October 21, 2025
The expansion of bereavement leave as a state-required benefit is a growing trend in the leave management space. Once limited to an employer-provided benefit, more states are requiring employers to offer some type of leave for employees who are mourning their loved ones. States are recognizing that grief is hard, and that leave during difficult times helps employees in their time of need.
Like many of the state-patchwork laws, each state has their own spin on what bereavement leave should provide. This creates another challenge for multi-state employers. In this paper, we’ll provide a breakdown on each state bereavement law, how it works with your own employer policies and then summarize with a suggestion for how multi-state employers can provide bereavement leave across the US in a compassionate and compliant manner.
California
In California[i], employers must provide bereavement leave with the following conditions:
- Up to five days per bereavement event
- To be used within 90 days of the event
- Can be continuous or intermittent
- Can be paid or unpaid, depending on the employer’s policy
This means if the employer has a policy of providing up to three days with pay, but an employee wants to take five days off, the first three days get paid and then the two other days are unpaid as provided under the law.
The problem that may arise is conflict between continuous versus intermittent leave. Many employer policies require use of bereavement leave continuously or within a limited period that usually does not extend to the 90-day period required by this law. This means unless the employer’s policy fully aligns with what CFRA requires, it could be a problem to have employer policy run first and then allow use of the legally provided leave.
Therefore, if an employer’s policy is not as generous as the leave provided under CFRA, then employees must be provided bereavement leave as prescribed under CFRA.
While California’s benefit is generous, it may not require as much leave as other states. For example, and as we discuss below, Oregon provides up to two weeks of bereavement leave in total. If an employee experiences the loss of one family member, that employee would be entitled to two weeks in Oregon and five days in California. If the employee has more than one qualifying loss, however, the employee could receive more time under California as it provides five days per event and Oregon caps at two weeks in total per year. This adds a layer of challenge to a multi-state employer.
California also provides leave protections under their reproductive loss leave[ii]. California employees are entitled to up to five days of reproductive loss leave following a reproductive loss event. If an employee experiences more than one reproductive loss event within a 12-month period, an employer can cap the leave at 20 days within a 12-month period.
Guam
Guam Family and Medical Leave Act[iii] provides 14 calendar days of family leave upon the death of a family member of the employee within any 12-month period. The 14 calendar days are included in the total period of family leave authorized under the Guam FMLA (12 weeks in a 12-month period). Similar to the Illinois act below, Guam FMLA does not have language that implies their leave entitlement must run first. Therefore, an employer’s policy may provide bereavement leave to their employees first and any remaining time can be covered under this act.
Illinois
The Illinois Family Bereavement Act [iv]is the updated Illinois Child Bereavement Act. Eligible employees are entitled to take job protected unpaid bereavement leave to:
- Attend the funeral of a covered family member
- Make arrangements necessitated by the death of a covered family member
- Grieve that death of a covered family member, or
- Be absent from work due to a miscarriage, an unsuccessful round of assisted reproductive technology procedure, a failed adoption match, a failed surrogacy agreement, a diagnosis negatively impacting pregnancy or fertility, or a stillbirth
The amount of leave available to an employee is limited to the lesser of 10 working days or the amount of FMLA leave remaining for other FMLA qualified reasons at the start of the leave. Eligible employees can receive 10 working days per covered family member in a 12-month period. If more than one covered family member passes away during the 12-month period, leave is capped at six weeks (30 working days) during the 12-month period.
The Illinois Family Bereavement Act also includes additional time for employees who experience the loss of their child by suicide or homicide. Employees are entitled to a leave amount based on the size of their employer. Large employers, defined as having more than 250 full-time employees in Illinois, are entitled to up to 12 weeks of leave. Employees of small employers, defined as having between 50 and 249 full-time employees in Illinois, are entitled to up to 6 weeks of leave. Their leave must conclude within one year after the employee notifies their employer of their loss.
There is nothing in the language of the act that implies the state leave entitlement must run first. This means an employer’s policy may provide bereavement leave to their employees first and any remaining time can be covered under this act. It also allows existing leave, like PTO, sick or personal leave, to substitute any period of bereavement leave required by the act.
Oregon
Under the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA)[v], employees are entitled to two weeks for bereavement per family member. In total, an employee is limited to four weeks per year if they experience multiple qualifying losses. This leave is counted toward the total period of authorized family leave under OFLA. All leave taken for the death of a family member must be completed within 60 days of when the employee receives notice of the death of the family member.
The OFLA regulations[vi] provide guidance on the requirements of using employer paid leave during OFLA:
(3) An employer may require an employee to use accrued paid leave during OFLA leave that would otherwise be unpaid, and may determine the order in which paid leave is to be used if to do so is consistent with a collective bargaining agreement or other written agreement between the eligible employee and the covered employer or an employer policy.
As a result, an employer can require their employees to use their employer-sponsored bereavement leave at the same time the employee is covered under OFLA.
