Massachusetts: Bereavement Leave Requirements
The short answer
Massachusetts does not require a general private-sector funeral or family-death allotment, and its Paid Family and Medical Leave program does not provide bereavement benefits. But M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C expressly lets covered workers use accrued earned sick time to address their own or their spouse's physical and mental health needs after pregnancy loss or failed assisted reproduction, adoption, or surrogacy. The worker draws from the existing 40-hour annual sick-time bank; time is paid at employers with 11 or more employees and may be unpaid at smaller employers.
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This is the general rule in Massachusetts. Ezel applies current Massachusetts law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and type of leave | No general family-death allotment. M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C(c)(5) expressly permits use of accrued earned sick time for specified reproductive-loss health needs; PFML does not cover bereavement |
|---|---|
| Covered employers and employees | Most employees working in Massachusetts; U.S. government excluded, and city/town workers are covered only if the municipality accepts the law. Paid-time threshold is 11 employees |
| Qualifying deaths, relationships, and events | Employee or spouse experiences pregnancy loss or failed assisted reproduction, adoption, or surrogacy, and time addresses the employee's or spouse's physical or mental health needs. Ordinary family death, funeral, memorial, grief alone, and post-death tasks are not listed |
| Leave amount, timing, and caps | Existing accrued sick-time balance: at least 1 hour per 30 hours worked, generally usable after day 90, with no more than 40 hours usable in a calendar year. No separate per-event allotment or completion window |
| Paid or unpaid; use of existing leave | Paid at employers with 11+ employees; employees not entitled to paid time receive unpaid earned sick time. This is use of the existing sick-time bank, not added bereavement days |
| Notice, documentation, and proof | Good-faith advance notice when foreseeable; otherwise follow the employer's lawful procedure, with an emergency exception. Proof is limited—generally after more than 3 consecutive workdays—and the employee may be asked to verify a covered purpose |
| Job protection, attendance, and confidentiality | Covered earned sick time is job-protected and may not produce discipline, attendance points, reduced hours, or retaliation. General sick-time limits on medical-detail requests apply; there is no separate bereavement-record regime |
| Enforcement, remedies, and deadlines | Attorney General enforcement. After filing with the Attorney General, a worker may sue under § 150 within 3 years for injunction, damages, lost wages/benefits, mandatory treble lost wages/benefits, costs, and attorney's fees |
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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 1, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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