AbsentEase
New Hampshire sick leave law & call-off rules
New Hampshire has no sick leave mandate — its sharp edge is the exit: fire someone and the full final check, including any policy-owed vacation, is due within 72 hours, with liquidated damages of 10% per day (capped at the unpaid wages) for willful delay. Add a 2-hour reporting-pay rule and a meal break at 5 hours, and the Granite State is stricter than its reputation. Here is what applies in 2026.
New Hampshire at a glance
| Paid sick leave mandate | None — the state PFL program is voluntary opt-in |
|---|---|
| Final paycheck (fired) | Within 72 hours; liquidated damages of 10%/day for willful delay, capped at the unpaid wages |
| Policy-owed PTO | Counts as wages when due (RSA 275:42-43) |
| Reporting pay | 2 hours' pay when an employee reports at the employer's request |
| Meal break | 30 minutes after 5 consecutive hours (unless eating while working is feasible) |
| Employment relationship | At-will with the Monge bad-faith exception |
| Voting leave | Not required |
Is paid sick leave required in New Hampshire?
No. New Hampshire has no sick leave requirement — its Granite State Paid Family Leave is a voluntary opt-in insurance product, not a mandate — and no locality adds one. Your written policy plus the federal floor governs.
The federal floor that still applies
FMLA
Employers with 50+ employees within 75 miles must give eligible employees (12+ months tenure, 1,250+ hours in the past year) up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for a serious health condition — their own or a close family member's. FMLA-protected absences can't accrue attendance points, and a call-off that mentions an ongoing condition can be notice enough to trigger your FMLA obligations, even if the employee never says "FMLA."
ADA
For employers with 15+ employees, the ADA can require modified attendance expectations or unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation for a disability. An attendance policy applied "no exceptions" is exactly the kind that loses ADA cases — build an accommodation carve-out into the policy itself.
FLSA overtime and attendance bonuses
A cash bonus promised in advance for good attendance counts as wages under federal overtime law. It has to be added into the regular rate for the weeks it covers, so any of those weeks over 40 hours owes extra overtime on the bonus, usually recalculated after the bonus is paid. State overtime law can add to this, but can't go below it. See how attendance bonuses change overtime pay.
Call-offs, no-call no-shows, and firing in New Hampshire
New Hampshire is at-will with the venerable Monge bad-faith exception — terminations motivated by malice or retaliation for protected conduct are actionable even without a statute. For attendance operations, the state-specific mechanics cluster at the edges of the shift: the reporting-pay rule means a worker called in after a garbled call-off situation and sent home still gets two hours' pay, and the 72-hour final-check rule makes attendance firings a payroll event, not just an HR one. The NH Department of Labor is an active enforcer. A call-off hotline or text-based call-off system prevents the garbled-call-off scenario in the first place — the report either exists, time-stamped, or it doesn't.
After a no call, no show termination in New Hampshire
| Does New Hampshire law define job abandonment? | No statute or regulation defines job abandonment; it is set by employer policy. (N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 282-A:32, I(a)-(b)) |
|---|---|
| Final paycheck if you treat it as a discharge | 'Whenever an employer discharges an employee, the employer shall pay the employee's wages in full within 72 hours'; an employer that 'willfully and without good cause' fails to pay owes liquidated damages of 10 percent of the unpaid wages for each day (except Sundays and legal holidays) the failure continues, or an amount equal to the unpaid wages, whichever is smaller. (N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 275:44, I; penalty § 275:44, IV) |
| Final paycheck if you treat it as a resignation | 'Whenever an employee quits or resigns, the employer shall pay the employee's wages no later than the next regular payday ... except that if the employee gives at least one pay period's notice of intention to quit the employer shall pay all wages earned by the employee within 72 hours'; so a resignation without notice (including a deemed resignation after consecutive no-call, no-shows) is payable by the next regular payday, while a quit with at least one pay period's notice is payable within 72 hours. (N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 275:44, II) |
| Accrued PTO at separation | No state requirement; owed only if your written policy promises it. 'Vacation pay, severance pay, personal days, holiday pay, sick pay, and payment of employee expenses, when such benefits are a matter of employment practice or policy, or both, shall be considered wages pursuant to RSA 275:42, III, when due' (§ 275:43, V), so payout at separation depends on what the employer's practice or policy makes 'due'; the employer must make its 'employment practices and policies with regard to vacation pay, sick leave, and other fringe benefits' available in writing or by posted notice (§ 275:49, III; Lab 803.03(b)), and benefits 'earned, accrued, or vested prior to any change shall not lapse due to the change' (Lab 803.03(d)); Department of Labor hearing officers enforce written policies stating that unused vacation is not paid at termination. (N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 275:43, V; § 275:49, III; N.H. Code Admin. R. Lab 803.03(b), (d)) |
| Unemployment claims | A claimant is disqualified until earning, in each of 5 weeks, wages of at least 20 percent more than the weekly benefit amount if '(a) The individual left work voluntarily without good cause in accordance with rules of the commissioner' or '(b) He was discharged for misconduct connected with his work, if so found by the commissioner' (§ 282-A:32, I); there is no consecutive-days absence rule. |
If a state agency later treats a "resignation" as a discharge, the discharge deadline governs, so pay by the earlier of the two when in doubt. Document each step with the no call, no show write-up and termination letter templates, which fill in New Hampshire's final-pay rule.
Write a no call, no show policy that fits New Hampshire
Start from our no call, no show policy guide and free template, or let the generator turn nine quick questions into a signature-ready policy with New Hampshire already selected so the protected-leave section covers the federal FMLA and ADA rules that still apply here.
PTO payout and final paychecks
| Scenario | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Employee is fired | Within 72 hours of discharge (laid off: next regular payday) | RSA 275:44 |
| Employee quits | Next regular payday — within 72 hours if they gave at least one pay period's notice | RSA 275:44 |
| Vacation / severance / sick pay owed by policy | Wages when due — payable per the policy's own terms | RSA 275:42-43 |
| Willful nonpayment | Liquidated damages of 10% of the unpaid wages per day (excluding Sundays and legal holidays), capped at an amount equal to the unpaid wages — willful and without good cause only | RSA 275:44 IV |
A Friday-afternoon attendance termination means a Monday check, vacation included — build the 72-hour clock into the termination decision itself. See how PTO accrual works.
Leave New Hampshire employers must (and must not) provide
| Leave type | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Meal break | Yes | 30 minutes after 5 consecutive hours, unless it's feasible to eat while working and the employer permits it (paid in that case) |
| Reporting pay | Yes | 2 hours' pay when an employee reports to work at the employer's request (RSA 275:43-a) — relevant to send-homes after call-off confusion |
| Jury duty | Yes — unpaid | No discharge, threats, or coercion; suit within one year |
| Voting | No | No voting-leave statute |
| Military | Yes | USERRA (federal) plus New Hampshire National Guard protections |
The New Hampshire employer's attendance playbook
- Put it in writing. A written policy — call-off deadline and channel, points or steps, the no-call no-show rule, and carve-outs for legally protected absences — is what makes discipline defensible. Our attendance policy guide walks through it.
- Give call-offs one channel. "Tell whoever answers" is how records get lost. One number every employee texts or calls makes the record automatic.
- Log everything with timestamps. Unemployment hearings and discrimination charges are won on contemporaneous records, not recollections.
- Enforce consistently. Uneven enforcement converts a lawful termination into a discrimination claim.
- Screen call-offs for protected reasons before applying points — sickness that could be FMLA/ADA territory gets a different track than an overslept alarm.
Comparing states? See all published guides on the state sick leave laws hub.