Governor Newsom recently signed into law SB 1149, which amends the state’s bereavement leave law to allow for bereavement leave for designated individuals.
Under existing law, California employers with 5 or more employees must provide employees with 5 days of unpaid bereavement leave upon the death of a family member. The current law’s definition of a family member includes a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner, or parent-in-law.
Under the new amendments, which take effect January 1, 2027, “family member” has also been expanded to cover a designated person, which includes any individual related to the employee by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship. The employee can identify the designated person at the time they request bereavement leave. Employers may limit an employee to one designated person per 12-month period for bereavement leave purposes.
With year-end approaching, now is a great time for employers to start their annual handbook review and implement updates to account for this development and any other legal developments from the last year.