BEREAVEMENT LEAVE PROGRAM

[Tony]

CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED// 
ROUTINE 
R 211537Z APR 23 MID200080920642U 
FM CNO WASHINGTON DC 
TO NAVADMIN 
INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC 
BT 
UNCLAS 
 
NAVADMIN 091/23 
 
PASS TO OFFICE CODES: 
FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1// 
INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1// 
MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N1/APR// 
 
SUBJ/BEREAVEMENT LEAVE PROGRAM// 
 
REF/A/LTR/USD/29MAR23// 
REF/B/LTR/ASN/14APR23// 
 
NARR/REF A IS UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR PERSONNEL AND READINESS 
DIRECTIVE-TYPE MEMORANDUM 23-003, BEREAVEMENT LEAVE FOR SERVICE MEMBERS.   
REF B IS ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE NAVY (MANPOWER AND RESERVE AFFAIRS) 
DIRECTIVE-TYPE MEMORANDUM, DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY GUIDANCE FOR BEREAVEMENT 
LEAVE FOR SERVICE MEMBERS.// 
 
RMKS/1.  This NAVADMIN message announces Navy policy and procedures for 
bereavement leave in line with references (a) and (b). 
 
2.  This NAVADMIN applies to all Active Component (AC), Training and 
Administration of the Reserve (TAR), and Reserve Component (RC) Service 
Members performing duty under a call or order to active service for more than 
12 consecutive months who experienced the death of their spouse or child on 
or after 25 June 2022. 
 
3.  Eligibility: 
a.  A Service Member whose spouse or child died on or after 25 June 2022 and 
has less than 30 days of accrued ordinary leave on the date of such death is 
eligible for up to 14 days of non-chargeable bereavement leave. 
b.  A Service Member whose spouse or child died on or after 25 June 2022 and 
has 30 or more days of accrued ordinary leave on the date of such death is 
not eligible for bereavement leave until the point the Service Member has an 
accrued leave balance of less than 30 days.  In this case, the Service Member 
may be authorized emergency leave in connection with such death.  If the 
accrued leave account is reduced below 30 days while taking leave, command 
leave administrators (CLA) will ensure any remaining leave taken in 
connection with such death is converted to bereavement leave and is not 
chargeable to the Service Member. 
 
4.  Using Bereavement Leave: 
a.  Bereavement leave must be completed within the period between the date of 
death and 14 days after the funeral, burial, or memorial service of the 
deceased spouse or child, whichever occurs last.  Commanding officers (CO) 
may approve bereavement leave to be taken later if operational requirements 
or other extenuating circumstances prevented the bereavement leave from being 
taken as described above. 
b.  Bereavement leave is taken in one increment in connection with the death 
of a spouse or child and is counted in calendar days.  A Service Member may 
request and be approved for less than 14 days of bereavement leave, and then 
extend such leave to a total of 14 days with the approval of the CO. 
c.  Bereavement leave may be taken in combination with other types of leave 
such as emergency, ordinary, advance, and convalescent.  When used in 
combination with other types of leave, bereavement leave must be used during 
the bereavement period delineated in paragraph 4.a of this NAVADMIN. 
 
5.  Unused Bereavement Leave: 
a.  Bereavement leave not taken within the period described in paragraph 4.a 
of this NAVADMIN will be forfeited except if due to operational requirements 
or other extenuating circumstances. 
b.  Any amount of bereavement leave remaining unused at the time of 
separation or retirement from active service will be forfeited. 
c.  Bereavement leave may not be transferred to create a shared benefit. 
d.  Any bereavement leave authorized by this NAVADMIN for an RC Service 
Member not taken by the time of their release from active service will be 
forfeited. 
(1) The period of active service of RC Service Member may not be extended 
solely to permit the Service Member to take leave authorized by this 
NAVADMIN. 
(2) RC Service Members will not be recalled to active service to utilize 
bereavement leave. 
 
