Bereavement Leave Requirements in New Hampshire
At a glance
| Governing law and type of leave | No general private-sector bereavement-leave mandate. RSA 275:43-b recognizes full-day unpaid bereavement leave only when an employer already allows it under a bona fide written policy |
|---|---|
| Covered employers and employees | No general state-mandated private-sector bereavement coverage threshold or employee eligibility test; RSA 275:43-b's pay rule concerns salaried employees using policy-provided leave |
| Qualifying deaths, relationships, and events | No statewide private-sector list of covered deaths, relationships, funerals, memorials, grief, or post-death tasks. Pregnancy-related temporary disability is a separate medical-leave issue, not a bereavement allotment |
| Leave amount, timing, and caps | No state-required bereavement allotment, per-death amount, annual cap, or completion window; a written employer policy sets the days and timing |
| Paid or unpaid; use of existing leave | No required paid or unpaid bereavement allotment. A full-day salary deduction is allowed when unpaid bereavement leave is permitted by a bona fide written plan, policy, or practice |
| Notice, documentation, and proof | No bereavement-specific state call-in, request-form, proof, death-certificate, or privacy rule; the employer's written policy supplies the procedure |
| Job protection, attendance, and confidentiality | No New Hampshire bereavement-specific restoration, attendance, retaliation, or confidentiality right for ordinary private employment; employer policy supplies any internal terms |
| Enforcement, remedies, and deadlines | No general bereavement-specific state complaint, civil remedy, penalty, or filing deadline; ordinary wage rules remain separate from a right to leave |
What an employee and employer do without a state mandate
New Hampshire does not create a general block of funeral, memorial, bereavement, or reproductive-loss leave for ordinary private-sector employees. The state's bereavement-specific wage rule assumes that an employer has already chosen to offer the leave rather than requiring an employer to do so.
N.H. Rev. Stat. § 275:43-b(I)(c) permits a salaried employee's pay to be reduced for a full-day unpaid absence caused by bereavement leave only if the leave is allowed under a bona fide written plan, policy, or practice. The conditional phrase matters: the statute regulates pay when policy-provided leave exists; it does not create a minimum number of days or require an employer to offer the leave.
N.H. Rev. Stat. § 275:49(III) separately requires employers to make their vacation-pay, sick-leave, and other fringe-benefit practices and policies available in writing or through an accessible posting. The Department of Labor also instructs employers to provide fringe-benefit policies in writing and retain the signed notification. Those disclosure rules leave the actual bereavement relationships, days, pay, call-in procedure, proof, privacy, and attendance consequences to the employer's policy or agreement.
Pregnancy-related medical leave is a separate boundary. N.H. Rev. Stat. § 354-A:7(VI) protects leave for temporary physical disability resulting from pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. The current section does not create a fixed reproductive-loss or bereavement allotment. A medical condition following a loss must be analyzed under that disability-based rule, not treated as statewide bereavement days.
What trips people up
The word "bereavement" in the wage statute is not a mandate. Section 275:43-b applies only if a bona fide written employer policy already allows full-day unpaid bereavement leave.
The salary rule is limited to full-day absences. It does not create a general rule allowing deductions for partial-day bereavement absences.
Pregnancy-disability leave is not a bereavement bank. Section 354-A:7 focuses on the period of temporary physical disability and restoration when the employee can return, not a fixed number of days for grief or post-death tasks.
Common questions
Must a New Hampshire employer provide three or five bereavement days?
No. New Hampshire sets no general private-sector minimum number of bereavement days.
Must voluntary bereavement leave be paid?
No statewide private-sector rule requires pay. For a salaried employee, a full-day unpaid absence may be deducted when a bona fide written policy allows that unpaid bereavement leave.
Can an employer ask for an obituary or death certificate?
New Hampshire has no general private-sector bereavement statute supplying a proof list or delivery deadline. The employer's written policy supplies the procedure.
Statutes and sources
- N.H. Rev. Stat. § 275:43-b(I)(c). The salary-deduction rule applies when a bona fide written policy already allows a full-day unpaid bereavement absence. Official current section (accessed July 15, 2026).
- N.H. Rev. Stat. § 275:49(III). Employers must make vacation, sick-leave, and other fringe-benefit policies available. Official current section (accessed July 15, 2026).
- N.H. Rev. Stat. § 354-A:7(VI). Pregnancy-related temporary-disability leave is a separate medical right, not a fixed reproductive-loss or bereavement allotment. Official current section (accessed July 15, 2026).
- New Hampshire Department of Labor guidance. The current wage-and-hour FAQ explains the written fringe-benefit-policy requirement. Official FAQ (accessed July 15, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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