Pending bills in the California Legislature would require employers to offer bereavement leave and add “family responsibilities” as a protected class under the Fair Employment and Housing Act.
The bereavement leave bill, introduced Feb. 10 by Assemblymember Evan Low (D), would bar employers from preventing employees from taking up to five days of leave when a family member — defined as a spouse or a child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner or parent-in-law — dies. If a business offers fewer than five days of bereavement leave currently, then the bill, if passed, would require it to extend the time period. If requested, an employer would need to offer two additional days off for an out-of-state death. An employee would need to take bereavement leave within three months of the family member’s death; the days would not need to be consecutive.
“The employee, if requested by the employer, within 30 days of the first day of the leave, shall provide documentation of the death of the family member,” according to the bill. Documentation could include a death certificate, a published obituary or a written verification of the death, burial or memorial services from a mortuary, funeral home, burial society, crematorium, religious institution or governmental agency
The bill doesn’t require employers to compensate employees for the days off. Employees would be allowed to use vacation, personal leave, sick leave or other paid time off to cover days taken for...
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