6.  Limitations: 
a.  No more than 14 consecutive days of bereavement leave will be authorized 
to a Service Member in connection with the death of a spouse or child. 
b.  A Service Member will not be authorized bereavement leave in connection 
with the death of a person who is not their spouse or child.  However, 
Service Members may be authorized emergency leave, as appropriate, for such 
deaths. 
c.  A Service Member whose misconduct resulted in the death of their spouse 
or child will not be authorized bereavement leave. 
d.  A Service Member will not be authorized bereavement leave in connection 
with a stillbirth or miscarriage. 
 
7.  Validation of Death of Spouse or Child.  COs may consider self-
certification of the death of the spouse or child by a Service Member to 
approve a request for bereavement leave.  However, Service Members must 
provide administratively acceptable documentation within 30 calendar days 
after completion of bereavement leave or other leave if taken in combination 
with bereavement leave.  If the Service Member fails to provide the required 
documentation within the specified time period, their leave account will be 
reduced by the number of days of bereavement leave taken. 
 
8.  Retroactive Period.  Bereavement leave described in this NAVADMIN is 
retroactive to 25 June 2022.  Service Members who were charged leave in 
connection with the death of a spouse or child during the period between 25 
June 2022 and the date of this NAVADMIN may request such leave be restored if 
the Service Members would have otherwise been authorized bereavement leave 
without reduction of their leave balance.  This retroactive period does not 
apply to Service Members who separated or retired from active service. 
a.  The CO may restore any charged leave if provided administratively 
acceptable documentation of the death of the spouse or child of the Service 
Member.  Leave restoration within 12 months of the transaction date can be 
processed by the CLA via e-Leave in Navy Standard Integrated Personnel System 
(NSIPS).  Leave transactions that occurred greater than 12 months prior to 
the attempted restoration will require a Defense Workload Operations Web 
System transaction to the Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS) via 
the servicing Transaction Service Center or Regional Support Center. 
b.  The CO must determine the leave balance of the requesting Service Member 
at the time of death of their spouse or child in order to determine how much 
leave is to be restored. 
(1) Example 1:  If a Service Member had a chargeable leave balance of 36 days 
at the time of death of the spouse or child and took 15 days of ordinary or 
emergency leave immediately following the death, 9 days of ordinary leave 
will be restored. 
(2) Example 2:  If a Service Member had an ordinary leave balance of 28 days 
at the time of death of the spouse or child and took 20 days of chargeable 
leave immediately following the death, 14 days of leave will be restored. 
(3) Example 3:  If a Service Member had an ordinary leave balance of 60 days 
at the time of death of the spouse or child and took 30 days of chargeable 
leave immediately following the death, the Service Member is not eligible for 
any leave restoration. 
c.  The CLA, with the approval of the CO, is authorized to modify or cancel 
leave transactions to restore leave. 
 
9.  Requesting Bereavement Leave: 
a.  Bereavement leave must be requested through e-Leave in NSIPS. 
b.  NSIPS has been updated to reflect bereavement leave and must be selected 
in block 12a (type of leave). 
c.  NSIPS Web Afloat has not been updated to reflect bereavement 
leave.  Until the update is completed, select convalescent leave for any 
period that would otherwise be requested as bereavement leave.  Annotate in 
the remarks: "CONVALESCENT LEAVE SUBMITTED IN LINE WITH NAVADMIN 091/23 FOR 
BEREAVEMENT LEAVE ENTITLEMENT." 
 
10.  Point of contact for this matter is the Office of Pay and Allowances 
(OPNAV N130C) and can be reached via e-mail at 
nxag_n130c@navy.mil. 
 
11.  This NAVADMIN will remain in effect until superseded or cancelled, 
whichever occurs first.  A MILPERSMAN article will also be released at a 
later date reflecting the entitlement in this NAVADMIN. 
 
12.  Released by Vice Admiral Richard J. Cheeseman, Jr., N1.// 
 
BT 
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NNNN 
CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED//