Paid Sick Leave Laws by State: A Guide for Small Employers
Which states require paid sick leave, the size thresholds that decide whether you are covered, remote worker rules, and how to write a policy.
Paid Sick Leave Laws by State
Which states require it, whether your headcount exempts you, and how to build a policy that survives an audit
The first time paid sick leave became my problem, it was because of one remote hire. We were a small team in a state with no requirement at all, and I had genuinely never thought about the topic. Then we hired someone who lived elsewhere, and about four months later I learned that her state had a mandate, that it applied to employers of any size, and that she had been accruing an entitlement I had not been tracking.
Nothing bad came of it, mostly through luck. But it taught me the thing that most guides on this topic bury: the question is not what your state requires. It is what every state where you have someone working requires, and for a lot of small businesses those are now different questions.
This guide covers which states have a mandate, the employer size thresholds that decide whether you are actually covered, what happens with remote employees, how to write a policy from scratch, and where small employers most often get caught. It is written for a business with 5 to 50 people and no HR department.
The Short Answer
There is no federal law requiring private employers to provide paid sick leave. As of 2026, 18 states including the District of Columbia require it, and three additional states require paid leave that can be used for any purpose, giving 21 jurisdictions with a mandate. Many of these laws apply to every employer regardless of headcount, and the state where the employee physically works determines which law applies.
If you have employees in only one state and that state has no mandate, you have no legal obligation, though you may still want a policy. If you have an employee anywhere else, including a remote worker, start with the list below.
There Is No Federal Paid Sick Leave Law
This surprises people, so it is worth stating plainly. No federal statute requires private employers to provide paid sick leave. The emergency paid sick leave created during the pandemic under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act expired at the end of 2020, and the associated tax credit ended the following year. Nothing replaced it.
The Department of Labor confirms this directly: federal law does not require paid sick leave. The Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave for eligible employees, but that leave is unpaid and it only applies at employers with 50 or more employees.
What fills the gap is state and local law, which is why the landscape is a patchwork rather than a rule. It is also why this topic requires ongoing attention: a business that was fully compliant two years ago may not be now, either because a state changed its law or because the business hired someone in a new state.
Which States Require Paid Sick Leave
The authoritative count comes from the Congressional Research Service report published on April 28, 2026, which states that 18 states including the District of Columbia require private sector employers to provide paid sick leave, and that three additional states require paid leave usable for any purpose.
| Category | Jurisdictions | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Paid sick leave mandate | Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia | A dedicated paid sick leave entitlement with defined permitted uses |
| Paid leave for any reason | Illinois, Maine, Nevada | Employees accrue paid leave usable for any purpose, including illness. Functions as sick leave without being labelled that way |
| Local mandates only | Pennsylvania | No statewide requirement, but several cities impose their own |
| Recently repealed | Missouri | A law took effect in May 2025 and was repealed effective August 28, 2025. Missouri no longer has a mandate |
| Preemption states | Texas, Florida | No state mandate, and local governments are barred from creating one |
Virginia sits in a narrower position than the others in the first row, applying to specific categories of worker rather than the whole private sector, which is one of several reasons different sources produce different totals. Verify your own state against its labor department before relying on any list, including this one.
Why Every Source Gives You a Different Number
If you search this topic you will find counts of 17, 18, 19, 21, and 22 states, all published recently and all by credible sources. They are not contradicting each other so much as counting different things. Knowing which methodology produced a number tells you whether it answers your question.
This matters beyond pedantry. A guide that gives you a number without the methodology is telling you something you cannot act on, and if it is quietly out of date on Missouri or Nebraska you have no way of knowing. Check the date on anything you read about this topic, including this page.
Employer Size Thresholds: The Part That Actually Decides
This is the section most guides handle badly and it is the one that determines whether any of the rest applies to you. The instinct at 5 to 50 employees is that a small-business exemption probably covers you. For most states with a mandate, it does not.
