Paid time off laws vary significantly by state. While some states require employers only to comply with federal leave laws, others have additional requirements for employers to pay sick or parental leave.
Whether your company employs remote workers in several states or has just a few employees in your state, it could be subject to following your state PTO laws. Discover PTO laws by state to determine what your company is legally responsible for.
Federal Leave Laws that Apply to Every State
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal regulation, meaning that all states must follow it. The law states that employees are entitled to up to 12 weeks of leave for reasons such as:
- Caring for mental or physical health conditions of the employee
- Birthing and caring for a newborn child or caring for a newly adopted child
- Caring for a spouse or child with a medical condition
Employees may have up to 26 weeks of leave rather than 12 if they need to care for a family member who’s in a branch of the military.
FMLA leave is unpaid, but employers can choose to pay employees for such leave in any state.
PTO Laws By State
For the purposes of this guide on PTO laws by state, I’m including only information on each state’s PTO laws that go above and beyond the federal FMLA requirements.
Alabama PTO Laws
Alabama requires employers to pay full-time employees jury duty leave at the same rate they usually work. Additionally, employers can’t require their employees to use their sick time or other PTO for jury duty. Employees may be requested to provide evidence of their jury duty summons to their employers.
Alabama does not require employers to pay employees for sick time, parental leave, vacation time, or bereavement leave.
Alaska PTO Laws
Alaska does not require employers to pay employees for sick time, parental leave, or other forms of leave. However, employers must comply with company policy for paid time off if one exists.
Arizona PTO Laws
Arizona’s Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act mandates that employers pay employees for earned sick time. All covered employees receive one hour per 30 hours worked, for a maximum of 40 hours per year at companies with 15 or more employees or a maximum of 24 hours annually at companies with fewer than 15 employees.
Employers can also choose to allow more paid sick time or front-load expected sick time at the beginning of the year. Regardless of the accrual process, employees are entitled to paid sick time that equals their hourly rate.
Employees can roll over the full amount of unused sick time to which they’re entitled—24 or 40 hours—to the following year. However, employees can also choose to pay employees for their unused earned sick time instead of carrying it over.
Other forms of leave, such as jury duty and bereavement, are not required to be paid in Arizona.
Arkansas PTO Laws
Arkansas only requires employers to provide sick leave to eligible state employees under the Arkansas Uniform Attendance and Leave Policy. This law allows state employees to accrue days annually based on how long they’ve worked for the state, up to 30 days per year.
Still, other employers must uphold their PTO policies, if applicable, with their employees.
California PTO Laws
California’s Paid Sick Leave law requires employees to earn at least 24 hours or three days of paid sick time annually. Employees can accrue time at the rate of one hour per 30 hours worked or as a lump sum payment each year. Some California cities have different requirements, such as:
- Berkeley: At least 48 hours annually
- Los Angeles: Up to 48 hours annually
- San Diego: At least 40 hours annually
Employees can carry over unused sick time to the following year, but employers are only required to allow up to 48 hours or six days of sick time for that year.
California also allows up to eight weeks of paid parental leave under the Paid Family Leave law, although employees must contribute to the fund and employers are not required to participate. Workers can earn a portion of their weekly pay through the program to help them cover the costs of their leave.
Colorado PTO Laws
Colorado has several paid leave laws.
The state requires employers to pay employees up to $50 per day for the first three days of jury duty and up to one hour per 30 hours worked of sick time per year. Employees can accrue up to 48 hours of paid sick time annually.
Beginning January 1, 2024, Colorado’s FAMLI program will also be in effect. FAMLI requires employers to pay workers for family and parental leave of up to 12 weeks. Workers earn pay based on their incomes, up to $1,100 per week.
Connecticut PTO Laws
Connecticut has paid jury duty, parental leave, and sick time laws.
The Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFMLA) mandates up to 12 weeks of paid parental and family leave annually for eligible employees. Workers experiencing a severe medical condition as the result of a pregnancy may receive an extra two weeks of paid benefits.
Full-time workers summoned for jury duty in Connecticut are entitled to up to five days of paid leave for up to $50 per day.
Connecticut workers earn one hour per 40 hours worked of paid sick time, up to 40 hours annually. They can also carry over up to 40 hours of unused sick time but are capped at using no more than 40 hours each year. Any unused sick time accrued before separating from the company may be forfeited unless the employee returns to the company.
Delaware PTO Laws
Delaware does not currently have mandates for paid jury duty, sick time, bereavement, or parental and family leave. However, The Healthy Delaware Families Act will go into effect on January 1, 2025, providing workers with up to 12 weeks of paid leave to care for themselves, their new child, or close family members.
Florida PTO Laws
Florida does not require employers to pay for any form of leave.
