New Jersey: Bereavement Leave Requirements
The short answer
No. New Jersey does not currently require an ordinary private-sector employer to provide a separate block of bereavement leave. The State's earned-sick-leave purposes and Family Leave Act purposes do not include death, funerals, memorials, or grief itself, although a qualifying mental or physical health condition after a loss may independently support earned sick leave; two pending 2026 bill pairs would add child-loss and reproductive-loss coverage.
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This is the general rule in New Jersey. Ezel applies current New Jersey law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and type of leave | No current standalone private-sector bereavement mandate. N.J.S.A. 34:11D-3 earned-sick-leave uses and N.J.S.A. 34:11B-3 Family Leave Act purposes do not include bereavement |
|---|---|
| Covered employers and employees | No current bereavement-specific coverage. Employer policy or agreement controls any separate benefit; coverage under another leave law matters only when the absence independently fits that law |
| Qualifying deaths, relationships, and events | No current statewide private-sector death, relationship, funeral, memorial, or reproductive-loss list. A qualifying employee health condition after a death is an earned-sick-leave basis, not bereavement leave |
| Leave amount, timing, and caps | No current bereavement-specific allotment, per-death amount, annual cap, consecutive-use rule, or completion window; employer policy controls |
| Paid or unpaid; use of existing leave | No required paid or unpaid bereavement allotment. Accrued paid sick leave may cover a qualifying mental or physical illness, injury, or adverse health condition after a loss, but not bereavement alone |
| Notice, documentation, and proof | No current bereavement-specific state notice, request-form, proof, or privacy rule; voluntary employer policy supplies the procedures, subject to other applicable law |
| Job protection, attendance, and confidentiality | No current bereavement-specific restoration, attendance, retaliation, or confidentiality right; separate earned-sick-leave or Family Leave Act protections require an independently covered purpose |
| Enforcement, remedies, and deadlines | No current general bereavement-specific claim or deadline. Policy, contract, collective bargaining, and independently qualifying leave rights use their own remedies |
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What an employee and employer do under current law
New Jersey does not currently create a general block of funeral, memorial,
bereavement, or reproductive-loss leave for ordinary private-sector
employees. N.J.S.A. § 34:11D-3 lists the permitted uses of earned sick leave:
employee and family health needs, domestic or sexual violence, specified
public-health circumstances, and child-related school or care meetings. Death,
funeral attendance, memorial arrangements, grief itself, and post-death tasks
are not included.
The Family Leave Act also does not currently supply post-death leave.
N.J.S.A. § 34:11B-3(i) identifies birth, foster-care or adoption placement,
care for a family member with a serious health condition, and specified
public-health emergencies. Its current purpose list does not include a family
member's death or reproductive loss.
Any separate bereavement benefit therefore begins with the employer's
handbook, collective bargaining agreement, or other policy. That document
supplies the covered relationships and events, amount, pay, notice, proof,
privacy, and attendance treatment.
A health condition after a loss is a different basis
Section 34:11D-3 permits accrued earned sick leave for an employee's mental or
physical illness, injury, or other adverse health condition. A qualifying
condition after a death can therefore support paid sick leave, but the
protected reason is the health condition, not bereavement or funeral
attendance.
Pending bills would change the answer
A2198 and S2046 propose the broader change. They would add protected Family
Leave Act leave and family temporary disability benefits for a child's death,
miscarriage, stillbirth, medically necessary pregnancy termination, a failed
planned adoption, or unsuccessful fertility treatment. The proposal uses a
21-day post-event limit when no other leave or benefit applies and a seven-day
limit when the person otherwise qualifies, without enlarging the existing
overall leave or benefit maximums. A2198 was reported favorably by the
Assembly Labor Committee; neither bill is current law.
A113 and S1869 are narrower alternatives focused on a child's death,
miscarriage, and stillbirth. They also remain proposals rather than current
rights.
What trips people up
Paid sick leave is not automatically bereavement leave. A death alone is
not one of the current section 34:11D-3 uses. A resulting qualifying health
condition is a different statutory basis.
Family leave generally concerns care before death. Current Family Leave
Act categories do not continue as a general grief or funeral period after the
family member dies.
Committee approval is not enactment. A2198 has advanced, but its proposed
child-loss and reproductive-loss protections do not apply unless legislation
is enacted and reaches its effective date.
Common questions
Can a New Jersey employee use earned sick leave to attend a funeral?
Not solely because it is a funeral. The current permitted-use list does not
include funeral or memorial attendance. An employer's separate policy may
allow the absence or permit another paid-leave bank to be used.
What if grief causes depression, anxiety, or another health condition?
Accrued earned sick leave may be used for a qualifying mental or physical
illness, injury, or other adverse health condition. The health condition,
rather than bereavement itself, is the protected reason.
Are the proposed 21 days available now?
No. The 21-day and seven-day limits are in pending A2198 and S2046. They are
not current employee entitlements.
Statutes and sources
- N.J.S.A. § 34:11D-3. Current earned-sick-leave purpose list. Official
enacted text and current
NJDOL summary
(accessed July 15, 2026). - N.J.S.A. § 34:11B-3(i). Current Family Leave Act purposes. Official
enacted text (accessed July
15, 2026). - Pending proposals. A2198,
S2046,
A113, and
S1869 (checked July
15, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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