Two counting rules matter regardless of state. Part-time employees generally count toward a threshold, so a business with eight full-time and six part-time staff is usually at fourteen rather than eight. And most laws look at the count over a period rather than on a given day, so a seasonal peak can bring you into coverage for the whole year.
How Accrual Actually Works
The one-hour-per-30-hours rate is the most common standard across state laws, though not universal. Vermont uses one hour per 52 hours worked, and several laws use one per 40. Annual caps typically range from 24 to 72 hours depending on the state and, in several states, on employer size.
| Concept | What It Means | The Trap |
|---|---|---|
| Accrual rate | How fast leave is earned, commonly 1 hour per 30 hours worked | Applies to all hours worked including overtime in most states, which is easy to miss in manual tracking |
| Accrual cap | The maximum that can be earned in a year | Distinct from the usage cap. Some states cap one, some both, and the numbers are often different |
| Usage cap | The maximum that can be used in a year | An employee can have a balance above the usage cap through carryover and still be limited in what they use |
| Waiting period | A delay before accrued time can be used, often up to 90 days | Permitted for use in most states, not for accrual. Time still builds during the wait |
| Carryover | Unused hours rolling into the next year, usually capped | Required in most states if you accrue. Avoidable in most states if you frontload the full annual amount |
| Frontloading | Granting the full annual entitlement at the start of the year | Simpler, and usually removes carryover. But the grant must at least equal what accrual would have produced |
| Reinstatement on rehire | Restoring a balance if someone returns within a set period | Required in several states, commonly within 12 months. Almost always missed by manual tracking |
For a business under about twenty people operating in a single state, frontloading is usually the right choice. It removes the carryover calculation, removes the need to track accrual against hours worked, and gives employees a clear number. The cost is granting time to someone who may leave early in the year, which for most small businesses is a smaller problem than the administrative one. The time off accrual guide covers the mechanics of both approaches.
Remote and Multi-State Employees
This is the issue that turns paid sick leave from a question about your state into a question about several, and it is the most common way small businesses acquire an obligation they do not know about.
The governing rule is straightforward: the law of the state where the employee physically performs the work applies, not the law of the state where your company is registered or where your office sits. A business incorporated in a state with no mandate that hires one remote employee in a state with one is subject to that state's rules for that employee.
Hiring an employee in a new state creates several obligations at once, not only this one: state tax registration, unemployment insurance, workers compensation valid in that state, and often different rules on pay frequency and final paychecks. The multi-state payroll guide covers the wider picture, and our compliance hub has state-specific detail.
City Laws That Exceed State Minimums
A layer that most guides omit entirely. Several cities have their own paid sick leave ordinances that require more than their state does, and in a few cases the city requirement exists where the state has none at all.
| Where | What Happens | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Several California cities | San Francisco, Los Angeles, Berkeley, West Hollywood, Oakland, San Diego, Santa Monica, Emeryville and others require more than the state minimum | California already covers all employers. These cities raise the entitlement on top |
| New York City | The Earned Safe and Sick Time Act adds requirements beyond the state law | A New York City employee is subject to both, and the more generous provision governs |
| Philadelphia and Pittsburgh | Both have ordinances despite Pennsylvania having no statewide requirement | If you have an employee in either city, you have an obligation the state list would not show you |
| Chicago and Cook County | Local ordinances that layer onto the Illinois any-reason leave law | Two frameworks apply simultaneously |
| Seattle and Tacoma | Local requirements above the Washington state minimum | The state law is the floor, not the ceiling |
| Several Minnesota and New Jersey cities | Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, Bloomington, and various New Jersey municipalities | Both states have statewide laws, and these cities add to them |
The practical implication for a small business is that a state-level answer is a starting point rather than a conclusion. If you have an employee in a major metropolitan area, check the city before assuming the state rule is your obligation. Texas and Florida are the reverse case: both preempt local ordinances, so cities in those states cannot impose their own requirements.
Building a Compliant Policy From Scratch
Six decisions define a paid sick leave policy. Most small businesses copy a template without making these deliberately, which is how a policy ends up technically existing and legally failing.
