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Paid Sick Leave by State in 2026: All 50 States and DC
20 states and the District of Columbia mandate paid sick leave in 2026. The other 30 states require none, so your written policy is the enforceable rule there. Most mandate states accrue one hour for every 30 hours worked and cap the year between 24 and 72 hours, with 8 jurisdictions adding city ordinances on top.
Paid sick leave in the United States is 20 state statutes, a District of Columbia ordinance and a layer of city rules underneath, with no federal law tying any of it together. The questions an employer actually needs answered are narrow: is there a mandate where this person works, how fast do they accrue, where does the year stop, and does a city add something on top. That is what the table below holds for all 50 states and DC.
The pattern is less uniform than it looks. 14 of the 20 mandate states accrue at one hour for every 30 hours worked, but the annual cap behind that identical rate runs from 24 hours to 72, and Washington sets no cap at all. 12 states move the answer on headcount. 8 jurisdictions carry a city or county ordinance above the state rule, and in Pennsylvania the city ordinances stand alone with no state rule underneath them.
Paid sick leave laws by state, 2026
Ordered alphabetically. Where a state has no statewide mandate the accrual and cap cells say so rather than sitting blank. Each mandate cites the state labour department that publishes the figure, and each state name links to that state's own page. Figures move: confirm with the cited agency before you write a policy on them.
| State | Statewide mandate | Accrual rate | Annual cap | Local ordinances |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Alaska | Yes. Ballot Measure 1 of 2024, in force since 1 July 2025 [source] | One hour for every 30 hours worked | 40 hours a year at 15 or more employees, 24 hours a year below 15 | None in force |
| Arizona | Yes. Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act (A.R.S. 23-371 et seq.) [source] | One hour for every 30 hours worked | 40 hours a year at 15 or more employees, 24 hours a year below 15 | None in force |
| Arkansas | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| California | Yes. Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act as expanded by SB 616 (Cal. Lab. Code 246) [source] | One hour for every 30 hours worked | Use capped at 40 hours or five days a year, total accrual capped at 80 hours or ten days | Berkeley, Emeryville, Los Angeles city and county, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Monica and West Hollywood each run their own ordinance above the state floor |
| Colorado | Yes. Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (C.R.S. 8-13.3-401 et seq.) [source] | One hour for every 30 hours worked | 48 hours a year, plus up to 80 further hours during a declared public health emergency | Denver runs its own paid sick and safe time ordinance alongside the state law |
| Connecticut | Yes. Connecticut paid sick leave law as rewritten by Public Act 24-8 [source] | One hour for every 30 hours worked | 40 hours a year. Coverage phases in: 25 or more employees from 2025, 11 or more from 2026, every employer from 2027 | None in force |
| Delaware | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| District of Columbia | Yes. Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act (D.C. Code 32-531) [source] | One hour for every 37 hours worked at 100 or more employees, every 43 hours at 25 to 99, and every 87 hours below 25 | Seven days a year at 100 or more employees, five days at 25 to 99, three days below 25, and five days for tipped restaurant and bar staff | The District rule is the local rule |
| Florida | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Georgia | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Hawaii | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Idaho | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Illinois | Yes. Paid Leave for All Workers Act (820 ILCS 192) [source] | One hour for every 40 hours worked | 40 hours a year, usable for any reason the employee chooses | Chicago and Cook County each run their own paid leave and paid sick leave ordinance, and both are more generous than the state Act |
| Indiana | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Iowa | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Kansas | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Kentucky | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Louisiana | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Maine | Yes. Earned paid leave (26 M.R.S. 637) [source] | One hour for every 40 hours worked | 40 hours a year, at employers with more than 10 employees, usable for any reason | None in force |
| Maryland | Yes. Maryland Healthy Working Families Act [source] | One hour for every 30 hours worked | 40 hours earned a year, 64 hours held at any one time. Paid at 15 or more employees, unpaid below that | Montgomery County runs its own earned sick and safe leave law, which reaches smaller employers than the state Act does |
| Massachusetts | Yes. Earned Sick Time Law (M.G.L. c. 149, s. 148C) [source] | One hour for every 30 hours worked | 40 hours a year. Paid at 11 or more employees, unpaid at 10 or fewer | None in force |
| Michigan | Yes. Earned Sick Time Act, in force since 21 February 2025 [source] | One hour for every 30 hours worked | 72 hours a year at more than 10 employees, 40 hours a year at 10 or fewer | None. The Local Government Labor Regulatory Limitation Act, 2015 PA 105, bars a Michigan city or county from setting its own |
