Sponsors (9)
The bill creates a meaningful, job‑protected 12‑workweek bereavement leave for parents of a deceased child (including parallel federal protections) that helps people keep income and provides clearer rules, while trading off flexibility, potentially forcing use of paid leave and documentation, and limiting combined spousal leave in some workplaces.
Parents and family members of a deceased son or daughter gain a new protected 12‑workweek bereavement leave (job‑protected time off) to grieve and manage affairs without risking job loss.
Parents, family members, and eligible federal employees can use existing paid leave in lieu of unpaid bereavement leave so workers can maintain income while taking time off.
Employers and workers get clearer notice and certification rules, creating more predictable expectations about timing and documentation for taking bereavement leave.
Parents and family members cannot take bereavement leave intermittently or on a reduced schedule unless the employer agrees, limiting flexibility for people who need sporadic time for appointments or staggered grieving needs.
Parents, family members, and federal employees may be required to substitute paid leave and provide regulatory certification, which can force use of paid time and impose documentation and privacy burdens while grieving.
Parents and family members could lose eligibility if their need for bereavement leave arises after the bill's 12‑month expiration window, denying leave to those with delayed arrangements or prolonged grief timelines.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Adds a 12‑workweek FMLA leave for the death of a son or daughter, with certification, timing, and procedural rules.
Adds a new Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave reason that gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of leave after the death of a son or daughter, and updates related definitions, timing rules, certification, and procedural requirements. It also aligns certain public‑school and federal civil service leave rules with the new bereavement leave and preserves existing timing limits for other FMLA reasons. The bill limits intermittent or reduced‑schedule use of this bereavement leave unless the employee and employer agree, allows substitution of paid leave, requires reasonable notice when leave is foreseeable, and authorizes the Secretary of Labor to require certification supporting the bereavement leave. It extends coordination rules for spouses employed by the same employer and adds a 12‑month expiration for taking bereavement leave after a child's death.
Official title: To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to provide leave because of the death of a son or daughter, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 6, 2026 by Brad Schneider · Last progress April 6, 2026