Bereavement Leave

There is no US federal law that requires employers to provide bereavement leave.

Bereavement leave is employer-granted time off : paid or unpaid : that an employee takes after the death of a close family member or loved one to attend funeral arrangements, settle affairs, and grieve. It is not federally mandated in the United States, but is offered by roughly 91% of US employers per SHRM’s 2023 Employee Benefits Survey. Also called: funeral leave, compassionate leave.

What bereavement leave covers

A bereavement leave policy typically defines four variables that determine an employee’s entitlement: the qualifying relationship to the deceased, the duration of leave, whether the leave is paid, and the documentation required. Most US employers grant 3 to 5 paid days for the loss of an immediate family member : spouse, child, parent, sibling : and 1 day for extended family or close friends. SHRM data shows 57% of organisations offer 3 days while 18% now offer 5 days; the upward trend reflects expanded definitions of family and growing recognition of pregnancy loss.

Immediate family typically includes: spouse or domestic partner, biological/adoptive/step children, parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, parents-in-law, and step-relatives in the same household.

Extended coverage may include: aunts, uncles, cousins, close friends, and pets. Forward-leaning policies now also include miscarriage, stillbirth, failed adoption, and failed surrogacy : over one-third of SHRM 2024 respondents offer time off for these events.

Is bereavement leave required by law?

There is no US federal law that requires employers to provide bereavement leave. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) covers serious illness of a family member and the employee’s own serious health condition, but FMLA does not separately mandate bereavement leave. Several US states and one major city, however, do impose statutory minimums.

US state bereavement leave laws

Employers operating across multiple states should default to the most generous applicable state rule rather than maintain location-by-location policy variants.

Paid vs unpaid bereavement leave

Approximately 91% of US employers offer paid bereavement leave (SHRM, 2023), up from 81% in 2016. Whether your policy is paid, unpaid, or hybrid depends on three considerations: (1) competitive benchmarking : paid leave is now table stakes for white-collar roles; (2) cost : at average US wages, 3 paid days per employee per loss costs roughly $700-$1,200 per event, but is rarely material at the population level given low frequency; (3) equity : unpaid policies effectively penalise lower-wage workers, who are also more likely to face caregiving burdens.

Where leave is paid, employees should not be required to use accrued PTO first. Where leave is unpaid, employees should be permitted (not required) to apply accrued PTO, sick leave, or floating holidays to maintain pay.

How long is bereavement leave?

There is no statutory standard outside the state mandates above. Industry benchmarks from SHRM and NFP indicate the following ranges:

• Immediate family (spouse, child, parent): 3-5 paid days. 18% of employers now offer 5.
• Extended family (siblings, grandparents, in-laws): 2-3 paid days.
• Other relatives or close friends: 0-1 paid days, or use of PTO.
• Pregnancy loss / stillbirth / failed adoption: 3-10 days; growing as a distinct category.
• International travel for services: Some policies add 2 additional days when interment is overseas.

For an enterprise policy, define the maximum days per event and the maximum days per rolling 12 months separately. The second cap prevents over-exposure during sequential losses without forcing managers into uncomfortable case-by-case judgments.

How to write a bereavement leave policy

A defensible bereavement leave policy has seven components. Use this as the section structure inside your employee handbook.

1. Eligibility. All regular full-time and part-time employees from day one. Tenure-based eligibility (e.g. 90-day wait) is increasingly seen as poor practice.
2. Qualifying relationships. Enumerate immediate family, extended family, and other categories with the corresponding leave duration for each.
3. Duration. Specify maximum days per event and any annual cap. State whether days are consecutive or may be split across funeral, services, and bereavement processing.
4. Paid vs unpaid status. State the pay treatment clearly. If unpaid, state explicitly that the employee may elect to use accrued PTO, sick leave, or floating holidays.
5. Notification. Require notification to direct manager and HR as soon as practicable; never require advance notice.
6. Documentation. Per SHRM guidance, most employers do not require a death certificate or obituary, both for compassion reasons and because the verification burden rarely surfaces fraud.
7. Return-to-work support. Reference the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), flexible scheduling for the first 30 days post-return, and the option of additional unpaid leave under FMLA if grief affects the employee’s own health.

Bereavement leave vs other leave types

Common policy mistakes to avoid

• Defining family too narrowly. Excluding domestic partners, in-laws, or chosen family creates inequity and is increasingly out of step with state law.
• Requiring proof of death. SHRM specifically advises against this. The fraud risk is trivial; the dignity cost is significant.
• Pay-out asymmetry across grades. If executives receive 10 paid days and hourly workers receive 3, expect engagement and equity-litigation exposure.
• Silence on pregnancy loss. Failing to name miscarriage, stillbirth, and failed adoption sends a signal : and increasingly, state law treats them as covered.
• No return-to-work plan. Grief is not resolved at day five. Build in scheduling flexibility for at least 30 days.

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