| Minnesota | Yes. Earned sick and safe time (Minn. Stat. 181.9445 to 181.9448) [source] | One hour for every 30 hours worked | 48 hours a year, carrying forward to a running balance of 80 hours | Bloomington, Duluth, Minneapolis and St. Paul each keep their own earned sick and safe time ordinance |
| Mississippi | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Missouri | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Montana | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Nebraska | Yes. Nebraska Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, Initiative 436, in force since 1 October 2025 [source] | One hour for every 30 hours worked | 56 hours a year at 20 or more employees, 40 hours a year below 20, as the initiative was passed. The legislature amended coverage in 2025, so confirm the current exclusions with the state before relying on it | None in force |
| Nevada | Yes. Paid leave for any reason (NRS 608.0197) [source] | 0.01923 hours for every hour worked, which is roughly one hour for every 52 hours | About 40 hours a year at full time. Only employers with 50 or more employees are covered | None in force |
| New Hampshire | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| New Jersey | Yes. New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Law [source] | One hour for every 30 hours worked | 40 hours per benefit year, at employers of every size | None. The state law replaced the thirteen municipal ordinances that ran before it |
| New Mexico | Yes. Healthy Workplaces Act (NMSA 1978, 50-17-1 et seq.) [source] | One hour for every 30 hours worked | 64 hours a year, at every private employer regardless of size | None in force above the statewide Act |
| New York | Yes. New York Labor Law 196-b [source] | One hour for every 30 hours worked | 56 hours a year at 100 or more employees, 40 hours at 5 to 99, and 40 hours at 4 or fewer, paid only where net income passed $1 million in the previous tax year | New York City runs the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act and Westchester County runs its own sick leave law, both alongside the state rule |
| North Carolina | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| North Dakota | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Ohio | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Oklahoma | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Oregon | Yes. Oregon sick time law (ORS 653.601 et seq.) [source] | One hour for every 30 hours worked | 40 hours a year. Paid at 10 or more employees statewide, or 6 or more inside Portland, and unpaid below that | None separate. Portland does not run its own ordinance; its lower 6-employee threshold is written into the state statute |
| Pennsylvania | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County each run a paid sick leave ordinance even though the state does not |
| Rhode Island | Yes. Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act (R.I. Gen. Laws 28-57) [source] | One hour for every 35 hours worked, the only 35-hour denominator in the country | 40 hours a year. Paid at 18 or more employees, unpaid below that | None in force |
| South Carolina | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| South Dakota | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Tennessee | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Texas | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force. Austin, Dallas and San Antonio each passed an ordinance and all three were stopped in court before taking effect |
| Utah | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Vermont | Yes. Vermont earned sick time (21 V.S.A. 481 to 486) [source] | One hour for every 52 hours worked, the slowest accrual of any mandate state | 40 hours a year | None in force |
| Virginia | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Washington | Yes. Washington paid sick leave (RCW 49.46.200 to 49.46.210, from Initiative 1433) [source] | One hour for every 40 hours worked | No annual cap on accrual or use. At least 40 unused hours carry into the next year | Seattle, SeaTac and Tacoma each keep their own ordinance, and the Seattle rule reaches further than the state one |
| West Virginia | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Wisconsin | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
| Wyoming | No. No statewide paid sick leave requirement for private employers | No statewide mandate, so no statutory accrual rate | No statutory cap. Your written policy is the enforceable rule | None in force |
Whether a state mandates paid sick leave is read from the same state data set behind the State Compliance Checker and the 50 state pages in this folder, so this table cannot contradict them. General leave information, not legal advice.
The accrual rate is the same in most states. The cap is not.
4 different accrual denominators are in force across the 20 mandate states, and one of them dominates. 14 states accrue at one hour for every 30 hours worked: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Oregon. 3 use one hour for every 40 hours: Illinois, Maine and Washington. Rhode Island is alone on 35 hours. Vermont is alone on 52, which means a Vermont employee working 40-hour weeks reaches the 40-hour cap only after roughly 2,080 hours, where a Colorado employee on the same schedule gets there in about 1,200.
Nevada is the outlier that breaks the pattern entirely. Its statute is written as a rate per hour worked, 0.01923 hours of paid leave for every hour on the clock, rather than as a denominator, and it reaches only employers with 50 or more employees. Like Illinois and Maine, the Nevada entitlement is paid leave for any reason rather than sick leave, so asking an employee why they are using it is the wrong question in three of the 20.
