Sick Leave and Paid Family Leave Laws by State in the US: Where You Live Changes Everything
Short Answer (paid family leave laws by state)
paid family leave laws by state: There is no federal paid sick leave or paid family leave law. Each state runs its own program with its own eligibility rules and forms. State pay is not the same as job protection, and an employer policy is not the same as either. Check your state's rules before filing.
Where you live and work changes everything about sick leave and paid family leave, because there is no federal law guaranteeing paid sick leave or paid family leave, and each state writes its own program, its own eligibility rules, and its own forms. A state program that pays you is not the same thing as a law that protects your job, and an employer's policy is not the same thing as either one. Before you file anything, find your state's fork first, then find whether pay, job protection, or both apply to your absence.
30-second check: is this article for you?
According to the ADA National Network, proper medical documentation is essential for protecting your rights.
Read on if any of these fits:
You work in one state, live in another, or just moved, and you are not sure which state's rules now apply to you.
You need days off for your own illness and want to know whether a state sick leave law, not just your handbook, gives you those days.
You need weeks off for your own serious condition, a new child, or family care, and you want to know whether a state program will pay you during that time.
You assumed a state paid leave program also protects your job, or that job protection also pays you, and you want to check that assumption before you rely on it.
Your employer is based in a different state from where you work, and you do not know which state's program to file with.
If your absence is a child's school absence, this pillar is not the right map. School excuse rules are set by schools and districts, not by state paid leave programs.
Jordan's move, and the two letters that did not travel
Need medical documentation for your situation?
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), proper medical documentation is essential for protecting your rights.
Jordan Lee is 29 and works remotely in technical support. For two years he worked from Texas, for an employer headquartered in another state, under a handbook that gave him paid time off and short-term disability through the employer's own benefits, but no state paid family leave program to file with, because Texas has no state paid family leave program of the kind this pillar maps. When Jordan needed three weeks off for his own medical treatment, his pay during those weeks came from his employer's benefits, and his job protection, if any, came from federal law and company policy, not from a state program check.
Then Jordan moved to Colorado, kept the same remote job, and assumed his leave rules moved with him unchanged. They did not. Colorado has a state paid family and medical leave program, with its own filing process, its own eligibility rules, and its own benefit calculation, separate from his employer's benefits and separate from federal job protection. When Jordan later needed time off to care for a family member, the question was no longer only what his handbook said. It was which state program applied to a remote worker living and working in Colorado, what that program paid, what form it required, and whether job protection came from that program, from federal law, or from a separate state leave law. Jordan's handbook had not changed. His state had, and with it, his fork had changed.
Jordan's story is the reason this pillar is written as a branching map, not as a list of states. A list tells you that California, Colorado, and Washington have programs. A map tells you what to do when you move, when you work remotely across a state line, and when you need pay for weeks rather than days. This pillar gives you three state forks, one worked example for each kind of rule, and one pitfall that runs through all three forks. The sub-articles, not this pillar, carry each state's current eligibility rules, benefit amounts, forms, and deadlines, because those details change by state and by year, and a pillar that tries to carry all of them becomes wrong in the state you actually live in.
The fork, in three state categories
Do not start with a state name. Start with the category your state falls into, because the category decides which process you file with. Answer these questions in order, and stop at the first category that fits your work state, which is usually where you physically work, not where your employer is headquartered. If you work remotely, confirm with your state program and your employer which work location controls your filing, because remote work is the fact pattern where this question is most often answered wrong.
Fork A: Your state has a paid family and medical leave program. You file a wage-replacement claim with the state program, on the state program's form, for weeks off for your own serious condition, bonding, or family care, subject to that program's eligibility and benefit rules. California is the worked example for this fork in this pillar, because its program pages were opened and verified. Other states in this category have their own programs, their own forms, and their own benefit calculations, and their sub-articles carry those details. Do not copy California's numbers into another state's claim.
Fork B: Your state has a paid sick leave law, but no state paid family and medical leave program. You have state sick days for short absences, governed by the state sick leave law, but weeks off are not paid by a state program. Pay for weeks, if any, comes from employer benefits such as paid time off or short-term disability, and job protection, if any, comes from federal law or a separate state leave law. Washington is the worked example for this fork's sick leave rules in this pillar, because its labor department page was opened and verified. Washington also has a state paid family and medical leave program, so it is used here only for its sick leave mechanics, not as an example of a state with no paid family leave program. Read the fork, not just the state name, and check your own state's current category before filing.
