Bereavement Leave Requirements in Minnesota

At a glance

Minnesota uses the existing ESST bank

Minnesota does not create a new number of bereavement days after each death. Minn. Stat. § 181.9447, subd. 1(1)(iv), instead lets an employee use accrued earned sick and safe time to arrange or attend funeral services or a memorial, or to address financial or legal matters arising after a family member's death.

That distinction affects the amount available. Under § 181.9446, an employee generally earns one paid hour per 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours in a year, and may use the time as it accrues. Carryover can build the total bank to 80 hours, subject to statutory frontloading alternatives, but there is no separate per-death award or special deadline for finishing death-related use.

Coverage, family, and pay

Minn. Stat. § 181.9445, subds. 4-7 reaches employers with at least one employee, including Minnesota state and local government, but not the United States government. Temporary and part-time workers are included when the employer anticipates at least 80 hours of Minnesota work in a year. The statute excludes independent contractors, specified volunteer or on-call emergency personnel, elected officials, and certain short-term farm labor.

The family definition is broad. It covers children, spouses and registered domestic partners, siblings, parents, grandchildren, grandparents, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, children- and siblings-in-law, corresponding family of a spouse or domestic partner, a blood relative or close-association equivalent, and one person designated each year.

Death-related ESST is paid at the statutory base rate. A PTO or other paid-leave system can serve as ESST if it supplies the same purposes and conditions. It is still one existing paid-leave balance, not extra bereavement pay.

Notice, proof, and protection

For foreseeable use, an employer may demand no more than seven days' advance notice. For unforeseeable use, it may require notice on a reasonable basis. An employer using a notice procedure must put it in writing and give employees a copy; it cannot deny ESST on that basis if it did not provide the policy.

Reasonable documentation may be requested only when ESST lasts more than two consecutive scheduled workdays. Section 181.9447 does not make a death certificate, obituary, or funeral program automatically due for every death-related absence. The employer also may not require the employee to find a replacement worker.

Retaliation and discrimination are prohibited. An employee returns at the same pay rate, including automatic pay-scale adjustments, with accrued preleave benefits and seniority retained. An attendance system may not count protected ESST as an absence leading to retaliation or other adverse action. Information the employee supplies may be disclosed only with the employee's request or consent, by court or agency order, or as otherwise required by law.

What trips people up

Forty-eight hours is not a per-death amount. It is the ordinary annual ESST accrual shared with every other covered health, safety, closure, and family-care purpose.

Minnesota's death clause does not say “grieve.” It protects funeral or memorial arrangements and attendance and resulting financial or legal matters. It should not be read as Colorado's broader express grieving clause.

The family definition extends beyond the family tree. A blood relative or someone whose close association is equivalent to family can qualify, and the employee may designate one additional person annually.

Common questions

Can a Minnesota employee use ESST to handle an estate or other post-death paperwork?

Yes. Financial and legal matters arising after a covered family member's death are expressly included.

Must the funeral and legal tasks occur within a set number of days?

The ESST statute gives no death-specific completion window. The practical limit is the employee's available ESST balance and the ordinary notice and proof rules.

Can an employer require a four-hour block for a short memorial service?

It may not require an ESST increment longer than four hours. The usual payroll increment applies, and the employer need not provide increments shorter than 15 minutes.

Statutes and sources

• Minn. Stat. §§ 181.9445-.9447. Current definitions, coverage, family, accrual, pay, death-related use, notice, proof, increments, protection, and confidentiality. Official definitions, accrual, and use sections (accessed August 23, 2026).
• Minn. Stat. § 181.944 and § 177.50. Private civil remedies, three-year deadline, damages, and record-based relief. Individual remedies and ESST enforcement (accessed August 23, 2026).
• Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Current administration and plain-language ESST guidance. ESST FAQs (accessed August 23, 2026).