2

Bereavement Leave California – Law & Employee Rights in 2023

We all have lost a loved one at some point, its devasting to lose someone forever. It is required to attend the funeral to give them a last see off. Well, to be present you need to take a day off and if would be paid, you must oblige to your company. If you are the one who recently used such leave and wants to know if this would be paid leave or not, read on is bereavement leave mandatory paid in California, What policies say, what Govt says, after all, are you eligible to take this leave?

Before I say anything, I would say there are different types of leave that a company affords for its employees. Some of these leave are globally accepted, and others are there in practice, but with a different name. One such leave is Bereavement Leave also known as funeral leave . What is this leave for and what are the good and bad sides of the leave are to be understood.

Along with that, the risk of this leave and legal areas, are also to be talked about. This article will narrate all those things, giving you a clear idea about the Bereavement Leave policy in California.

What is Immediate Family for the Purposes of Bereavement pay?

Immediate family is usually defined for bereavement leave purposes as a close relative such as a spouse, children, parents and siblings. Some businesses, however, broaden the definition to include in-laws, grandparents, grandkids, cousins, and nieces and nephews.

The deceased loved one must usually be a close or immediate family member, such as.

• Spouses or Partners
• Children including step children, adopted children and current foster childern
• In-laws,
• Parents
• Step-parents,
• Siblings
• Grandparents
• Aunt and Uncles
• Cousins

[su_box title=”Is Bereavement Leave Required by law in California?” style=”soft”]There is no law in the state of California that mandates companies to provide bereavement leave to their employees, whether it be unpaid bereavement leave or compensated time off in lieu of compensation.[/su_box]

The California Legislature has sought to amend the California Labor Code and other laws to allow state employees to take this time off, through an Assembly bill.

How Bereavements leave effects Employee’s Job in California?

In companies with no such leave system , In my human resources career, I have seen that people lose their job while going for bereavement. For that reason, a Government of California once tried to enforce this as a law.

By doing that, the government decided to ensure that none of the employees is thrown out of their job while taking this type of leave. The urge of the state was not to ensure payment for the leave period but to make it sure that they retain their job.

Advantages of Bereavement Leave for Employees in California

Here are some of the top advantage of this of leave:

• The job of the employee remains ensured while taking this personal leave.
• An employee can attend the funerals of different relatives. Some of the companies to allow its employees to go for leave for some distant relatives and friends.
• The leave, since not legally accepted, can be treated as an unpaid leave too. This is helpful for all the employees, both for maintaining their work pressure and for maintaining their personal relationship.

Bereavement Disadvantages for Employee working in California state

Some disadvantages of bereavement leave are:

• Workers in companies where the leave is not there imposed by the HR rules can even face different issues. This can elongate until termination too.
• An employee, in such company, will be applying for other modes of leave to attend the funerals. This will be a false commitment to the employer and hence can be terminated from the job too.
• Some of the companies do allow Bereavement Leave in California for the close family members and not for the friends. Employees do take some advantage of these type of leave too. At that time, a job of the employee remains at stake.

How many days do you get for Bereavement leave in California?

So, I would say there no certain number one can take paid leave for bereavement. Though as discussed above it is based on company/hr leave policy. These leave are not regulated and if the company in a position to afford or wants to take care of the employee, provides few numbers of leave for a funeral in a year. So the best way to know how many days one can get under bereavement leave, I would suggest to contact your HR and ask him/her to give breakup of leave.

More About Bereavement Leave California for Employees

Bereavement leave is directed towards the leave, which is meant for attending the funerals. A leave that is afforded by some of the companies, whereas the other companies do not keep this type of leave separately.  Companies club that with other leave. General paid leave , casual leave, medical leave and sick leave often covers this kind of time off for an employee in many companies. On the other hand, in some jobs, especially the part-time jobs, people even lose their job while they go for such type of leave.

Bereavement Leave California – Legal Acceptance

After growing through the advantages and disadvantages, the question that comes is about the legal support for the leave. California government tried to enact this leave legally, but ultimately, their efforts did not mature. Without the legal notice, the risk of losing a job always remains among the employees. However, the good news is also there. Most of the HR teams are supporting this type of leave in their enterprise.

However, to date, this is confined to the large corporate firms only. Need is there to downsize the left style to the smaller firms too. One of the top factors that are attached to the type of leave is job security of the employees. The assurance that their job is not going to be discontinued for such mere reasons is what a legal declaration can support.

Leave that are allowed to the employees are not often categorized. Now, it is becoming urgent to categorize the leave. If there is a proper categorization, the HR rules will become more systematic and globally patterned.

Retention of employees and betterment of the working environment are supported by this rules. Making a California law enacting paid bereavement leave can be a big step towards that. So, it is better to welcome the new steps.