Beyond those decisions, most state laws require the written policy to state the accrual rate or frontloaded amount, the annual cap, the permitted uses including family care and safe leave, the carryover rule, how employees request leave, when documentation may be required, and an explicit statement that using leave will not result in retaliation. Put it in the employee handbook and collect signed acknowledgments.
One drafting caution worth repeating: do not promise payout of unused sick time at separation unless you intend to honour it. No state requires it, and a policy that offers it may create an enforceable wage obligation. The PTO payout guide covers how this differs from vacation, which several states do treat as earned wages.
How State Sick Leave Interacts With FMLA
These are separate obligations that overlap, and confusing them is common. FMLA provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave for eligible employees at employers with 50 or more employees. State paid sick leave provides a smaller amount of paid time with broader eligibility and, in most states, no employer size floor.
| State Paid Sick Leave | FMLA | |
|---|---|---|
| Paid or unpaid | Paid | Unpaid, though accrued paid leave may run alongside it |
| Employer size | Often every employer, sometimes a threshold around 10 or 11 | 50 or more employees |
| Employee eligibility | Usually all employees, sometimes after a short waiting period | 12 months of service and 1,250 hours in the preceding year |
| Amount | Typically 24 to 72 hours per year | Up to 12 weeks per year |
| Typical use | Short absences: illness, appointments, caring for a family member | Serious health conditions, childbirth, caring for a family member with a serious condition |
| Job protection | Yes, with anti-retaliation provisions | Yes, explicit restoration right |
Where they overlap, an absence can be covered by both: a serious health condition qualifying for FMLA can also be a permitted use of state sick leave. Employers may generally require accrued paid leave to run concurrently with unpaid FMLA leave, but there is an important limit worth knowing. Where an employee is receiving compensated benefits under a state paid leave programme, Department of Labor guidance indicates that employer-provided paid leave cannot be forced to run concurrently on the compensated portion. The FMLA guide covers eligibility and the notice requirements in detail.
Where Small Employers Actually Get Caught
Almost none of these involve a business deciding not to comply. They involve a business that thought it was complying and got a detail wrong.
The last one is worth dwelling on because it defeats an otherwise correct policy. If your attendance system assigns points for absences and does not exclude protected sick leave, an employee who uses their legal entitlement accumulates points toward discipline. That is retaliation regardless of intent, and it is common in businesses with shift-based attendance tracking. The retaliation guide covers the wider standard, and the absenteeism guide covers how to structure attendance policies that do not create this problem.
The Compliance Checklist
A working document covering the state-by-state assessment, the policy decisions, tracking, and the quarterly review this topic requires.
Section 8 is the part that distinguishes this topic from most compliance work. A pregnancy or overtime policy written correctly stays correct for years. Paid sick leave does not: states added mandates in 2025, one repealed its law, and thresholds are scheduled to change. A quarterly reminder is the entire maintenance requirement and it is the step most businesses skip.
Staying Current as the Laws Change
Recent years illustrate the pace. Alaska and Nebraska added requirements in 2025. Missouri enacted a law in May 2025 and repealed it effective August 28, 2025. Connecticut expanded coverage to employers with 11 or more employees at the start of 2026 and is scheduled to reach all employers in 2027. Michigan's Earned Sick Time Act took effect in 2025 with a later date for small businesses. Oregon added a qualifying use at the start of 2026.
None of those changes announced themselves to affected employers. The practical approach for a small business is a recurring quarterly calendar reminder to check each state where you have someone working, using the state labor department website rather than a secondary source. Fifteen minutes per state, four times a year.
Two authoritative starting points: the Department of Labor for the federal position, and each state's own labor department for its rules. Vendor guides, including this one, are useful for orientation and should not be your source of record for a compliance decision. The HR audit guide covers building a review cadence for compliance topics generally.
The tracking side is where a business without an HR department loses the most time and makes the most errors. FirstHR handles accrual by employee and location, carryover at year end, balance visibility, and the leave records that an audit asks for, so the calculation does not live in a spreadsheet somebody maintains by hand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which states require paid sick leave?
