OPM Releases Guidance for Parental Bereavement Leave

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) last week released guidance to agencies for implementing paid parental bereavement leave under the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.

While each agency with eligible employees is responsible for providing the new leave, OPM issued guidance to support consistent implementation. Under the guidance, federal employees serving in permanent or term appointments of more than one year with at least one year of service can take up to two weeks of paid parental bereavement leave for the death of a child. Part-time employees are eligible, however seasonal employees are not eligible during the off-season when in nonduty/nonpay status.

Bereavement leave does not affect the accrual or balances of other paid leave or paid time off. The guidance requires agencies to allow employees to take the leave retroactive to Dec. 27, 2021, when the bill was signed into law, to substitute for previously taken leave.