The US has no federal paid sick leave or paid family leave law for private employers. The federal FMLA gives eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave, and that's where federal law ends. States have stepped in on two fronts: paid sick leave that employers provide directly, and state-run insurance programs that pay wage replacement during longer family and medical leave.
The table shows both for every state, plus the states that require temporary disability insurance. Most of these laws apply based on where the employee works, which is why a single remote hire can bring a new state's leave program into your payroll. Read our FMLA guide for the federal rules and our PTO policy guide for policy design.
Paid leave laws by state: all 50 states and DC
| Alabama | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Alaska | Paid sick leave since July 1, 2025 (Ballot Measure 1). Employees earn 1 hour for every 30 hours worked. Employers with fewer than 15 employees must allow up to 40 hours a year; employers with 15 or more, up to 56 hours. | No state program | No |
| Arizona | Paid sick time (Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act). Employees earn 1 hour for every 30 hours worked. Employers with fewer than 15 employees must allow up to 24 hours a year; employers with 15 or more, up to 40 hours. | No state program | No |
| Arkansas | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| California | Paid sick leave of at least 40 hours or 5 days a year. Employees earn at least 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, or you can front-load the full amount. | Paid Family Leave and State Disability Insurance, funded by employee payroll deductions. PFL pays up to 8 weeks of partial wage replacement for bonding or caring for a family member. | Yes |
| Colorado | Healthy Families and Workplaces Act: 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours a year, for employers of every size, plus extra public health emergency leave when declared. | FAMLI: up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave (16 for pregnancy or childbirth complications), funded by premiums usually split between employer and employee. | No |
| Connecticut | Paid sick leave of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year. In 2026 it covers employers with 11 or more employees, and in 2027 it covers employers of every size. | CT Paid Leave: up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, funded by a 0.5 percent employee payroll deduction. | No |
| Delaware | No statewide law | Delaware Paid Leave: benefits began January 1, 2026. Employers with 10 or more employees must cover parental leave, and employers with 25 or more must also cover medical and family caregiving leave. Funded by premiums that employers may split with employees. | No |
| District of Columbia | Paid sick and safe leave for employers of every size: from 1 hour per 87 hours (up to 3 days) for employers with fewer than 25 employees, to 1 hour per 37 hours (up to 7 days) for employers with 100 or more. | DC Paid Family Leave: up to 12 weeks of parental leave and other leave types, funded entirely by an employer payroll tax. | No |
| Florida | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Georgia | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Hawaii | No statewide law | No paid family leave program, but Hawaii requires Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI), which pays partial wages for an employee's own non-work illness or injury. Employers may deduct part of the cost from wages. | Yes |
| Idaho | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Illinois | Paid Leave for All Workers Act: 1 hour for every 40 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year, usable for any reason. Chicago and Cook County have their own paid leave rules. | No state program | No |
| Indiana | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Iowa | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Kansas | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Kentucky | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Louisiana | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Maine | Earned Paid Leave: employers with 11 or more employees must allow 1 hour for every 40 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year, usable for any reason. | Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave: benefits began May 1, 2026, with up to 12 weeks of leave. Premiums are 1 percent of wages; employers with 15 or more employees pay at least half. | No |
| Maryland | Healthy Working Families Act: 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours of use a year. Employers with 15 or more employees must pay for it; smaller employers may provide it unpaid. | Maryland FAMLI has been delayed: contributions start in 2027 and benefits in 2028, under the current schedule. | No |
| Massachusetts | Earned Sick Time: 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year. Employers with 11 or more employees must pay for it. | Massachusetts PFML: up to 12 weeks of family leave, 20 weeks of medical leave, and 26 weeks combined in a benefit year, funded by employer and employee contributions. | No |
| Michigan | Earned Sick Time Act, as amended in 2025: employers with 11 or more employees provide 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 72 hours a year. Employers with 10 or fewer provide up to 40 hours. | No state program | No |
| Minnesota | Earned Sick and Safe Time: 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours a year, with a bank of up to 80 hours, for employers of every size. | Minnesota Paid Leave: benefits and premiums began January 1, 2026. Up to 12 weeks of family or medical leave (20 weeks combined), funded by a premium split between employer and employee. | No |
| Mississippi | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Missouri | None. Missouri's voter-approved paid sick leave law took effect May 1, 2025, but the legislature repealed it effective August 28, 2025. | No state program | No |