According to the Congressional Research Service report on paid sick leave dated April 28, 2026, 18 states including the District of Columbia require private sector employers to provide paid sick leave, and three additional states, Illinois, Maine, and Nevada, require paid leave that can be used for any purpose including illness. That gives 21 jurisdictions with a mandate of some kind. Pennsylvania has no statewide requirement but several of its cities do. Missouri briefly had a law that was repealed effective August 28, 2025.
Is paid sick leave required by federal law?
No. There is no federal law requiring private employers to provide paid sick leave. The emergency paid sick leave created under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act expired on December 31, 2020, and the associated tax credit ended in 2021. The Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave for eligible employees at employers with 50 or more employees, but that leave is unpaid. Any paid sick leave obligation you have comes from state or local law, or from your own policy.
Do small businesses have to provide paid sick leave?
It depends entirely on the state, and the answer for most states is yes. A large number of states with paid sick leave laws, including California, Colorado, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Washington, apply the requirement to every employer regardless of size. Others set a threshold, commonly around 10 or 11 employees. A few, including New York and Michigan, keep small employers covered but reduce the entitlement. Assuming that being small means being exempt is one of the most common and expensive mistakes at this scale.
How much paid sick leave do employers have to provide?
The most common structure is accrual of one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, with an annual usage cap set by state law. Caps commonly range from 24 to 72 hours per year depending on the state and, in several states, on employer size. Some states use different accrual rates: Vermont uses one hour per 52 hours worked, and some laws use one per 40. Employers can always provide more than the legal minimum, and many do to keep a single policy across multiple states.
Which state's law applies to a remote employee?
Generally the law of the state where the employee physically performs the work, not the state where your business is registered or where your office is. A company headquartered in Texas with one remote employee in California is subject to California paid sick leave rules for that employee. This catches small businesses that hired remotely without realising it changed their compliance obligations. It also means that adding an employee in a new state can create registration, tax, and leave obligations simultaneously.
Can I use a single PTO bank instead of separate sick leave?
In most states with paid sick leave laws, yes, provided the combined bank meets or exceeds every requirement of the sick leave law: the amount available, the permitted uses, the accrual timing, carryover, and the rules on documentation and notice. The complication is that a combined bank must satisfy all of those simultaneously, which is manageable in one state and difficult across several. Where you operate in multiple states, separate tracking is usually easier to defend.
Do employers have to pay out unused sick leave when someone leaves?
No state currently requires payout of unused paid sick leave at separation. This differs from accrued vacation, which several states do treat as earned wages that must be paid out. The important caution is that if your own policy promises to pay out unused sick time, that promise can become enforceable as a wage obligation under state law even though the statute does not require it. Do not include a payout provision in a policy unless you intend to honour it.
Can I require a doctor's note for sick leave?
Usually only after a set number of consecutive absent days, commonly three, and the specific rule varies by state. Requiring documentation for a single day of absence is prohibited in many jurisdictions. Several state laws also require the employer to pay any out-of-pocket cost of obtaining the documentation where the employee has no health coverage. Requesting a note reflexively for short absences is one of the most frequently cited violations in enforcement actions.
Can an employee use sick leave for a family member?
In nearly every state with a paid sick leave law, yes. Covered uses typically include the employee's own illness, care for a family member, preventive care and medical appointments, and in most states safe leave relating to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. The definition of family member is often broad and in several states extends beyond immediate relatives to any individual whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship. Check your state definition rather than assuming.
What happens if I do not comply with state paid sick leave law?
Consequences vary by state but commonly include payment of the leave that was denied, liquidated or double damages in some jurisdictions, civil penalties per violation, and attorney fees. Several states allow a private right of action, meaning an employee can sue directly rather than only filing with an agency. The practical exposure for a small business is larger than the individual claim, because a policy applied to one employee was almost always applied to everyone, which turns a single complaint into a group of them.