Bereavement Leave Requirements in District of Columbia
At a glance
| Governing law and type of leave | No standalone private-sector bereavement bank. D.C. Code § 32-531.02 requires accrued paid sick/safe leave for listed medical and safety uses, not death-related absence as such; separate District-government funeral and child-loss leave is public-sector only |
|---|---|
| Covered employers and employees | No separate bereavement coverage test. ASSLA broadly covers legal-entity employers, including nonprofits and the District government, but excludes specified volunteers, religious-function workers, casual babysitters, independent contractors, certain students, premium-pay health workers, and short-term DCPS substitutes |
| Qualifying deaths, relationships, and events | No private statutory covered-death, relationship, funeral, memorial, reproductive-loss, grief, or post-death-task category. An employee's own qualifying physical or mental medical condition after a loss may independently support paid leave |
| Leave amount, timing, and caps | No per-death allotment or bereavement completion window. ASSLA accrual is up to 7 days/year at employers with 100+ employees, 5 days at 25-99, and 3 days at 24 or fewer; use begins after 90 days of service |
| Paid or unpaid; use of existing leave | No separate paid or unpaid private bereavement bank. A qualifying § 32-531.02(b) absence is paid from the accrued sick/safe-leave balance; death alone adds no statutory hours |
| Notice, documentation, and proof | No bereavement-specific proof rule. Qualifying paid leave requires a written request; foreseeable leave requires 10 days' notice or as early as possible, unforeseeable leave an oral pre-shift request, and emergencies notice by the next shift or within 24 hours. Certification may be required for 3+ consecutive days |
| Job protection, attendance, and confidentiality | No bereavement-specific private restoration or attendance right. ASSLA prohibits interference and retaliation for qualifying use and restricts disclosure of certification information |
| Enforcement, remedies, and deadlines | No bereavement-specific remedy. A qualifying ASSLA claim may proceed administratively or civilly, generally within 3 years, with statutory penalties and relief; death-related absence alone does not trigger those remedies |
D.C. sick and safe leave does not cover death as such
The District of Columbia does not create a separate private-sector block of funeral, memorial, bereavement, or reproductive-loss leave. D.C. Code § 32-531.02(b) instead provides accrued paid leave for the employee's medical condition or care, a family member's corresponding medical needs, and specified stalking, domestic-violence, or sexual-abuse needs. Death, grief, a funeral, a memorial, reproductive loss, and post-death tasks are not standalone uses.
An employee may qualify after a loss for a different reason the statute names. For example, the employee's own physical or mental medical condition may independently support paid leave. That is use of the ordinary sick and safe leave bank for a medical condition, not a new allotment triggered by death.
Under D.C. Code § 32-531.02(a), the annual bank varies by employer size: up to seven days at 100 or more employees, five days at 25 to 99, and three days at 24 or fewer. D.C. Code § 32-531.02(c)(1) allows access after 90 days of service. These are annual limits shared across qualifying uses, not per-death amounts.
The private notice and proof rules likewise belong to sick and safe leave. D.C. Code § 32-531.03 requires the statutory request and timing rules. D.C. Code § 32-531.04(a), (b) permits reasonable certification for three or more consecutive days and limits disclosure. Neither section creates an obituary or death- certificate procedure for voluntary bereavement leave.
District-government benefits must stay separate. D.C. Code § 1-612.03(n-1)(1) gives covered District employees 10 paid days after a stillbirth or the death of a child under 21. The current personnel issuance also describes public funeral leave. Those rules do not set the minimum for an ordinary private employer.
What trips people up
Three, five, or seven days is not a death benefit. Those figures are annual ASSLA caps shared across the law's medical and safety uses.
A broad family definition does not add bereavement. Family status matters when the relative has a listed health need or safety circumstance; the person's death alone is not enough.
Public D.C. leave is not private D.C. leave. The 10-day child-loss benefit and public funeral-leave procedures belong to District government personnel.
Common questions
Does D.C. require private employers to provide bereavement days?
No. The District sets no separate private-sector minimum number of bereavement days.
Can accrued sick and safe leave be used after a death?
Only when the absence independently fits D.C. Code § 32-531.02(b), such as the employee's own qualifying physical or mental medical condition, or when the employer voluntarily allows broader use.
Can a private employer request an obituary or death certificate?
D.C. has no private bereavement statute supplying that proof rule. A voluntary policy controls. Statutory sick/safe leave follows § 32-531.04 instead.
Statutes and sources
- D.C. Code § 32-531.01(2)-(3) and § 32-531.02. ASSLA coverage, accrual, access, and exhaustive permitted-use list. Definitions and paid leave (definitions accessed August 16, 2026; paid-leave section accessed July 15, 2026).
- D.C. Code §§ 32-531.03 and 32-531.04. Notice, certification, and disclosure rules. Notice and certification (accessed July 15, 2026).
- D.C. Code § 1-612.03. Separate District-government child-loss and stillbirth benefit. Official current section (accessed July 15, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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