Washington
Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave (WA PFML)[vii] provides leave for the loss of a child if the child would have qualified the employee for bonding time. Eligible employees will be entitled to leave for seven calendar days after the loss of the child (day one is the day after the child’s death). The employee will receive their normal weekly benefit amount unless time is taken intermittently. The reason the child passed away does not affect the employee’s eligibility for this leave. There is no limitation to frequency of this leave. To receive this benefit, the death must occur within the period the employee would have been able to bond with the child (within 12 months from the birth or placement).
The employer has the choice of designating a company-sponsored paid bereavement leave benefit as a “supplemental benefit,” which allows (but does not require) the benefit to be used concurrently with WA PFML. If the employer does not want employees to use the benefit concurrently with WA PFML, the employer can elect not to designate paid bereavement leave as a supplemental benefit. In either case, employers cannot require employees to use an employer benefit before, during or after WA PFML. As a reminder, the Employment Security Department, which oversees the administration of WA PFML, encourages employees to stack their benefits.
Vermont
Vermont added bereavement leave to its Family and Parental Leave Act[viii] effective July 1, 2025. Employees experiencing the loss of a qualifying family member are entitled to two weeks of leave which is counted against their total amount of leave under the act. The leave can be taken continuously, however, only five workdays may be taken consecutively without a return to work. This means the law requires intermittent usage if the employee uses their entire two weeks. Their leave must be taken within one year after the family member’s death.
Vermont’s law contains two provisions that permit an employer to offer a greater benefit than is provided under the law. The act permits an employer to comply with any collective bargaining agreement or any employment benefit program or plan that provides greater leave rights than
the rights provided by the act. It also allows an employee to waive some or all their rights under the act provided the waiver is informed and voluntary and any changes in conditions of employment related to any waiver are mutually agreed upon between employer and employee.
Guidance for multi-state employers
As you can see, each state with bereavement leave has its own interpretation for what that means for employers. This is also an expected area of continued growth, with more states adding to the patchwork of requirements. What can multi-state employers do to meet the requirements of the states while also providing a consistent experience for all their employees?
The easiest solution for a multi-state employer with presence in only one of these states is to provide a benefit that matches that one state’s expectations. While helpful for some, this is likely not the experience for most multi-state employers.
Next, if there is a presence in only some of the states, sitting down with your broker or employment attorney to design a benefit tailored to meet the requirements of those states is recommended.
If you are a multi-state employer in all of these states, it is a challenge. Let’s break this down into several categories.
| State | Length – per event | Cap |
| California | Five days | None |
| Guam | 14 calendar days | 14 calendar days |
| Illinois | Lesser of 10 working days or remaining FMLA leave | Six weeks (30 working days) per 12-month period |
| Oregon | Two weeks | Four weeks per year |
| Washington | 7 calendar days | 7 calendar days |
| Vermont | Two weeks | Two weeks |
Length of time
Illinois has the longest set timeframes for the loss of a family member, allowing for ten working days (two weeks) with a cap of 30 working days (six weeks) for multiple losses. Because not all employees work five days per week, allowing for two weeks or 10 working days, whichever is longer, will match the requirements.
California, on the other hand, doesn’t have a cap. It will hopefully be a rare experience for an employee to need more than six weeks of bereavement leave. To meet the law requirements, your policy could be written for California employees to have no cap. A more generous, compassionate choice would be to not have a cap on the number of times an employee can use this leave.
Family members
States have enacted these policies to provide bereavement leave for a multitude of family members. Vermont specifically called out “LGBTQ+ families, workers with low income, and individuals in nontraditional family structures” in their recent amendment to their family leave law that added bereavement leave.[ix] Your policy should be inclusive of all family members, ranging from spouses and children, to grandparents, in-laws and those who are like family members but not related by blood.
Reproductive loss
Reproductive loss is not covered by all bereavement laws. For employers who wish to provide the more generous benefits to their employees, this may require a mix-and-match with California’s and Vermont’s requirements. Illinois provides up to 10 working days or whatever the employee has available under FMLA, whichever is less. This could mean the employee has no time available. Under California’s requirements, the employee is entitled to time regardless of their FMLA status. The most generous policy would provide for 10 working days regardless of FMLA status. A more nuanced and closely defined policy could provide 10 working days, their remaining FMLA entitlement, or 5 working days, whichever is less.
In summary, states are recognizing that it’s important to support employees when they suffer the loss of a family member through a leave of absence. The ways each state does it is different and typically in the flavor of that state. Some states provide this time for a wide variety of reasons and others are limited; still, this leave type is growing. Multi-state employers should be aware of how this affects their own employer policies. We encourage these employers to discuss with their legal counsel to ensure their policies meet the requirements in each state.
[i] Cal. Gov. Code §12945.7
[ii] Cal. Gov. Code §12945.6
[iii] Guam Public Law 33-170, amended by Public Law 34-40 and Public Law 34-41
[iv] 820 ILCS 154/
[v] ORS 659A.150
[vi] OAR 839-009-0280
[vii] RCW 50A
[viii] 21 V.S.A. § 470
[ix] Vermont House Bill 461 Bill Text: VT H0461 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Chaptered | LegiScan
