Employers
Managing bereavement leave
Bereavement leave can be taken at any time and for any purpose relating to the bereavement. It does not have to be taken straightaway or on consecutive days.
What an employee is entitled to
All employees (permanent, fixed-term, part-time and casual) can use bereavement leave if:
- they have worked for you continuously for 6 months or:
- they have worked for you for 6 months for
- an average of 10 hours per week, and
- at least 1 hour in every week or 40 hours in every month.
Employees are entitled to bereavement leave every 12 months as long as they meet the above criteria.
If they do not meet the criteria due to changes in work, they’re not entitled to bereavement leave. However, the employee may re-qualify when they do meet the 6-month requirement.
You may agree to give employees additional bereavement leave above the minimum entitlement, depending on the circumstances. For example, if a funeral is being held a long distance away.
Employees should tell you as soon as possible when they have a bereavement, and they want to take leave.
Chart for employees to work out if they qualify for sick leave and bereavement leave [PDF, 600 KB]
Minimum entitlement
Each employee gets bereavement leave for a minimum of 3 days per bereavement in the following circumstances.
- The employee’s immediate family member dies (for example, parent, child, partner or spouse, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, parent-in-law).
- The employee has a miscarriage or stillbirth.
- Another person has a miscarriage or stillbirth and the employee:
- is the person’s partner
- is the person’s former partner and would have been a biological parent of a child born as a result of the pregnancy
- had agreed to be the primary carer of a child born as a result of the pregnancy (for example, through a formal adoption or a whangai arrangement)
- is the partner of a person who had agreed to be the primary carer of a child born as a result of the pregnancy.
Each employee gets bereavement leave for a minimum of 1 day per bereavement if another person dies and you accept they’ve had a bereavement. This is based on:
- how close they were with the deceased person
- whether they have to take a lot of responsibility for all or any of the arrangements for the ceremonies relating to the death
- if they’ve any cultural responsibilities in relation to the death.
How much leave an employee can take
If an employee:
- has not met the 6-month criterion so does not qualify for bereavement leave, or
- wants to take extra bereavement leave (for example, wants to take 5 days for the death of their grandparent) then their employer can agree that the employee can take:
-
- leave in advance, or
- leave as annual holidays; you cannot make an employee take bereavement leave as
annual holidays , orEvery employee is entitled to at least four weeks paid annual holidays (annual leave) each year when they have worked for their employer for 12 months. In some situations, an employee can be paid 8% of their gross earnings with their regular pay instead of getting paid time off (also see Pay-as-you-go)
- paid or unpaid leave.
Proof of bereavement
The law is silent about proof of bereavement. This means that requesting proof cannot be a condition for the employee taking bereavement leave.
You’re not prohibited from requesting proof, either. So, the concept of good faith would apply. This requires both you and your employee to be responsive and communicate, and not mislead or deceive each other.
Payment for bereavement leave
Payment for bereavement leave is only made if the employee would have An otherwise working day is a day that an employee would have worked had the day not been a public holiday, sick leave, bereavement leave, family violence leave or alternative holiday for that employee. Relevant daily pay means the pay an employee would have been paid if they had been working on the day concerned. It is used to calculate payment for public holidays, alternative holidays, sick leave, family violence leave and bereavement leave. Average daily pay is a way of determining what an employee should be paid on a day that they would have otherwise worked but didn’t. It is used to calculate payment for public holidays, alternative holidays, sick leave, family violence leave and bereavement leave.
Bereavement and public holidays
If the employee would have worked on a Employees are entitled to 12 paid public holidays every year if they fall on days that the employee would otherwise be working. If a public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday and this is not an otherwise working day for the employee, the public holiday is moved to the following Monday (or Tuesday if 25 or 26 December or 1 or 2 January fall on a Sunday) for that employee.
- the employee would be paid their relevant daily pay or average daily pay (where applicable), but they would not be entitled to time and a half or an alternative holiday, and
- no bereavement leave would be deducted.
Taking bereavement leave during holidays
If the employee is:
- about to take
annual holidays, but has a bereavement before they go, you must let the employee take bereavement leave for the relevant period.Every employee is entitled to at least four weeks paid annual holidays (annual leave) each year when they have worked for their employer for 12 months. In some situations, an employee can be paid 8% of their gross earnings with their regular pay instead of getting paid time off (also see Pay-as-you-go)
- already on annual holidays and has a bereavement, you must let the employee take bereavement leave instead of annual holidays for the relevant period.