Where headcount changes the answer
12 mandate states attach the entitlement to employer size. In some the cap moves. In others the leave itself moves between paid and unpaid, which is the version employers miss, because being small exempts you from paying but not from providing.
| State | What changes at the threshold |
|---|---|
| Alaska | 40 hours a year at 15 or more employees, 24 hours a year below 15 |
| Arizona | 40 hours a year at 15 or more employees, 24 hours a year below 15 |
| Connecticut | 40 hours a year. Coverage phases in: 25 or more employees from 2025, 11 or more from 2026, every employer from 2027 |
| Maine | 40 hours a year, at employers with more than 10 employees, usable for any reason |
| Maryland | 40 hours earned a year, 64 hours held at any one time. Paid at 15 or more employees, unpaid below that |
| Massachusetts | 40 hours a year. Paid at 11 or more employees, unpaid at 10 or fewer |
| Michigan | 72 hours a year at more than 10 employees, 40 hours a year at 10 or fewer |
| Nebraska | 56 hours a year at 20 or more employees, 40 hours a year below 20, as the initiative was passed. The legislature amended coverage in 2025, so confirm the current exclusions with the state before relying on it |
| Nevada | About 40 hours a year at full time. Only employers with 50 or more employees are covered |
| New York | 56 hours a year at 100 or more employees, 40 hours at 5 to 99, and 40 hours at 4 or fewer, paid only where net income passed $1 million in the previous tax year |
| Oregon | 40 hours a year. Paid at 10 or more employees statewide, or 6 or more inside Portland, and unpaid below that |
| Rhode Island | 40 hours a year. Paid at 18 or more employees, unpaid below that |
Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon and Rhode Island all use the same structure: below the threshold the obligation does not disappear, it becomes unpaid. New York goes further and makes the test financial as well as numerical, so a four-person employer that cleared $1 million in net income owes paid leave while the four-person employer next door owes unpaid leave for the same 40 hours.
City and county ordinances
8 jurisdictions in the table carry a local ordinance. In 7 of them the ordinance sits above a state mandate. In Pennsylvania there is no state mandate underneath it at all.
- California. Berkeley, Emeryville, Los Angeles city and county, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Monica and West Hollywood each run their own ordinance above the state floor.
- Colorado. Denver runs its own paid sick and safe time ordinance alongside the state law.
- Illinois. Chicago and Cook County each run their own paid leave and paid sick leave ordinance, and both are more generous than the state Act.
- Maryland. Montgomery County runs its own earned sick and safe leave law, which reaches smaller employers than the state Act does.
- Minnesota. Bloomington, Duluth, Minneapolis and St. Paul each keep their own earned sick and safe time ordinance.
- New York. New York City runs the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act and Westchester County runs its own sick leave law, both alongside the state rule.
- Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County each run a paid sick leave ordinance even though the state does not.
- Washington. Seattle, SeaTac and Tacoma each keep their own ordinance, and the Seattle rule reaches further than the state one.
Pennsylvania is the case worth understanding, because it inverts the usual assumption. A Pennsylvania employer reading state law alone concludes it owes nothing, and that is correct right up to the Philadelphia or Pittsburgh city line. Texas shows the opposite ending: Austin, Dallas and San Antonio all passed ordinances and all three were stopped in court, so the correct answer in Texas today is no entitlement anywhere in the state.
Two states closed the question by statute rather than by litigation. Michigan's Local Government Labor Regulatory Limitation Act, 2015 PA 105, bars a Michigan city from setting its own rule. New Jersey reached the same place from the other direction: the state Earned Sick Leave Law replaced the thirteen municipal ordinances that preceded it, which is why a New Jersey employer now has one rule to read instead of fourteen.
Paid sick leave is not state paid family and medical leave
These are two different programmes with different funding, different triggers and different durations, and a handbook that merges them into one paragraph will be wrong in both directions. 12 of the 20 mandate states run both: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington. 8 mandate sick leave with no state family leave programme behind it: Alaska, Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico and Vermont.
The operational difference is where the money comes from. Paid sick leave is accrued and paid by the employer out of ordinary payroll. A state paid family and medical leave programme is funded by payroll contributions, usually shared between employer and employee, and paid out by the state against a claim. That means registration, withholding and remittance obligations in the payroll system, on top of the accrual tracking the sick leave rule already needs. The state-agnostic half of all this, meaning federal FMLA and how to write a voluntary policy that does not create obligations you did not intend, is on paid leave fundamentals.
What this means operationally
- The obligation follows the employee, not the office. One remote hire in any of the 20 mandate states creates an accrual and notice duty for an employer with no other presence there.
- Store the rule against the work location. With 8 jurisdictions running local ordinances, an employer-level setting is not granular enough to be correct.
