Bereavement Leave Requirements in Massachusetts

At a glance

Massachusetts uses sick time for reproductive loss, not general bereavement

Massachusetts does not create a general block of funeral, memorial, or family- death leave for ordinary private-sector employees. The Department of Family and Medical Leave also states that PFML provides no bereavement benefit. If a family member dies during caregiver leave, that leave's end date must be adjusted.

M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C(c)(5) is narrower and different. It allows an employee to use accrued earned sick time to address the employee's own physical and mental health needs, and those of the employee's spouse, after pregnancy loss or a failed assisted reproduction, adoption, or surrogacy. It does not list an ordinary family death, funeral attendance, a memorial, grief alone, or post- death legal and financial tasks.

Amount, pay, and coverage

The reproductive-loss use draws from the ordinary earned-sick-time bank. The statute requires at least one hour of accrual for every 30 hours worked and generally delays use until the 90th calendar day after employment begins. An employee may carry over up to 40 unused hours but is not entitled to use more than 40 hours in one calendar year. There is no added per-event allotment or special completion window.

Most employees working in Massachusetts are covered. The statute excludes the United States government and covers city and town employees only when the municipality accepts the law. At an employer with 11 or more employees, the earned sick time is paid. Employees not entitled to paid time receive earned unpaid sick time instead.

Notice, proof, and protection

When the need is foreseeable, § 148C requires a good-faith effort to give advance notice. The Attorney General's current guidance recognizes an emergency exception and says an employer may require a form verifying that the time was used for a covered purpose.

Medical documentation is limited rather than automatic. The current guidance says an employer may generally ask for a doctor's note after more than three consecutive missed workdays. It also says an employer may not request details about the illness. These are the general earned-sick-time rules; Massachusetts does not create a separate reproductive-loss proof system.

Covered use is job-protected. The Attorney General's notice says an employer may not discipline, penalize, retaliate, assign attendance points, take away hours, or fire a worker for exercising earned-sick-time rights.

What trips people up

This is not a new bereavement bank. Section 148C(c)(5) authorizes a new use of accrued sick time. It does not add days beyond the existing annual limit.

A family death alone is not an earned-sick-time purpose. A resulting qualifying physical or mental health condition may independently support sick time or PFML medical leave, but the protected reason is the health condition, not bereavement or funeral attendance.

The broader bills are not current law. H.5302 and S.1287 remain in their respective Ways and Means committees. Neither bill supplies a present leave right unless enacted and effective.

Common questions

Can a Massachusetts employee use earned sick time after a miscarriage?

Yes. Section 148C(c)(5) expressly covers the employee's or spouse's pregnancy loss when the time is used for the employee's or spouse's physical and mental health needs, subject to the employee's accrued balance and the ordinary sick- time rules.

Can earned sick time be used simply to attend a parent's funeral?

Not under the death-related language of § 148C. Funeral attendance is not a listed purpose. A separate employer policy may permit it, and a qualifying health condition after the death is a different sick-time basis.

Is the reproductive-loss time paid?

It depends on employer size. Employers with 11 or more employees provide paid earned sick time. Workers not entitled to paid time receive unpaid earned sick time under the statute.

Statutes and sources

• M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C(a)-(d)(3) and § 148C(d)(4), (6), and (7). Covered uses, accrual, annual limit, pay split, notice, and protection. Official current General Court section and state judiciary reproduction with amendment history (accessed July 15, 2026).
• Massachusetts Attorney General earned-sick-time materials. Current pay, notice, documentation, and job-protection guidance. Earned Sick Time (accessed July 15, 2026).
• M.G.L. c. 149, § 150. Private enforcement, limitation period, and remedies. Official current section (accessed July 15, 2026).
• Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave. Guidance following a death during PFML (updated June 25 and accessed July 15, 2026).
• Pending H.5302 and S.1287. H.5302 official status and text and S.1287 official status and text (checked August 8, 2026).