Paid Sick Leave Laws by State

Colorado Paid Sick Leave

In Colorado, the state’s paid sick leave law went into effect for all employers in 2022 and covers all employees in the state, including migratory laborers.

Eligible Reasons for Use

Colorado is one of many states with broadly defined reasons for use under the paid sick leave law. In addition to an employee’s illness, and caring for a family member, the Colorado law allows employees to use leave for issues related to a death in the family.

Covered Family Member

Any person related by blood, marriage, civil union, or adoption; a child for whom the employee stands in loco parentis or a person who stood in loco parentis to employee as a child; a person for whom the employee takes responsibility for providing or arranging health care or safety-related care.

Other aspects of paid sick leave in Colorado include:

• Max use per year – 48 hours
• Accrual rate – 1 hour for every 30 hours worked

Connecticut Paid Sick Leave

The Connecticut paid sick leave law only applies to workers who work at least 10 hours per week for the employer in the most recent complete quarter. The law applies to employers with 25 or more employees. This number changes each year for the next two years: 

• January 1, 2026 – employers with 11 or more employees in CT  
• January 1, 2027 – employers with 1 or more employees in CT  

The number of employees is based on the employer’s payroll for the week of January 1st, annually. 

Eligible Reasons for Use 

Employees in Connecticut may use paid sick leave for the general reasons as well as safe time due to violence or sexual assault. Employees may also use paid sick leave for a mental health wellness day. 

Covered Family Member 

The definition of a covered family member is broad and includes children and parents whether biological, foster, adoptive, step, in-law as well as an individual whose close association with the employee equates to a family relationship. 

Some other provisions of the Connecticut paid sick leave law include the following: 

Maximum Use per Year – 40 hours per year. 

Accrual Rate – 1 hour for every 30 hours worked. 

Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers

Illinois enacted a paid leave law effective January 1, 2024 that requires private employers to provide paid leave to its employees that can be used for any reason at all.  

This law doesn’t impact any local ordinance that is in effect on January 1, 2024 that requires an employer to provide paid leave to its employees. Chicago had a prior local ordinance requiring paid sick leave and, as a result, Chicago employers are subject to Chicago’s paid sick leave law for employees working within the city of Chicago. 

Eligible Reasons for Use 

The Illinois paid leave may be used for any reason at all.  

Covered Family Member 

The Illinois paid leave law does not define a covered family member as the leave can be taken for any reason – there is no need to define family members. 

Some other provisions of the Illinois paid leave law include the following: 

Maximum Use per Year – 40 hours per year or a 12-month designated period. 

Accrual Rate – 1 hour for every 40 hours worked. 

Maine Earned Paid Leave – Any Reason

Maine has had a paid leave law in place since 2021 that requires employers to provide paid leave to eligible employees which can be taken for any reason. 

An eligible employee under this law is one who works for more than 120 days in a calendar year for an employer with more than 10 employees. 

Eligible Reasons for Use 

Maine paid leave may be used for any reason at all.  

Covered Family Member 

The Maine paid leave law does not define a covered family member as the leave can be taken for any reason – there is no need to define family members. 

Some other provisions of the Maine paid leave law include the following: 

Maximum Use per Year – 40 hours per year. 

Accrual Rate – 1 hour for every 40 hours worked. 

Maryland Paid Sick Leave

Maryland’s paid sick leave law went into effect in 2018.

Another unique law, paid sick leave in Maryland covers employers with 15 or more workers. However, smaller employers must provide unpaid sick leave. And “employer” includes state and local governments.

Eligible Reasons for Use

Maryland’s law allows for the typical reasons for use, as well as safe time for violence and sexual assault.

Covered Family Member

Employee’s child (biological, adopted, foster, stepchild, legal guardianship, loco parentis); employee’s or employee’s spouse’s parent (biological, adoptive, foster, stepparent, loco parentis); legal guardian of the employee; employee’s spouse; employee’s grandparent (biological, adopted, foster or step-grandparent); employee’s grandchild (biological, adopted, foster or step-grandchild); employee’s sibling (biological, adopted, foster or step-sibling).

In Maryland, the paid sick leave law also includes:

• Max use per year – 64 hours
• Accrual rate – 1 hour for every 30 hours worked

Massachusetts Paid Sick Leave

The Massachusetts paid sick leave law went into effect in 2015 and applies to employers with 11 or more workers.

Also of note, covered employees are those whose primary place of work is in Massachusetts, regardless of the employer’s location.

Eligible Reasons for Use

The Massachusetts law is somewhat narrowly defined in terms of allowed reasons for use. However, it does include travel to or from an appointment, pharmacy or other location related to reason sick time was taken.

Covered Family Member

Child, parent and spouse. It also includes, biological, adopted, foster, step-, in-law, legal and in loco parentis relationships.

Massachusetts’ paid sick leave law also includes:

• Max use per year – 40 hours
• Accrual rate – 1 hour for every 30 hours worked

Michigan Paid Sick Leave

Michigan has had a paid sick leave law since 2019. It covers private employers with 50 or more workers, though there are some exceptions under the definition of a covered employee.

Eligible Reasons for Use

Michigan is another state with many reasons for which employees can use paid sick leave, including safe time and public health quarantine.

Covered Family Member

Child – biological, adopted, foster or step child, legal ward or child to whom eligible employee stands in loco parentis; parent – biological, adoptive, foster, or step parent, legal guardian of eligible employee or eligible employee’s spouse or individual who stood in loco parentis when eligible employee was a child; individual to whom eligible employee is legally married; grandparent; grandchild; sibling – biological, foster or adopted.

Other facets of the Michigan paid sick leave law include:

• Max use per year – 40 hours
• Accrual rate – 1 hour for every 35 hours worked

Minnesota Paid Sick Leave

Minnesota passed its paid sick leave law this year and it goes into effect Jan. 1, 2024.

It covers most employers in the state, as well as smaller bodies of government, and applies to employees that work at least 80 hours per year in the state.

Eligible Reasons for Use

Minnesota may have the broadest reasons for use among states with paid sick leave laws, covering the normal factors, plus school closures, public health emergencies and more.

Covered Family Member

The employee’s child, spouse, registered domestic partner, sibling, stepsibling, foster sibling, parent, grandchild, foster grandchild, step-grandchild, grandparent, step-grandparent, sibling-in-law (“child” includes foster child, adult child, legal ward, child whom employee is legal guardian, or child whom the employee stands or stood in loco parentis); child of a sibling of employee; child-in-law; (“parent” includes biological, adoptive, foster parent, stepparent, or person who stood in loco parentis when the employee was a minor child); sibling of the parents of employee; any of the above family members of the employee’s spouse or registered domestic partner; any individual related by blood whose close association is the equivalent of a family relationship; one individual annually designated by the employee.

Other aspects of Minnesota’s paid sick leave law include:

• Max use per year – No applicable provision
• Accrual rate – 1 hour for every 30 hours worked

Nevada Paid Leave Law – Any Reason

Since January 1, 2020, employers in Nevada have been required to provide full and part time employees with paid leave that can be taken for any reason. The law applies to employers with 50 or more employees in Nevada.  

Eligible Reasons for Use 

Nevada paid leave may be used for any reason at all.  

Covered Family Member 

The Nevada paid leave law does not define a covered family member as the leave can be taken for any reason – there is no need to define family members. 

Some other provisions of the Nevada paid leave law include the following: 

Maximum Use per Year – 40 hours per year. 

Accrual Rate – 0.01923 hours for each hour worked. 

New Jersey Paid Sick Leave

In New Jersey, its paid sick leave law went into effect in 2018. It applies to all private employers in the state and most workers, though there are exceptions regarding covered employees.

Eligible Reasons for Use

New Jersey allows employees to take paid sick leave for the usual reasons along with time off for handling issues related to domestic or sexual violence, school closures due to public health emergencies, quarantines or meetings due to a child’s health condition or disability. 

