Paid Sick Leave Laws: State by State (2024)

Summary

• There is no federally mandated paid sick leave law. 

• The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) may allow eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for certain health-related situations.

• Seventeen states have implemented their own paid sick leave laws – see them here 

Paid sick leave refers to time off that workers can use if they are sick, injured, or require medical care. It can also be used when an employee needs to attend to a family member or loved one for medical reasons, including elder care or child care. Paid sick time also covers mental health and preventative care.

Some sick leave policies also cover leave when an employee or their loved one is a victim of sexual assault or domestic violence.

Different countries around the world have varying laws and policies surrounding paid sick leave, including the number of days allocated to an employee every calendar year, whether they can carry over an accrual of unused sick leave, and differences in entitlement between full-time and part-time workers. 

What federal law says about paid sick leave

The United States is the only nation with an advanced economy that does not offer its workers federally mandated paid sick leave. 

Although there are no requirements for regular paid leave at the federal level, there are rules that allow employees to take unpaid leave under certain circumstances. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) states that eligible employees can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. This is used for “certain medical situations for either the employee or a member of the employee’s immediate family.”

Eligible employees are those who have worked with their current employer for at least a year and have done a minimum of 1,250 hours of work in the last 12 months. 

But that doesn’t mean Americans go without any sick leave benefits. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 77% of US workers in the private sector had access to paid sick leave in March 2022. This figure varies depending on the industry, and, in fact, 53% of people working in the leisure and hospitality sector have paid sick time.  

As an employer or HR executive, you must first be aware if your state requires you to offer paid sick leave and under what conditions. If you’re not bound by law, sick leave is still something worth considering for the sake of your employees’ physical and mental well-being. 

Paid sick leave laws by state

Research shows that 62% of US workers claim that they have worked while sick, and 92% said that they do so because they cannot afford to take an unpaid sick day. 

This has led some states to implement their own sick time laws. Companies that fall outside of those states also have the option to implement their own policies. 

There are currently 17 states, including Washington D.C., that have paid sick time laws. Click on your state to get a brief overview of what you need to know:

Arizona

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Nevada

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

Oregon

Rhode Island

Vermont

Washington

Washington D.C.

Arizona

Every employer, regardless of size or industry, must offer paid sick time to employees. Accrual rates are as follows:

• Employers with 15 or more employees: One hour of earned paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Employees are not entitled to accrue or use more than 40 hours of earned paid sick time per year unless a higher limit is set.
• Employers with less than 15 employees: Minimum of one hour of earned paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Employees are not entitled to accrue or use more than 24 hours of earned paid sick time per year unless a higher limit is set.

California

Employers are required to provide most employees with at least 40 hours or three days of PSL (Paid Sick Leave) per year. Eligible employees include full-time, part-time, and temporary workers who meet the following criteria:

• The employee works for the same employer for a minimum of 30 days within a year.
• 90 days of employment have elapsed before they use any paid sick leave. 

Employers can offer sick leave in one lump sum at the beginning of the year or set up an accrual plan where an employee must earn at least one hour for every 30 hours worked.

Colorado

All employers are required to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, capped at 48 hours per year. 

Sick leave may be used for any of the following:

• Mental or physical illness or injury
• Bereavement or death of a family member
• Absences due to domestic abuse or sexual assault
• Need for a medical diagnosis, treatment, or preventative care
• The care of a family member for any of the reasons listed above
• Evacuation or care for a family whose school or place of care was closed due to an unexpected event such as inclement weather and power/heat/water loss.

Connecticut

Companies with 50 or more “service worker” employees must provide one hour of sick leave for every 40 hours worked, maxing out at 40 hours. 

This law only applies to hourly “service workers.” Exempt, salaried, and day laborers are not legally entitled to paid sick leave. 

“Service workers,” as defined by Connecticut’s Paid Sick Leave Act, are people who are paid on an hourly basis and are not exempt from the minimum wage and overtime compensation requirements of the FLSA.