Fork C: Your state has neither a state paid family and medical leave program nor a state paid sick leave law that covers your job. Your days and weeks off depend on your employer's policy, any contract or union agreement, and federal law. There is no state program check to file, and no state sick-day balance to draw on. That does not mean you have no options. It means your options are employer benefits, federal job protection if you are eligible, and any local ordinance that applies where you work, each checked separately. Do not file a state program claim in a state that has no program, and do not assume a handbook's paid time off is a state program. The sub-article for this fork carries the detail: how to check for a local ordinance, how to read your employer's benefits for elimination periods and benefit periods, and how to separate pay from protection when no state program exists.
If you work in more than one state in a year, or you move mid-claim, you may change forks mid-absence. Tell the state program and your employer, in writing, when your work location changes, and ask which program and which form now apply, rather than continuing to file under the old state's rules. A fork change is a filing change, not a paperwork preference.
Fork A, worked example: California paid family leave, pay without assuming protection
California is the worked example for Fork A, and its numbers are the only state benefit numbers stated as verified facts in this pillar, because they come from pages opened on the California Employment Development Department site. California Paid Family Leave provides up to 8 weeks of benefits in a 12-month period, for bonding, caring for a seriously ill family member, or participating in a qualifying event resulting from a family member's military deployment. That 8-week figure, and the benefit calculation that follows, come from the EDD's benefit-amounts page, which was updated October 20, 2026 (California EDD: Calculating PFL Benefit Payment Amounts).
The benefit is calculated from wages earned 5 to 18 months before the claim begins, using the highest quarter in the base period, and the weekly benefit is about 70% to 90% of those wages, depending on the quarter's earnings. The EDD page sets out the bands in full: a highest quarter below $300 does not qualify; $300 to $722.49 pays $50 per week; $722.50 to $16,279.90 pays 90% of weekly wages; $16,279.91 to $20,931.30 pays a flat $1,127 per week; and $20,931.31 or more pays 70% up to a maximum of $1,765 per week. The base period must include at least $300 in State Disability Insurance wages, and the paystub line to check is "CASDI." The claim must be filed within 41 days of the first day of the leave, cannot be filed early, and a late filing needs a good reason, according to the EDD's eligibility questions page (California EDD: PFL Eligibility FAQ).
Those numbers are California numbers. They are not Colorado numbers, New York numbers, or Washington numbers, and they are not a national rate. A worker who moves from California to another Fork A state, or from another Fork A state to California, must recheck the new state's base period, wage bands, weekly maximum, and filing deadline, because every one of those figures is set by the new state's program, not by the old state's program and not by the employer. The sub-article for California carries the full worked calculation, including part-time work, multiple family members filing for the same event in non-overlapping periods, and care outside California with a verifiable provider license. The sub-articles for other Fork A states carry their own calculations, and this pillar does not repeat them, because repeating them here would turn a map into a stale table.
California also illustrates the pillar's central distinction, which is developed as the pitfall below: California Paid Family Leave pays, but it does not, by itself, protect a job. Job protection for California workers comes from separate laws, including federal FMLA where the worker is eligible, and California's own family and medical leave protections, which have their own forms and their own decision makers. The guide on California CFRA versus FMLA job-protected leave explains how California's leave protection overlaps with federal FMLA, and it is the guide to read alongside any California paid claim, not after it. A paid claim without a protection filing, where protection was available and required, is the most expensive mistake on Fork A, because the checks arrive and the job does not survive the leave.
Fork B, worked example: Washington sick leave, days governed by a state law
Washington is the worked example for Fork B's sick leave mechanics, and its numbers come from the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries page on paid sick leave minimum requirements, which was opened and verified (Washington L&I: Paid Sick Leave Minimum Requirements). Employees must receive at least 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked, covering full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees alike. A part-time employee working 20 hours a week earns 1 hour every two weeks, which is L&I's own example. Employees begin accruing on their first day of work, but are entitled to use accrued paid sick leave once they have reached 90 calendar days of employment.
For absences exceeding three required work days, an employer can require verification that the absence was for an authorized purpose. The employer must include any verification requirement in its written paid sick leave policy, and must give the employee at least 10 calendar days after the first day of absence to provide it. Verification requirements cannot create an unreasonable burden or expense, and an employer cannot require the employee to disclose the nature of their mental or physical condition or request any health-related information. Use of paid sick leave for an authorized purpose cannot be counted as an absence that leads to discipline, and employers cannot require an employee to find a replacement to cover their shift before using paid sick leave. Employers must pay the sick leave used within the same pay period, unless they require verification for an absence exceeding three days.
Those rules govern days, not weeks. A Washington worker who needs three weeks off does not get three weeks of pay from the sick leave law alone, because sick leave accrues at 1 hour per 40 hours worked and is sized for short absences. Weeks off require a different fork: a state paid family and medical leave program where one applies, employer short-term disability, or paid time off, each filed separately. The sub-article for Fork B carries the detail for states that have a sick leave law but no state paid family and medical leave program: how many sick hours accrue, when they can be used, what verification the state allows, and what to file for weeks once sick hours run out. This pillar does not state those states' accrual rates as national facts, because accrual rates, use thresholds, and verification windows are set by each state's law, and Washington's 1-hour-per-40-hours, 90-day, and 10-day figures are Washington figures, not a template for every Fork B state.
The federal floor sits underneath both Fork A and Fork B, and it is the same floor in every state. The U.S. Department of Labor states that there is currently no federal law guaranteeing access to paid sick leave, although many states and localities have passed paid sick leave laws, and that there is currently no federal law providing or guaranteeing access to paid family and medical leave for workers in the private sector, although some states have their own paid leave programs (U.S. Department of Labor: Paid Leave). That sentence is the reason this pillar exists as a state map rather than a national guide: the federal government sets no paid sick days and no paid family leave weeks, so the state you work in writes the program, and the employer you work for writes the rest.
Fork C: no state program, employer benefits and federal protection, checked separately
Fork C is the fork where parents, workers, and even HR most often make the same error: assuming that because a state has no program, there is nothing to file, or assuming that because an employer offers benefits, a state program must exist behind them. Neither assumption is safe. On Fork C, the work is to check three separate sources, in writing, and to keep their answers separate: employer benefits for pay, federal law for job protection, and any local ordinance for sick days where you actually work.
Employer benefits for weeks off usually mean short-term disability, paid time off, or a combination, and each has its own elimination period, benefit period, and benefit percentage, which must be pulled from the worker's own policy, not from a national table, because private short-term disability in the United States has no national standard. Job protection on Fork C, where it applies, usually means federal FMLA, and the U.S. Department of Labor's FMLA page sets out the thresholds that decide whether it applies at all: a covered private employer with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks, and an eligible employee with at least 12 months of service, at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before leave starts, and a location with at least 50 employees within 75 miles, for up to 12 workweeks in a 12-month period. A worker who does not meet those thresholds has no FMLA protection to file, however generous the employer's paid time off may be, and a worker who meets them must still file FMLA protection separately from any pay claim, because pay and protection are different filings with different forms.
Local ordinances are the third source on Fork C, and they are the source most often missed. A city or county may have a sick leave ordinance even when the state has no state sick leave law, and that ordinance, where it applies, governs days off in that city or county. The sub-article for Fork C carries the detail: how to check for a local ordinance by work location, how to read an employer's short-term disability policy for its elimination period and benefit percentage, and how to file FMLA protection when eligible, without confusing a paid time off balance with a state program balance. This pillar does not list local ordinances, because they change by city and county, and a pillar that lists them would be wrong in the city you actually work in.
The one pit: pay is not protection, and protection is not pay
The pit this pillar concentrates on, and the only pit it develops in depth, is confusing a program that pays with a law that protects a job. It is the most expensive confusion in state leave law, because it feels resolved at the moment it is most dangerous: the moment the first check arrives, or the moment the leave is approved, when the worker assumes the other half of the problem has also been solved.
Pay and protection answer different questions. Pay answers: who replaces wages during weeks off, at what percentage, up to what weekly maximum, for how many weeks, and on what form? Protection answers: can the employer fill the job, move the worker, or end employment during the leave, and must the worker be restored to the same or an equivalent job on return? A state paid family leave program answers the first set of questions. Federal FMLA, where the worker is eligible, and separate state leave-protection laws, where they apply, answer the second set. An employer handbook answers a third set: what paid time off, short-term disability, or company leave the employer chooses to offer, on top of, or instead of, a state program.
Jordan's move makes the pit concrete in both directions. In Texas, with no state paid program to file, Jordan's three weeks off were paid, if at all, by employer benefits, and his job protection, if any, came from federal law and company policy, not from a state check. He could easily have assumed that because his employer paid him, his job was protected, or that because his job was held, his pay would continue, when in fact pay and protection came from different sources with different eligibility rules. In Colorado, with a state program to file, Jordan could easily have made the opposite error: assuming that because the state program approved a paid claim, his job was protected for the same period, when in fact job protection required a separate filing, with separate eligibility, under federal law or a separate state leave law. In both states, the error is the same: treating one approval as two approvals.
The fix is a two-filing check, done before the leave starts, in writing. Filing one: the pay filing, whether that is a state paid family and medical leave claim on Fork A, employer short-term disability or paid time off on Fork B or Fork C, or sick leave hours on Fork B for days. Filing two: the protection filing, whether that is federal FMLA where eligible, a state leave-protection law where one applies, or a written company leave approval where no law applies. Each filing has its own form, its own deadline, and its own decision maker, and each filing must be confirmed separately, in writing, before the leave starts. If only one filing is confirmed, the worker does not have a complete leave plan. The worker has half a plan, and the missing half is the half that determines whether there is a job to return to, or a paycheck to return with.
That two-filing check is also the reason this pillar links, in one sentence each, to the guides that carry each half in detail, rather than repeating them. For what a work note must say, and what an employer can legally ask, see the pillar guide, The Complete Guide to Doctor's Notes for Work in the US. For how many days can be taken without a note, and which layer, federal, state, or handbook, sets that number, see the guide on how many sick days can be taken without a doctor's note. For the format a short note should follow, dates, limits, and timing, with diagnosis and history left out, see the guide on what a good work doctor's note includes, and what it should leave out. For the mental health fork, where leave, accommodation, and FMLA protection are three different roads, see the pillar guide on mental health leave and ADA accommodations at work. Each of those guides covers one half of the leave problem. This pillar covers only the state fork that decides which half applies in your state, and the pit that comes from confusing the two halves.
Privacy, in one paragraph
State leave filings, like work notes, should state dates, functional limits, and timing, and should not include a full medical history, a medication list, or a diagnosis narrative the program's form does not require. A state program's form asks for the medical facts its program needs, and a school or employer form asks for different facts, so keep each filing on its own form, with only the facts that form requires. Sending a state program's full medical file to an employer, or an employer's full attendance file to a state program, creates a record each recipient must store and protect for a question it never needed to answer in that form. One filing, one form, one recipient, is the privacy rule that keeps state leave filings as clean as short work notes.
Where a Rillmont evaluation fits, and where it does not fit
Rillmont serves people in the US and Canada. This article covers US states only. The process is: you complete an online evaluation, a licensed provider reviews it, and if appropriate, a note is issued to your account. That process fits a short note that supports a sick leave absence, a state program filing, or an employer leave filing, when the assessment can establish dates, limits, and a return or review date. It does not, by itself, file a state paid family and medical leave claim, create FMLA protection, or approve a state sick leave balance, because each of those processes has its own form, its own decision maker, and its own deadline. Use a Rillmont document as supporting material for the fork you chose, ready to submit with that fork's form, not as a substitute for that form. A note that is ready to submit is not a filed claim, and a filed claim is not a protected job, until each filing is confirmed separately, in writing, by its own decision maker.
Your pre-submit action
Do not file anything until you have written your fork and your two filings down, and that written page is the action this pillar leaves you with. Take the absence in front of you and write five lines, on paper or in a message draft, before you submit any form.
Line one: your work state, and your fork, in one sentence, for example "Colorado, Fork A, state paid family and medical leave program" or "Texas, Fork C, no state program, employer benefits plus federal protection to be checked." Line two: the pay filing, naming the program or benefit, the form, and the deadline, taken from that program's current page or your employer's benefits document, not from this pillar. Line three: the protection filing, naming the law or company approval, the form, and the deadline, taken from the same sources. Line four: the note that supports both filings, checked against dates, limits, and timing, with diagnosis and history left out. Line five: the two written confirmations you will obtain before the leave starts, one for pay and one for protection, each naming its decision maker and its date.
Send line one through line four, with the supporting note, to the decision maker each filing names, and keep the two confirmations when they arrive, with the dates they arrived. If a program or an employer replies that a different fork, a different form, or a different deadline applies, follow that reply, and keep it, because the program's current page and the employer's current benefits document for your work state outrank any general map, including this pillar. That five-line page, with two confirmations, is the difference between a leave that pays and a leave that protects, and a leave that does only one of those things while the worker assumed it did both.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a national paid sick leave or paid family leave law?
