Who is considered a covered family member under the bereavement leave law?

Employees with 30 days of service may take up to five days of job-protected bereavement leave upon the death of a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner or parent-in-law. The new law uses the definitions of those terms from the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) regulations.

Complex family relationships can make it quite a challenge to figure out exactly for whom an employee may legally take bereavement leave.

For example, a spouse is someone to whom your employee is currently married. It does not include a former spouse.