bereavement leave in California
Posted by admin - 06/02/09 at 11:02 am– bereavement leave in California
“SB 549 Fills the Gap: Bereavement Leave in California”
When someone dies in the family, you might feel the need to know what bereavement leave policies are out there that will ensure you will not lose your job, while attending to the final arrangements of the funeral and spending time with relatives in the midst of grieving for someone who has departed.
If you are a private employee in California, your employers are not required to provide you with bereavement leave benefit. However, most private employers provide for this benefit but they have all the right to set the terms and conditions surrounding your leave benefits. For state employees, terms are different.
At present, there is no federal or state law that protects state employees’ right to bereavement leave in California. State employees however are covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) which allows a full-time employee to take up to twelve weeks time off work per year for the primary reasons of the employee’s own serious health condition, or the need to attend a family member suffering from a critical illness.
This leads us to the fact that there is no term or condition that directly addresses policies regarding bereavement leave in California.
The pending Senate Bill 549 which was authored by Senator Ellen Corbett entitles all employees in the state of California up to four days of unpaid time off upon the death of a family member to take time to grieve and make necessary funeral arrangements. In this case, employers cannot fire employees who take time off to grieve.
SB 549 advocates believe that grieving after a devastating loss of a loved is a human need so that no employee should be given a choice between job security and bereavement. SB 549 fills the gap.
SB 549 will protect all employees’ right to bereavement leave in California.
