Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

Although there is no federally-mandated paid leave for U.S. employees in the private sector, states have increasingly required that employers provide various forms of paid leave to their employees.  That trend continues as several states began imposing requirements upon employers to permit employees to accrue and use paid sick leave for certain medical situations for employees or members of employees’ immediate families.  Paid sick leave for employees in the private sector is now required by 17 states, the District of Columbia, and various municipalities around the country.

California’s new bereavement leave law, which became effective beginning January 1, 2023, requires most employers to allow their employees to take up to five days of leave upon the death of certain family members.  Although previous bills providing for bereavement leave had been stymied by vetoes, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the new legislation—Assembly Bill (“AB”) 1949—into law as an “important step” to ensure that low-wage workers “can access the time off they’ve earned while still providing for their family.”  The new law makes California one of the few states requiring employers to provide bereavement leave.