Covered Family Member

Child, grandchild, sibling, spouse, domestic partner, civil union partner, parent or grandparent of an employee; or a spouse, domestic partner, or civil union partner of a parent or grandparent of the employee; or a sibling of a spouse, domestic partner, or civil union partner of the employee; or any other individual related by blood to the employee or whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.

New Jersey’s paid sick leave law also includes:

• Max use per year – 40 hours
• Accrual rate – 1 hour for every 30 hours worked

New Mexico Paid Sick Leave

Benefits under the New Mexico paid sick leave law went into effect in 2022. The law covers most private employers and employees in the state, but generally excludes tribal land.

Eligible Reasons for Use

New Mexico’s law allows for the typical reasons for use, including safe time, but also permits leave for meetings at child’s school or place of care.

Covered Family Member

Employee or employee’s spouse or domestic partner; child – biological, adopted, foster, step, legal ward or child employee stands in loco parentis; parent – biological, adoptive, foster, step, legal ward or person who stood in loco parentis when employee was a minor child; grandparent; grandchild; sibling – biological, foster, step or adopted; spouse or domestic partner; person with a close association equivalent to a family relationship.

The New Mexico paid sick leave law also includes:

• Max use per year – 64 hours in a fixed 12-month period, as determined by the employer
• Accrual rate – 1 hour for every 30 hours worked

New York Paid Sick Leave

New York’s paid sick leave law has been in effect since 2020 and covers all employers in the state. There are differences though depending on the size of the employer. Large employers are those with 100 or more employees. Employers with 5-99 employees and employers with 4 or less employees have different maximum accrual caps and usage per year amounts than large employers.  

New York also has a prenatal paid leave law that requires employers to provide 20 hours of paid leave for prenatal reasons in addition to the paid sick leave hours.  

Eligible Reasons for Use

New York paid sick leave permits employees to use the time for the standard reasons, but the law is broad in its safe time uses.

Covered Family Member

Child – including biological, adopted, foster, legal ward, or child standing in loco parentis and child of employee’s spouse or domestic partners; spouse; domestic partner; parent – including biological, foster, step or adoptive parent, or a legal guardian of an employee or a person who stood in loco parentis when the employee is a minor child and parent of employee’s spouse or domestic partner; sibling; grandchild; or grandparent.

Other aspects of New York’s paid sick leave law include:

• Max use per year – 56 hours (for large employers) 
• Accrual rate – 1 hour for every 30 hours worked

Oregon Paid Sick Leave

Oregon’s paid sick leave law has been in effect since 2016 and applies to employers with 10 or more employees in the state. Employers with less than 10 employees in Oregon must provide unpaid sick time accrued at 1 hour for every 30 hours worked and may limit the amount of unpaid sick time annually to 40 hours.

Eligible Reasons for Use

Oregon allows employees to use paid sick leave for several reasons, notably for level 2 or level 3 emergency evacuation orders or absences due to air quality or heat index level issues.

Covered Family Member

Spouse or same gender domestic partner; parent – including custodial and non-custodial, biological, adoptive, step or foster parent and in-law of spouse or same-gender domestic partner; child – including biological, adoptive, step or foster child of employee or employee’s same-gender domestic partner, whether adult or minor; grandparent; grandchild of employee; parent-in-law of employee or with whom employee was or is in a relationship of in loco parentis.

Other aspects the Oregon paid sick leave law include:

• Max use per year – 40 hours
• Accrual rate – 1 hour for every 30 hours worked or 1 1/3 hours for every 40 hours worked

Rhode Island Paid Sick Leave

The Rhode Island paid sick leave law went into effect in 2018 and covers all employers in the state.

However, covered employees must perform most of their work in the state. (There are exceptions for certain jobs, as well as government employees.)

Eligible Reasons for Use

The paid sick leave law in Rhode Island is fairly typical regarding eligible reasons for use, but does include safe time and public health emergencies.

