In 2020, the California legislature considered a bill in which employers would be required to provide employees with bereavement leave, but the legislation didn’t make it to the Governor’s desk.

Assembly Bill (AB) 1949 reintroduces the idea of mandatory bereavement leave and expands the allowance from the 2020 proposal. AB 1949 would make it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to refuse to grant a request by an eligible employee to take up to 5 days of bereavement leave upon the death of a family member, including a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner, or parent-in-law. AB 1949 would require that leave be completed within 3 months of the date of death. The bill would also require the employer to maintain employee confidentiality relating to bereavement leave.

Read the full article at Jackson Lewis’ California Workplace Law Blog.