Bereavement Leave Requirements in Arizona
At a glance
| Governing law and type of leave | No standalone private-sector bereavement mandate. A.R.S. § 23-373 provides earned paid sick time for listed health, public-health, and violence-related purposes, not death-related leave |
|---|---|
| Covered employers and employees | No bereavement-specific state coverage. Earned-paid-sick-time coverage matters only when the absence independently fits an authorized purpose; employer policy or agreement controls any separate benefit |
| Qualifying deaths, relationships, and events | No statewide private-sector death, relationship, funeral, memorial, or reproductive-loss list. A qualifying employee or family health condition after a death is a sick-time basis, not bereavement leave |
| Leave amount, timing, and caps | No bereavement-specific allotment, per-death amount, annual cap, consecutive-use rule, or completion window; voluntary employer policy controls |
| Paid or unpaid; use of existing leave | No required paid or unpaid bereavement allotment. Accrued earned paid sick time may cover a qualifying health need after a loss, but not bereavement alone |
| Notice, documentation, and proof | No bereavement-specific state notice or proof rule. Voluntary policy controls; an independently qualifying earned-paid-sick-time use follows A.R.S. § 23-373's separate rules |
| Job protection, attendance, and confidentiality | No bereavement-specific restoration, attendance, retaliation, or confidentiality right. Earned-paid-sick-time protections apply only to authorized use |
| Enforcement, remedies, and deadlines | No general bereavement-specific state claim or deadline. Policy, contract, collective bargaining, and independently qualifying earned-paid-sick-time rights use their own remedies |
What an employee and employer do without a bereavement mandate
Arizona does not create a general block of funeral, memorial, bereavement, or reproductive-loss leave for ordinary private-sector employees. A.R.S. § 23-373 lists the purposes for which statutory earned paid sick time may be used: employee and family health needs, public-health closure or exposure, and specified domestic-violence, sexual-violence, abuse, or stalking needs. Death, funeral attendance, memorial arrangements, grief itself, and post-death legal or financial tasks are not included.
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
Accrued earned paid sick time may be used for an employee's qualifying mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition after a death, or to care for a family member with a qualifying health need. The protected reason is the health condition, not bereavement or funeral attendance.
What trips people up
Earned paid sick time is not automatically bereavement leave. A family death alone is not one of section 23-373's authorized uses. A resulting qualifying health condition is a different statutory basis.
A voluntary policy is not a statewide allotment. One employer may offer paid days while another may permit PTO, provide unpaid time, or have no separate bereavement category.
Other protected absences remain separate. Domestic-violence, sexual- violence, abuse, stalking, accommodation, and family-medical rights have their own coverage tests and should not be described as Arizona bereavement leave.
Common questions
Can an Arizona employee use earned paid sick time to attend a funeral?
Not solely because it is a funeral. Section 23-373 does not list funeral or memorial attendance as an authorized purpose. An employer's separate policy may allow it.
What if grief causes depression, anxiety, or another health condition?
Accrued earned paid sick time may be used for a qualifying mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition. The health condition, rather than bereavement itself, is the protected reason.
Must an Arizona employer provide three bereavement days?
No. Arizona sets no general private-sector minimum. Any fixed number of days comes from the employer's policy or agreement.
Statutes and sources
- A.R.S. § 23-373. Complete authorized-use list for earned paid sick time. Official current section (accessed July 15, 2026).
- Industrial Commission of Arizona. Current earned-paid-sick-time resources (accessed July 15, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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