Maine

Employers with 10 or more employees must provide one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked, maxing out at 40 hours in a year. Workers can only use their leave after they have worked a minimum of 120 days. 

Maine’s paid leave law is unique in that it is not limited to sick time – employees can use their accrued leave for any reason, including emergency, illness, sudden necessity, planned vacation, etc.

Maryland

Employees are entitled to one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours every year. They are not allowed to use sick leave within their first 106 days of employment. Sick time cannot be carried over from a previous year. 

• 14 or fewer employees: sick leave is unpaid

• 15 or more employees: sick leave is paid

Massachusetts

Most employees earn up to 40 hours of sick time per year. They must earn at least one hour for every 30 hours worked. 

• 11 or more employees: sick leave is paid
• Under 11 employees: sick leave is unpaid

Government employees and students who work for their college or university do not qualify for earned sick time. 

Michigan

According to the Paid Medical Leave Act, employers with 50 or more employees are required to provide one hour of sick leave for every 35 hours worked. 

Employers cannot allow for accrual of over one hour a week or more than 40 hours in a year. Employees can carry over up to 40 hours of unused sick leave into a new year; however, they cannot use more than 40 hours of sick leave during that year. 

This act does not cover overtime-exempt employees working in executive, administrative, and professional roles. Other ineligible employees include those covered by collective bargaining agreements and those employed by the US government. 

Nevada

Employers with 50 or more staff must provide .01923 hours of paid sick time for every hour of work performed. All employees, including part-time, are eligible for sick time. Hours may be frontloaded instead of accrued according to the discretion of the employer. 

New Jersey

Employers of all sizes must provide up to 40 hours of sick leave per year. The accrual rate equals one hour of sick leave earned per 30 hours worked. Full and part-time employees are covered. 

The following employees are not eligible for earned sick leave:

• People employed in the construction industry under a union contract
• Per diem healthcare workers
• Independent contractors
• Independent contractors who do not meet the definition of an employee under NJ law

Employees can carry over up to 40 hours of unused sick leave into a new year; however, they cannot use more than 40 hours of sick leave during that year. 

New Mexico

The Healthy Workplaces Act requires employers to offer one hour of paid sick leave (PSL) for every 30 hours worked. Both non-exempt and exempt employees are eligible for PSL. 

While the accrual of PSL is unlimited, employers may cap its use to 64 hours per year. Employees may carry over unused PSL into the following year, and employers may frontload hours. If employers choose to front-load, they must continue to track accrual since PSL cannot be capped. 

New York

New York State’s paid sick leave laws came into effect on April 3, 2020. Private employers with five or more workers and a net income of more than $1 million have to provide paid sick leave. Employers with fewer than five workers and up to $1 million net income have to provide unpaid sick leave. Employees accrue leave at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked. 

Federal, state, and local government employees are not covered by this law.

Employees can make use of their paid sick leave through a verbal or written request for any of the following reasons:

• For mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition, regardless of whether it has been diagnosed or requires medical care at the time of the request for leave.*
• For the diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or need for medical diagnosis or preventive care.

*This includes using leave for the recovery of any side effects of the COVID-19 vaccination.”

New York State also implements safe leave laws to cover time off when an employee or their family member has been the victim of domestic violence, a family offense, sexual violence, stalking, or human trafficking. 

The time off, in this case, can be used for a number of reasons, such as to seek help from a domestic violence shelter, meet with an attorney or social services, or file a complaint with law enforcement. 

Oregon

One hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked, capped at 40 hours per year. Employees can only start using their sick time after they have worked for at least 90 days. Independent contractors do not accrue sick time. 

• 10 or more employers: sick time is paid 
• 6 or more employees in Portland: sick time is paid
• Fewer than 10 employees: sick time is unpaid

Rhode Island

Most employees have the right to accrue one hour of sick leave per 35 hours worked, capped at 40 hours in a year. Government employees and certain per diem nurses do not qualify for sick leave. 