No. The Department of Labor states that there is currently no federal law guaranteeing access to paid sick leave, and no federal law providing or guaranteeing access to paid family and medical leave for workers in the private sector, although many states and localities have passed paid sick leave laws and some states have their own paid leave programs. Your state, and your employer, write the rules that apply to you.
Does a state paid family leave program protect my job?
Not by itself. A state paid program replaces wages, subject to its own eligibility and benefit rules. Job protection comes from a separate law, such as federal FMLA where you are eligible, or a separate state leave-protection law where one applies, each filed on its own form. Always file pay and protection separately, and confirm each one in writing.
I moved to a new state. Do my old state's leave rules travel with me?
No. Your fork is decided by your work state, usually where you physically work, not by where you used to live or where your employer is headquartered. When your work location changes, tell the state program and your employer in writing, and ask which program and which form now apply, rather than continuing to file under the old state's rules.
I work remotely for an employer in another state. Which state's program applies?
Usually the state where you work, but remote work is the fact pattern where this question is most often answered wrong. Confirm with the state program and your employer, in writing, which work location controls your filing before you submit a claim, because the answer decides which program's form, benefit calculation, and deadline apply.
What does California Paid Family Leave actually pay?
Under the EDD benefit-amounts page verified for this pillar, California Paid Family Leave provides up to 8 weeks in a 12-month period, with a weekly benefit of about 70% to 90% of wages from the highest quarter in the base period, subject to the bands on that page, including a flat $1,127 per week band and a maximum of $1,765 per week. Those are California figures only. Another state's program will have its own bands, maximum, and filing deadline.
What does Washington paid sick leave actually give me?
Under the Washington L&I page verified for this pillar, at least 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked, usable once you have reached 90 calendar days of employment, with verification for absences exceeding three required work days only as described in a written policy, with at least 10 calendar days after the first day of absence to provide it. Those are Washington figures for days, not weeks, and not a template for every state.
If my state has no paid family leave program, what pays me for weeks off?
Employer benefits, if you have them, such as paid time off or short-term disability, each with its own elimination period, benefit period, and benefit percentage from your own policy. There is no state program check to file in a state with no program, and a handbook's paid time off is not a state program. Job protection, if any, must be checked separately under federal law or company policy.
What should I do first, before I file anything?
Write the five-line page from the pre-submit action: your work state and fork, your pay filing with its form and deadline, your protection filing with its form and deadline, your supporting note checked against dates, limits, and timing, and the two written confirmations you will obtain before the leave starts. Do not assume one approval covers both pay and protection.
This article provides general information only and is not legal, tax, or medical advice. State programs, benefit amounts, and deadlines change, so check your state program's current page and your employer's current benefits document for your work state before you file.
Further Reading
Official Resources
U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau, Paid Leave — https://www.dol.gov/paidleave
U.S. Department of Labor, Family and Medical Leave Act — https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla
California Employment Development Department, Calculating PFL Benefit Payment Amounts — https://www.edd.ca.gov/disability/Calculating_PFL_Benefit_Payment_Amounts.htm
California Employment Development Department, FAQ: PFL Eligibility — https://edd.ca.gov/en/disability/FAQ_PFL_Eligibility
Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Paid Sick Leave Minimum Requirements — https://lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/leave/paid-sick-leave/paid-sick-leave-minimum-requirements
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a federal paid family leave law?
No. The US has no federal law guaranteeing paid sick leave or paid family leave. The FMLA gives unpaid job-protected leave to eligible workers, but pay comes from state programs or employer benefits, and each state writes its own rules.
Does state paid leave protect my job?
Not automatically. A state program that pays benefits is separate from job protection. Some states combine pay and protection in one law, others do not. Confirm both the pay program and the job protection law that cover your absence.
Which state's rules apply if I work remotely?
Usually the state where you physically work, not where your employer is headquartered. Remote workers living in one state and working for an out-of-state employer should check the state of their work location first, then ask HR which program applies.
How do I apply for state paid family leave?
File with your state's leave agency, not your employer's handbook. You typically need identity documents, wage records, and medical certification for your own condition or a new child. Apply before or shortly after your leave begins.
How long does approval take?
Timelines vary by state, typically a few weeks after a complete application. Missing medical certification or wage information is the most common cause of delay, so submit complete documents the first time.
Is an employer policy the same as a state law?
No. An employer policy is a company benefit and can change. A state law sets minimum rights you can rely on. If your handbook gives more than the state requires, the handbook applies, but the state law is your floor.
