California law requires private employers of five or more on payroll and all public employers to grant an employee’s request to take up to five days of unpaid bereavement leave upon the death of a family member.
Senate Bill (SB) 848, effective January 1, 2024, requires such employers to provide a separate form of leave for up to five days of consecutive or non-consecutive leave following a “reproductive loss event,” such as a failed adoption, failed surrogacy, miscarriage, stillbirth, or an unsuccessful assisted reproduction (i.e., an unsuccessful round of intrauterine insemination or embryo transfer). Both parents are eligible for this leave.
Unlike bereavement leave, reproductive loss leave does not require the employee to provide supporting documentation.
The leave must generally be taken within three months of the event unless the employee is on another leave entitlement, such as CFRA, in which case it must be taken within three months of that other leave’s end date.
Employers may cap the total cumulative leave for multiple reproductive loss events to 20 days per year.
Unless the employer has a policy to the contrary, the leave may be unpaid with employees free to use any vacation, personal leave, available paid sick leave, or compensatory time off to which they are entitled.
Employers must keep the request confidential other than from internal personnel or counsel, as necessary, or as required by law.
Take-Aways:
Covered employers should promptly review and update their existing leave of absence policies and absence request forms with competent legal counsel and notify and train relevant personnel on these changes.
For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
- Bereavement Leave Policy – Mourning Time (September 21, 2023)
- Wavelength Management – Workplace Policy Handbook & Forms for 2023 (August 15, 2023
- Attendance and Absence Policy – Show Up Standards (June 22, 2023)
- Time Off Mourning – California Requires Bereavement Leave (December 1, 2022)
Cindy Bamforth
November 2, 2023