Georgia PTO Laws
Georgia does not have paid leave requirements. However, Georgia requires employers providing paid sick time to allow employees to use up to five days of their earned sick time to care for another family member under the Georgia Family Care Act, which was signed permanently into law in May 2023.
Hawaii PTO Laws
Hawaii does not have any statutes requiring paid leave.
Idaho PTO Laws
Idaho does not mandate paid sick time, vacation, jury duty, parental, or bereavement leave.
Illinois PTO Laws
Although no current Illinois PTO laws exist, a new sick time law goes into effect on January 1, 2024. The Paid Leave for All Workers Act will allow employees to earn at least one hour of sick time per 40 hours worked for up to 40 hours annually. The benefit must be paid at the employee’s regular hourly rate.
Accrued and unused hours can carry over in full to the following year. Employers providing all sick time hours at the beginning of the year are not required to allow employees to carry over their unused hours. Employees without credited hours in their PTO or vacation banks do not need to receive payout for unused hours if they separate from the company.
Indiana PTO Laws
Indiana does not mandate PTO laws. However, employers legally must follow their PTO policy if one is in place.
Iowa PTO Laws
Employers in Iowa are not required to pay employees for any form of leave, but their PTO policies are viewed as legally binding, contractual obligations between the company and its employees.
Kansas PTO Laws
Kansas employers are not required to pay jury duty, sick time, vacation, parental, or bereavement leave.
Kentucky PTO Laws
Paid leave of any kind is not a requirement in Kentucky.
Louisiana PTO Laws
Louisiana employers must pay their employees up to one full day of wages when they serve on a jury. Otherwise, Louisiana has no PTO laws.
Maine PTO Laws
Maine does not have specific laws in place for paid jury duty, bereavement, vacation, sick time, or parental and family leave.
However, Maine mandates employers to provide one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked under Statute §637 of the Maine Revised Statutes. Employees can use this paid leave for any reason, including caring for a loved one or taking personal days off. Employers with more than 10 employees must comply with this law.
Employers pay employees the same base rate as they typically earn and must allow up to 40 hours of unused time to carry over into the next year unless they frontload at least 40 hours at the beginning of the year.
Maryland PTO Laws
The Maryland Healthy Working Families Act states that employers with 15 or more employees must provide one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked for sick and safe time. Employees working fewer than 24 hours during a two-week period do not have to accrue hours.
Employers frontloading at least 40 hours at the beginning of the year are not required to allow rollover hours. Up to five hours of paid sick time is eligible for use as bereavement leave in Maryland.
Maryland also allows up to 12 weeks of paid family and parental leave.
Massachusetts PTO Laws
Massachusetts employees are entitled to one hour of paid sick time per 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year. This law is only applicable to employers with at least 11 employees. Companies using the accrual method rather than a lump sum payment method must allow employees to transfer up to 40 unused hours into the next year.
Massachusetts also has paid jury duty leave for the first three days of service paid at an employee’s regular rate. Additionally, Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) grants up to 26 weeks of paid leave to care for themselves or a family member.
Michigan PTO Laws
Michigan employees earn one hour of paid medical leave for every 35 hours worked, for a maximum of 40 hours annually. Up to 40 hours of unused time may roll into the next year unless the employer offers lump sum payments. Paid medical leave in Michigan can also be used to care for the employee or a family member.
Minnesota PTO Laws
Currently, Minnesota employees outside the jurisdiction of Duluth, Minneapolis, and St. Paul are not required to be paid for sick time. However, new legislation goes into effect in January 2024, requiring employers to provide one hour of paid sick time per 30 hours worked.
Employees will be able to roll over unused sick time to the following year for a bank of up to 80 hours. Employers using an accrual system do not need to pay out unused hours, but those offering a lump sum of less than 80 hours are required to pay for unused time.
New legislation for paid family and medical leave will begin in Minnesota in 2026.
Mississippi PTO Laws
Mississippi does not require employers to pay employees for any form of leave.
Missouri PTO Laws
Missouri employees do not receive mandated paid vacation, sick time, or other forms of leave.
Montana PTO Laws
Montana does not require employers to pay non-state employees for various forms of leave, including parental or jury duty leave.
Nebraska PTO Laws
Jury duty leave is paid in Nebraska by an employer at the employee’s regular rate of pay minus any payment given by the court. Otherwise, no paid leave is required in Nebraska.
Nevada PTO Laws
Nevada PTO laws are among the most generous in the country. The law allows employees to earn 0.01923 hours of PTO for every hour they work, up to 40 hours per benefit year, and their PTO can be used for virtually any reason. Only businesses with more than 50 employees must provide PTO in Nevada.
Employers can allow PTO hours to accrue or offer a lump sum annually. If the employer states in its policy that it pays out unused hours when an employee is separated from the company, the employer must adhere to that policy unless the employee is rehired within 90 days.