• 18 or more employees: sick time is paid
• 17 or fewer employees: sick time is unpaid

Vermont 

Employees earn one hour of paid sick time for every 52 hours worked. A maximum of 40 hours of sick leave can be used per year. While employees begin earning sick time as soon as they start work, employers may choose to prohibit the use of sick time for up to one year. 

People who do not qualify for sick time include:

• Government employees
• Per diem health facility workers
• People employed for a job scheduled to last 20 weeks or fewer
• Employees who fall under school district or supervisory district union policies

Washington

Employees earn at least one hour of paid sick leave per 40 hours worked. Unused sick leave balances of 40 hours or less are carried over to the next year. Employees can only begin using sick leave after 90 days of employment. 

Employees excluded from sick leave protections:

• “White collar” employees in executive, administrative, computer, and outside sales positions
• Certain agricultural workers
• State or local government employees
• Forest protection and fire prevention workers
• See the full list here

Seattle has its own set of complex sick leave requirements separate to the rest of the state:

• Employers with up to 49 employees: must offer one hour of paid sick time for every 40 hours worked. Carryover may be limited to 40 hours per year.
• Employers with 50 to 249 employees: must offer one hour of paid sick time for every 40 hours worked. Carryover may be limited to 56 hours per year.
• Employers with more than 249 employees: must offer one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Carryover may be limited to 72 hours per year.

Washington D.C. 

The District of Colombia has varying sick time accrual rates depending on staff count:

• 100 or more employees: no less than one hour of paid sick leave for every 37 hours worked, capped at 7 days per year. 
• At least 25, but no more than 99 employees: no less than one hour of paid sick leave for every 43 hours worked, capped at 5 days per year. 
• 24 or fewer employees: no less than one hour of paid sick leave for every 87 hours worked, capped at 3 days per year. 

Sick leave rules in cities & counties

The following cities and counties have their own sick leave rules independent of local state laws. If you operate a business in any of these areas, do some further research to see what kind of sick leave you owe your staff, if any. 

• San Francisco
• Oakland
• Emeryville
• Santa Monica
• Los Angeles
• Seattle
• Portland
• San Diego
• Berkeley
• Seattle
• Tacoma
• New York City
• Westchester County
• Philadelphia
• Pittsburgh
• Allegheny County
• Montgomery County
• Minneapolis
• Duluth
• Bloomington
• Chicago
• Cook County 

Building your own paid sick leave policy

When creating your own sick leave policy, you want to offer your employees the flexibility they need to take time off when they need it. At the same time, you need to set up clear rules and procedures for doing so to avoid abuse, error, and unnecessary administrative work for your staff. 

Your policy should outline the rules and procedures behind requesting time off as well as a strategy for keeping track of employee accrual and how many sick days they have used. 

• Set the rules for who is eligible for paid sick leave, the structure of your paid sick leave (accrual, lump sum, or unlimited), and any local laws that automatically apply to your policy. 
• Design a procedure for requesting and taking time off. This should include the number of days’ notice required for planned sick leave, who they need to request sick leave from, what information they need to provide, and through which platform. 
• Develop a strategy for recordkeeping that allows you to monitor how much leave has been taken, store any relevant documents, and avoid abuse. 
• Automatically track accruals with software so that you aren’t burdening your HR team with tedious administrative tasks. Look into ways to have it so that sick leave is accrued, requested, recorded, and paid in the background with minimal need for calculation and data entry. 

Manage sick leave requests and stay compliant with Workforce.com

Once you have developed your paid sick leave policy, you need an employee scheduling and paid time off tracker solution that streamlines the procedure of managing sick leave, keeps accurate records, and does all of this in line with state and local laws. 

Managing sick leave should be as simple as “set it and forget it.” Get in touch with us today to find out how Workforce.com can help you easily and automatically comply with your state’s sick leave standards.