| Montana | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Nebraska | Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, effective October 1, 2025, as amended: employers with 11 or more employees provide 1 hour for every 30 hours worked. Employers with 11 to 19 employees allow up to 40 hours a year; employers with 20 or more, up to 56 hours. | No state program | No |
| Nevada | Paid leave for any reason: employers with 50 or more employees provide at least 0.01923 hours per hour worked, about 40 hours a year. | No state program | No |
| New Hampshire | No statewide law | No mandatory program. The voluntary Granite State Paid Family Leave plan lets employers buy coverage, and individuals can enroll on their own. | No |
| New Jersey | Earned Sick Leave: 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year, for employers of every size. | Family Leave Insurance and Temporary Disability Insurance: up to 12 weeks of paid family leave and 26 weeks of disability benefits, funded by payroll contributions. | Yes |
| New Mexico | Healthy Workplaces Act: 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 64 hours a year, for employers of every size. | No state program | No |
| New York | Paid sick leave based on size: up to 40 hours unpaid for 4 or fewer employees with net income of $1 million or less, 40 hours paid for 5 to 99 employees, and 56 hours paid for 100 or more. Plus 20 hours of paid prenatal leave since 2025. | New York Paid Family Leave (employee-funded, up to 12 weeks) and statutory disability insurance (DBL). | Yes |
| North Carolina | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| North Dakota | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Ohio | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Oklahoma | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Oregon | Oregon Sick Time: 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year. Employers with 10 or more employees (6 or more in Portland) must pay for it. | Paid Leave Oregon: up to 12 weeks of paid family, medical, or safe leave (up to 14 for pregnancy-related needs), funded by contributions from employers with 25 or more employees and from employees. | No |
| Pennsylvania | No statewide law. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have paid sick leave ordinances. | No state program | No |
| Rhode Island | Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act: 1 hour for every 35 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year. Employers with 18 or more employees must pay for it. | Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI) and Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI), funded by employee payroll deductions. | Yes |
| South Carolina | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| South Dakota | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Tennessee | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Texas | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Utah | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Vermont | Earned Sick Time: 1 hour for every 52 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year. | No mandatory program. Vermont's voluntary Family and Medical Leave Insurance program lets employers buy coverage, and individuals can enroll. | No |
| Virginia | Only for home health workers who average at least 30 hours a week: 1 hour for every 30 hours worked. | No state program | No |
| Washington | Paid sick leave: 1 hour for every 40 hours worked, with no annual cap on accrual and carryover of up to 40 hours. | Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave: up to 12 weeks (16 combined, 18 with pregnancy complications), funded by employer and employee premiums. Employers also withhold WA Cares long-term care premiums. | No |
| West Virginia | No statewide law | No state program | No |
| Wisconsin | No statewide law | No paid program. Wisconsin's own Family and Medical Leave Act gives employees of employers with 50 or more employees up to 6 weeks of unpaid family leave and 2 weeks of unpaid medical leave a year, alongside the federal FMLA. | No |
| Wyoming | No statewide law | No state program | No |
Download the full dataset (CSV, free) All 51 jurisdictions, every field in this library. Free to use with credit.
Quick summary
- 21 jurisdictions require paid sick leave
- 13 run paid family leave programs
- 5 require disability insurance
Paid sick leave: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington.
Paid family and medical leave: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington.
Designing one policy for many states
Multi-state employers often adopt a single PTO or sick leave policy that meets the most generous state rules, then add state addenda where needed. That approach is simpler to run, but check carryover, payout, and documentation rules state by state, because they differ more than accrual rates do. Leave management software can track different accrual rules by work location.
Frequently asked questions
Which states require paid sick leave?
Which states have paid family leave programs?
Is paid sick leave the same as PTO?
Which states require disability insurance?
Cite or share this data
Journalists, educators, payroll providers, and HR teams are welcome to quote these figures. Please credit HRTally with a link to this page. Copy the snippet below to add the link.
<a href="https://www.hrtally.com/state-labor-laws/paid-leave-laws-by-state/">Paid sick leave and paid family leave laws by state</a> (source: HRTally)
Suggested citation: HRTally Research Team. "Paid sick leave and paid family leave laws by state." HRTally, updated October 20, 2026. https://www.hrtally.com/state-labor-laws/paid-leave-laws-by-state/
General information for US employers, not legal advice. Laws change and have exceptions by industry, employer size, and city. Confirm current rules with the state agency or employment counsel before you rely on them.
Written by the HRTally Research Team
Our guides are written and reviewed by people with hands-on US HR, payroll, and HR technology experience. Legal and tax facts are checked against primary sources, such as the Department of Labor, IRS, EEOC, and USCIS, and linked at the end of each guide. Vendors never review or pay for our editorial content.