Because employees can use their PTO for almost any reason, Nevada does not have separate mandates for jury duty, bereavement, and other forms of leave.
New Hampshire PTO Laws
New Hampshire does not mandate any form of paid leave for non-state employees. However, the New Hampshire Paid Family and Medical Leave (NH PFML) allows employers to provide optional paid coverage for employees using family and medical leave.
New Jersey PTO Laws
New Jersey employees earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, or employers can frontload at least 40 hours annually. This time can be used for the employee to care for themselves or a family member. The law requires employers to pay employees their regular rates for sick time.
Additionally, employees can carry over up to 40 hours of unused time per year, but employers do not have to pay employees for unused time.
Other forms of leave are not required to be paid in New Jersey.
New Mexico PTO Laws
As of 2022, New Mexico mandates employers to pay one hour per 30 hours worked under the Healthy Workplaces Act. Employees get paid their typical hourly rate for used sick time and may carry over up to 64 hours of unused time each year. The law doesn’t require employees to pay for unused sick time when an employee separates from the company.
New York PTO Laws
New York requires employers to pay employees for sick time if they have five or more employees or more than $1 million in net income. Hours accrue at one hour per 30 hours worked, with maximum accruals varying based on the number of employees a company has, up to 56 hours per year.
Employees can also receive paid jury duty leave of $40 per day for up to three days if they work for an employer with 10 or more employees. Additionally, paid family leave is mandated for up to 12 weeks of time off per year to care for a newborn or family member.
North Carolina PTO Laws
North Carolina does not have paid leave laws for non-state employees.
North Dakota PTO Laws
North Dakota does not have paid leave laws in place.
Ohio PTO Laws
Ohio does not mandate vacation or other forms of paid leave for non-state employees.
Oklahoma PTO Laws
Oklahoma has no PTO laws for various forms of leave.
Oregon PTO Laws
Paid Leave Oregon gives employees up to 12 weeks of paid leave benefits beginning September 1, 2023. The new law allows employees to use their paid leave for family, medical, or safe leave. However, employees and employers both contribute to an employee’s paid leave fund at a rate of 1%, with employees paying 60% of that amount.
Employers with 10 or more employees must also provide paid sick time at a rate of one hour per 30 hours worked, with a maximum of 40 hours annually, paid at the employee’s regular wage. Employers do not need to pay for unused sick time upon separation.
Pennsylvania PTO Laws
Pennsylvania does not mandate PTO for the state, but Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Allegheny County have local paid sick time laws.
Rhode Island PTO Laws
Rhode Island’s Paid Sick and Safe Leave requires employers with 18 or more employees to provide up to 40 hours of sick and safe leave annually. Employees can roll over up to 40 hours each year.
Rhode Island also offers Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI), granting workers up to six weeks of partially paid wages for family leave.
South Carolina PTO Laws
South Carolina does not require employers to pay employees for sick time, vacation, or other forms of leave. Only some employees are eligible for paid parental leave, including public school teachers and state employees, for up to six weeks annually.
South Dakota PTO Laws
Aside from eligible state employees receiving mandatory paid family leave, South Dakota does not mandate paid leave across the state.
Tennessee PTO Laws
Some state employees are eligible for paid family leave in Tennessee. Otherwise, the state only requires paid jury duty leave, requiring employers to pay a worker’s full salary while serving jury duty.
Texas PTO Laws
Texas law does not require employers to pay for any type of leave.
Utah PTO Laws
Utah doesn’t require employers to pay for employee leave.
Vermont PTO Laws
Vermont’s Earned Sick Time Act entitles employees to one hour of paid sick time per 52 hours worked, up to 40 hours each year. Employees with accrued hours can carry over up to 40 hours each year of unused time, while employers frontloading hours at the beginning of the year do not need to allow rollover hours.
Only state employees in Vermont are eligible for mandated paid family leave.
Virginia PTO Laws
Home health workers in Virginia who work at least 20 hours per week are eligible for one hour of paid sick leave per 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year. This paid time can be used toward the care of the employee or the care of a covered family member.
Virginia does not mandate any forms of paid leave outside of this legislation.
Washington PTO Laws
Washington employers must give workers one hour of paid sick time per 40 hours worked, and employees may carry up to 40 unused hours into the next year. Sick time is paid at the employee’s usual hourly rate.
Washington also gives workers up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave every year.
West Virginia PTO Laws
West Virginia does not require employers to provide paid leave in any form.
Wisconsin PTO Laws
Wisconsin does not mandate any type of paid leave for workers.
Wyoming PTO Laws
Wyoming employers do not have to pay employees for any type of leave, including sick time or parental leave.
PTO laws by state are changing rapidly as states begin to mimic the laws of other states by providing more mandated employee benefits. Check your state’s labor news and laws frequently to stay on top of any proposed changes.
