's manager for approval. Then assign all full-time employees to it.
Bring your bereavement leave policy up to date
A bereavement leave policy only works if it is written down, consistent across managers, and wired into payroll. Start with your state floors, set your tiers and pay approach, add the one-line clause for people who are like family, and make sure paid days land on the right earning code. Review it each time you hire in a new state, and again before January 1, 2027, when California's designated person rule takes effect.
FAQ
Is bereavement leave required by law?
Not at the federal level. Private employers are not required to offer it under federal law, but California, Illinois, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington have specific leave requirements, and Maryland, Minnesota, and Colorado let employees use sick or other accrued leave for bereavement. If you have employees in any of those states, you need at least the state minimum.
How many days of bereavement leave should a policy offer?
There is no legal standard outside the states that set one. Three to five days for an immediate family member is the common range among employers that offer it. State minimums run from up to 5 days in California to up to 10 workdays in Illinois and 7 days in Washington.
Is bereavement leave paid?
It depends on your policy and your state. Most state mandates are unpaid or rely on the employee's sick or PTO balance, while Washington pays through its state PFML program. Many employers choose to pay at least the immediate family tier.
Who is considered immediate family for bereavement leave?
Most policies include a spouse or domestic partner, children, parents, siblings and grandparents, often with in-laws and step relations. State definitions vary, and California's "designated person" rule, effective January 1, 2027, lets employees name someone whose relationship is equivalent to family.
Can an employer ask for proof of death?
In most cases, yes, as long as the request is reasonable and applied consistently. Common proof includes a death certificate, published obituary, or funeral notice. Ask after leave begins, not as a condition of starting it, and keep the documents confidential.
How should bereavement pay be handled in payroll?
Treat paid bereavement leave as regular wages and record it under its own earning code. It is subject to the same withholding and payroll taxes as other pay, and the hours generally do not count as hours worked for overtime. Confirm state-specific treatment before you finalize.
This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice.
