California Paid Sick Leave and Bereavement Leave Rights
By Aidin Ghavimi, Managing Attorney ·
California paid sick leave and bereavement leave rules for 2026, including Labor Code 246, the anti-retaliation rules, and five days of bereavement leave.
Employment Law
6 min read
Short answer: Most California employees must be allowed to use at least 40 hours or five days of paid sick leave a year, whichever is more. Eligible employees at employers with five or more employees can take up to five days of bereavement leave for a listed family member, including a grandparent. Punishing someone for using accrued sick leave, or for taking bereavement leave, is unlawful.
What to do if leave is refused or punished
- Ask for the leave in writing. Say it is paid sick leave or bereavement leave, and name the family relationship if it is a death.
- Check your pay stub. Labor Code 246 requires the available sick-leave balance, or the word unlimited, on the wage statement or a writing issued with pay.
- If you are punished, save the point, the write-up, or the firing message and the date of the leave.
- Do not treat every absence as protected. Protection covers accrued sick leave used for a reason in the statute, and bereavement leave that you were eligible to take.
- If you are fired, calendar both the leave claim and any retaliation claim. Start with the deadline checker and the retaliation hub.
Sick leave and bereavement leave are different
| Rule | Paid sick leave | Bereavement leave |
|---|---|---|
| Statute | Labor Code 246 and 246.5 | Government Code 12945.7 |
| Who is covered | Employees who work in California for the same employer for 30 or more days in a year, with narrow exemptions | Employees employed at least 30 days before the leave, at an employer with five or more employees |
| Amount | At least 40 hours or five days a year, whichever is more. Accrual of at least one hour per 30 hours worked, unless the employer uses a lawful front-load or alternative accrual. | Up to five days. The days need not be consecutive and must be completed within three months of the death. |
| Pay | Paid. Unused time need not be cashed out unless the employer’s policy says so. | Paid only if the employer’s policy pays it. Otherwise you may use vacation, personal leave, accrued sick leave, or compensatory time off. |
| When you can use it | Beginning on the 90th day of employment | Once you have been employed at least 30 days |
| Family | Parent, child, spouse, registered domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or a designated person, for care or prevention. Also certain victim-related reasons. | Spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner, or parent-in-law |
| Retaliation | Labor Code 246.5(c) bars punishment for using accrued sick days. A 30-day presumption applies to a complaint, cooperation, or opposition, not automatically to the sick day itself. | Government Code 12945.7 bars discharge or discrimination for taking the leave, and bars interference with the right. |
Paid sick leave in 2026
Labor Code 246, as amended effective January 1, 2024, is the rule still in effect. The Labor Commissioner’s paid-sick-leave FAQ, updated December 31, 2025, confirms the 2026 amounts. An employee accrues at least one hour for every 30 hours worked, starting at hire. The employer may use another accrual method if the employee has at least 24 hours by the 120th calendar day and 40 hours by the 200th calendar day. Front-loading the full amount at the start of the year also complies, with the statute’s rules for the first year.
Use begins on the 90th day. An employer may advance leave earlier and does not have to. That is why a threat about the first 60 days is not automatically illegal under the sick-leave statute: you may not yet have the right to use the leave. It can still be illegal if the absence is protected by disability law, pregnancy leave, or CFRA, or if the employer’s own policy already allowed the day and then punished it. See fired during or after medical leave.
You choose how much accrued time to use. The employer may set a minimum increment of no more than two hours. It cannot make you find a replacement. The Labor Commissioner says an employer generally cannot deny the day solely because you do not have a doctor’s note. Since January 1, 2025, paid sick leave can also be used for jury duty or to appear as a witness under a subpoena, and for specified reasons when the employee or a family member is a victim of a qualifying act of violence. Starting January 1, 2026, it can also be used to attend judicial proceedings related to certain serious crimes when the employee, or the employee’s family member, is a victim (Government Code 12945.8(a)(4), incorporated by Labor Code 246.5).
Some cities require more paid sick leave than the state. The employer must follow the rule that gives the employee more, except on the narrow topics the state law preempts. Accrued unused sick leave carries over, and the employer may cap total accrual at 80 hours or 10 days. Use may be capped at 40 hours or five days in the year. If you separate and are rehired within 12 months, unused sick leave that was not paid out must be restored.
Bereavement leave
A grandparent is a covered family member. So is a parent-in-law. The statute does not list every relative, so a relationship outside the list is not covered by 12945.7 even if the death is devastating. The five days must be finished within three months of the death. If the employer asks, you provide documentation within 30 days of the first day of leave. A death certificate, obituary, or written verification from a funeral home or similar source is enough. The employer must keep that information confidential.
An employer that recodes a protected bereavement day as an unscheduled absence, and then counts it toward discipline, interferes with the leave. You may choose to use accrued sick leave so an otherwise unpaid bereavement day is paid. Using sick leave for pay is not the same thing as giving the employer permission to punish the absence.
Checklist
- The written request and the employer’s reply.
- Pay stubs showing the sick-leave balance.
- The attendance policy and any point you were given.
- For a death: the date, the relationship, and any obituary or funeral note you were asked for.
- The firing or write-up, if there was one, and the final paycheck. Late final pay is a separate claim on the final paycheck calculator.
Questions people ask
Can I be fired for calling out sick in my first 60 days?
You generally cannot use California paid sick leave until the 90th day of employment. Firing you for an unprotected absence in that window may be legal. It is not legal if another law, such as disability or pregnancy leave, protects the absence.
Does bereavement leave cover a grandparent?
Yes. Government Code 12945.7 includes a grandparent, along with a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandchild, domestic partner, and parent-in-law. The leave is up to five days, and those days do not have to be consecutive.
Is bereavement leave paid?
Not always. If the employer has no paid bereavement policy, the five days may be unpaid. You may use vacation, personal leave, accrued sick leave, or compensatory time off. A shorter paid policy still must total five days.
Can my employer count sick leave as an attendance point?
No. Discipline for using accrued paid sick leave for a covered reason violates Labor Code 246.5. An attendance point for kin-care leave violates Labor Code 234. Time you could not cover with available sick leave can still count.
How much paid sick leave do I get in 2026?
State law requires at least 40 hours or five days a year, whichever is more for your schedule. You accrue at least one hour per 30 hours worked, unless the employer front-loads the time. Some cities require more.
Talk with Starpoint Law. Call 310-424-9971 or contact us online for a free consultation. Offices in Century City and Sherman Oaks. We represent people in California only. The case is handled on contingency. If we do not win, you owe Starpoint Law nothing: no attorney fee and no case costs. This page is general information, not legal advice.
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