Covered Family Member

Child – biological, adopted, foster, step, legal ward, child of a domestic partner, child of employee who stands in loco parentis; parent – biological, foster, adopted, step, legal guardian, person who stood in loco parentis to employee or employee’s spouse or domestic partner as a child; spouse – including common law marriages; mother-in-law and father-in-law (of spouse or domestic partner); grandparents; grandchildren; domestic partner; sibling – biological (full- or half-blood), adopted, foster or step ; care recipient; member of Employee’s household.

Other details of paid sick leave in Rhode Island include:

• Max use per year – 40 hours
• Accrual rate – 1 hour for every 35 hours worked

Vermont Paid Sick Leave

Vermont’s paid sick leave law went into effect for employers of all sizes in 2018.

It covers most employers and employees in the state, though, again, there are exceptions.

Eligible Reasons for Use

Vermont’s paid sick leave is fairly typical regarding eligible reasons for use, but does include safe time and public health emergencies.

Covered Family Member

Parent, grandparent, spouse, child (son or daughter by birth or adoption), brother, sister, parent-in-law, grandchild, foster child, ward, or any child an employee has assumed parent responsibilities or standing in loco parentis.

Vermont’s paid sick leave law also includes:

• Max use per year – 40 hours
• Accrual rate – 1 hour for every 52 hours worked

Washington State Paid Sick Leave

In the state of Washington, its law has been in effect since 2017. It covers most employees, though there are several exceptions. However, all private employers are covered by the law.

Eligible Reasons for Use

Washington’s paid sick leave law allows employees to use leave for a multitude of reasons, including broad allowances regarding safe time.

Covered Family Member

Child (biological, adopted, foster, step, or child to whom employee stands in loco parentis, is legal guardian or is de facto parent, regardless of age or dependency); parent of employee or employee’s spouse or registered domestic partner (biological, adoptive, de facto, foster parent, step-parent, legal guardian, or person who stood in loco parentis when employee was minor child); spouse; registered domestic partner; grandparent; grandchild; sibling; and an individual who regularly resides in the employee’s home or where the relationship creates an expectation that the employee care for the person.

Other facets of paid sick leave in Washington State also include:

• Max use per year – No applicable provision
• Accrual rate – 1 hour for every 40 hours worked

There are other local paid sick leave laws for employers to note in the state.

Washington D.C. Paid Sick Leave

D.C.’s paid sick leave is required of all private employers and the District government. The amount of paid sick leave that must be provided to eligible employees depends on the number of employees employed by the employer. The calculation is based on the number of full-time employees for the prior calendar year divided by 12. 

Eligible employees are those whose primary working time is in D.C. (50% or more) and the employee has worked at least 1,000 hours with the same employer with no break in service in the past 12 months. There are some exclusions, however, for restaurant workers receiving a combination of wages and tips, students, substitute teachers, among others.  

Eligible Reasons for Use 

D.C.’s earned sick leave can be taken for the usual reasons as well as for services due to being the victim of domestic violence or sexual abuse. 

Covered Family Member 

Covered family members under the law include the employee’s spouse, domestic partner, children (including step, foster, grandchildren, and the spouses of children), parents, siblings (including step and half and sibling’s spouses), child who lives with the employee and for whom the employee has permanent parental responsibility, and a person whom the employee resides in the preceding 12 months and maintains a committed relationship. Covered family members also include in-law relationships. 

Some other provisions of the D.C. paid sick leave law include the following: 

Maximum Use per Year – 7 days for employers with 100 or more employees. 

Accrual Rate – 1 hour for every 37 hours worked for employers with 100 or more employees. 

Conclusion

State paid sick leave laws are a major compliance challenge for large employers.

Companies with locations across the country should review these laws, as well as any applicable local ordinances that may apply, to ensure they are adhering to the law.

If you’re part of an organization that needs help managing these laws, check out GovDocs Paid Leave.