California bereavement leave: how many days do I get?
Short answer
If your employer has five or more employees and you have worked there at least 30 days, you can take up to five days of bereavement leave when a family member dies. The days can be unpaid unless your employer has a paid policy. You must finish them within three months of the death.
Check your situation
Which of these fits your situation?
The law covers "a person who employs five or more persons to perform services for a wage or salary." It also covers the state, cities, counties and other public employers of any size.
An "employee" under this law is "a person employed by the employer for at least 30 days prior to the commencement of the leave."
If you meet the two conditions above, your employer may not "refuse to grant a request by any employee to take up to five days of bereavement leave upon the death of a family member." The days "need not be consecutive" and must be completed "within three months of the date of death." One exception: the law "does not apply to an employee who is covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement" that "expressly provides for bereavement leave equivalent to that required by this section" and meets the pay terms in § 12945.7(k).
Today the law's list of family members is a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner or parent-in-law. A law taking effect January 1, 2027, adds one "designated person": someone "related to the employee by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship." Your employer's own policy may give more.
What the law says
California law gives up to five days of bereavement leave. It is “an unlawful employment practice for an employer to refuse to grant a request by any employee to take up to five days of bereavement leave upon the death of a family member” (Government Code § 12945.7(b)).
Who is covered. Two conditions come from the statute:
- Your employer. A private employer that “employs five or more persons,” or “the state and any political or civil subdivision of the state, including, but not limited to, cities and counties” (§ 12945.7(a)(2)).
- You. You must have been employed “for at least 30 days prior to the commencement of the leave” (§ 12945.7(a)(1)).
Which family members. “A spouse or a child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner, or parent-in-law as defined in Section 12945.2” (§ 12945.7(a)(3)). Section 12945.2 defines most of these words. For example, “child” includes “a stepchild, a legal ward, a child of a domestic partner,” and “parent” includes “a stepparent, a legal guardian.”
Timing. The days “need not be consecutive.” You must complete them “within three months of the date of death of the family member” (§ 12945.7(c), (d)).
The details
Paid or unpaid. The leave follows “any existing bereavement leave policy of the employer” (§ 12945.7(e)(1)).
- No policy: the leave “may be unpaid.” But you may use “vacation, personal leave, accrued and available sick leave, or compensatory time off that is otherwise available” to you (§ 12945.7(e)(2)).
- A paid policy with fewer than five days: you still get five days in total. The paid days come first, and the rest may be unpaid (§ 12945.7(e)(3)).
- An unpaid policy with fewer than five days: you still get five days of unpaid leave (§ 12945.7(e)(4)).
Proof of the death. If your employer asks, you must give “documentation of the death” within 30 days of the first day of leave. This “includes, but is not limited to, a death certificate, a published obituary, or written verification of death, burial, or memorial services” from a mortuary, funeral home, religious institution, government agency or similar source (§ 12945.7(f)).
Privacy. Your employer must keep your request confidential. Documents you give “shall be maintained as confidential” (§ 12945.7(i)).
No retaliation. Your employer may not “discharge, demote, fine, suspend, expel, or discriminate against” you for taking this leave, or for giving information about your own or someone else’s leave in an inquiry (§ 12945.7(g)). It may not “interfere with, restrain, or deny” the leave either (§ 12945.7(h)).
Separate from family leave. This right is “separate and distinct” from family and medical leave under § 12945.2 (§ 12945.7(j)).
Exceptions the law names. The law does not apply under a qualifying union contract that “expressly provides for bereavement leave equivalent to that required by this section,” premium overtime pay, and pay of at least “30 percent above the state minimum wage” (§ 12945.7(k)). It also excludes state employees “covered by Section 19859.3” (§ 12945.7(a)(1)(B)).
A change on January 1, 2027. SB 1149 (Stats. 2026, ch. 679) amends this section. It adds a “designated person” to the family members. That is “any individual related to the employee by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.” You can name the person when you ask for leave, and your employer “may limit an employee to one designated person per 12-month period.”
Reproductive loss leave is a separate law. Section 12945.6 gives “up to five days of reproductive loss leave following a reproductive loss event,” such as a miscarriage, stillbirth, failed adoption, failed surrogacy or unsuccessful assisted reproduction. Your employer need not give more than “20 days within a 12-month period” (§ 12945.6(b)(1)).
Your employer’s policy may give more. This guide covers the state law only.
What to do next
- Ask for the leave and keep a copy of your request and the reply.
- Gather proof of the death, such as an obituary or a funeral home letter, in case your employer asks.
- Track your days. Use them within three months of the death.
- If your employer refuses or punishes you, you can file with the Civil Rights Department. A complaint under this part of the law “shall not be filed after the expiration of three years from the date upon which the unlawful practice or refusal to cooperate occurred” (§ 12960(e)(5)). CRD’s page says the first step “is to submit an intake form.”
This guide covers California state law. It is legal information, not legal advice.
Sources
- Government Code § 12945.7, Bereavement leave
- Government Code § 12945.2, Definitions of child, parent, parent-in-law, sibling and domestic partner
- SB 1149 (Stats. 2026, ch. 679), Adds a designated person, from January 1, 2027
- Government Code § 12945.6, Reproductive loss leave
- Government Code § 12960, Deadline to file a complaint with the Civil Rights Department
- Civil Rights Department, Complaint Process, How to start a complaint