- Recheck at every headcount threshold. 12 states change the cap or the paid status when the employee count moves, and nobody gets an alert when it does.
- Decide accrual against front-loading deliberately. Front-loading the full annual amount removes the carryover duty in several states and costs more in year one. It is a policy choice, not a payroll default.
- In a no-mandate state, the handbook is the law. Across the 30 states with no statute, whatever the policy says about carryover, payout and probation is what an employer will be held to.
Keeping 20 statutes, a District ordinance and 8 sets of local rules current in a handbook and a payroll system is continuous work rather than an annual project, and it is what BEG HR outsourcing absorbs. Certified HR professionals maintain the leave policy for every state a client has employees in, and the accrual configuration sits alongside it in payroll.
Leave policy, state by state, handled.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many states require paid sick leave in 2026?
20 states, plus the District of Columbia. They are Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. The remaining 30 states have no statewide requirement for private employers.
What is the most common paid sick leave accrual rate?
One hour for every 30 hours worked, which 14 of the 20 mandate states use. 3 use one hour for every 40 hours: Illinois, Maine and Washington. Rhode Island uses 35 hours and Vermont uses 52, which is the slowest in the country.
Which states have no paid sick leave law?
Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming have no statewide mandate for private employers. A voluntary policy in those states is still enforceable as written, so carryover, payout and probationary limits need to be on the page rather than left to interpretation.
Can a city require paid sick leave when the state does not?
Yes. Pennsylvania is the working example: the state mandates nothing, while Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County each run their own ordinance. A Pennsylvania employer can be exempt statewide and covered at the city line, which is why reading only the state statute produces the wrong answer there.
Which paid sick leave laws change with employer headcount?
12 of the 20 mandate states move the cap, or move the leave between paid and unpaid, at a headcount threshold: Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Oregon and Rhode Island. Crossing the threshold changes the obligation without anything about the work changing.
Which state has the highest annual paid sick leave cap?
Michigan, at 72 hours a year for employers with more than 10 employees. New Mexico sets 64 hours for every private employer regardless of size. New York and Nebraska both reach 56 hours at their largest employer tier. Washington sets no annual cap at all.
Does paid sick leave carry over to the next year?
It depends on the state and on whether you accrue or front-load. Washington requires at least 40 unused hours to carry forward. Minnesota carries forward to a running balance of 80 hours. Maryland caps carryover at 40 hours. In several states front-loading the full annual amount removes the carryover duty entirely, which is the usual reason employers choose it.
Is paid sick leave the same as state paid family and medical leave?
No, and confusing the two is the most common handbook error in a mandate state. 12 of the 20 mandate states also run a paid family and medical leave programme funded by payroll contributions with its own claim process. 8 mandate sick leave without one: Alaska, Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico and Vermont.
Which state law applies to a remote employee?
The law of the state where the employee actually works, not the state the company is registered in. One remote hire in a mandate state creates an accrual, notice and record-keeping obligation for an employer that has no other presence there, and it is the single most common way a business in a no-mandate state acquires a paid sick leave duty.
Does the federal government require paid sick leave?
No. There is no general federal paid sick leave law for private employers. Federal FMLA gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave at employers with 50 or more employees, and it sits on top of any state entitlement rather than replacing it.
Is BEG a PEO?
No. There is no co-employment and no change of employer of record: your company stays the employer. Certified HR professionals build and maintain the state-correct leave policy, powered by isolved.
Anthony leads HR outsourcing strategy at Business Executive Group, a national HR outsourcing firm serving employers across every state. BEG HR outsourcing is powered by isolved, with certified HR professionals building and maintaining state-correct leave policy as laws change.
Sources, state by state: Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Wage and Hour Administration; Industrial Commission of Arizona, Labor Department; California Department of Industrial Relations, paid sick leave; Colorado Department of Labor and Employment; Connecticut Department of Labor; DC Department of Employment Services, Office of Wage-Hour Compliance; Illinois Department of Labor, Paid Leave for All Workers Act; Maine Department of Labor, earned paid leave; Maryland Department of Labor, sick and safe leave; Massachusetts Attorney General, earned sick time; Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, Wage and Hour Division; Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, earned sick and safe time; Nebraska Department of Labor; Nevada Office of the Labor Commissioner; New Jersey Department of Labor, earned sick leave; New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions; New York State Department of Labor, paid sick leave; Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, sick time; Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, labour standards; Vermont Department of Labor; Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, paid sick leave. Federal FMLA coverage is set out by the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division. This is general leave information, not legal advice.
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