Do Pittsburgh's sick leave rules change in 2026?

Yes — as of January 1, 2026, Pittsburgh's amended ordinance covers all employers and raised accrual to 1 hour per 30 hours worked in the city, capped at 72 hours per year for employers with 15+ employees and 48 hours for smaller ones. Policies calibrated to the old rates are now under-accruing.

Can a Pennsylvania employer give attendance points for sick days?

Outside Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Allegheny County — generally yes, subject to FMLA and ADA. Inside those jurisdictions, counting ordinance-protected sick time as an occurrence is retaliation under the ordinance itself, and Philadelphia's POWER Act now carries penalties up to $2,000 per violation.

Does a Pennsylvania employer have to pay out unused PTO at termination?

Not by statute — but under the Wage Payment and Collection Law, a policy that promises vacation makes it enforceable as wages on the policy's own terms, with liquidated damages and attorney's fees for violations. The handbook language is the whole ballgame.

When is the final paycheck due in Pennsylvania?

By the next regular payday, whether the employee was fired or quit, under the Wage Payment and Collection Law.

What counts as a no-call no-show in Pennsylvania?

Your written policy defines it — with one geographic caveat. In Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Allegheny County, an employee who reports off in a manner the local ordinance permits has used protected sick time, not committed a no-show, so the policy's notice rules need to align with each ordinance where you have crews.

Pennsylvania sick leave law & call-off rules

Q: Is paid sick leave required in Pennsylvania?

Not statewide — Pennsylvania has no state sick leave law. But three local ordinances are active and enforceable: Philadelphia (1 hour per 40 worked, 40-hour cap, paid at 10+ employees), Pittsburgh (1 per 30, 72-hour cap at 15+ employees as of 2026), and Allegheny County (1 per 35, 40-hour cap, 26+ employees).

Pennsylvania has no statewide sick leave law — but unlike most no-mandate states, it doesn't preempt local ordinances, and three are active: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Allegheny County, each with different accrual rates, caps, and employer thresholds. A multi-site Pennsylvania employer can owe three different sick-leave banks while owing none at all in the rest of the state. Here is what applies in 2026.

Pennsylvania at a glance

Paid sick leave mandate	None statewide — but Philadelphia, Pittsburgh & Allegheny County ordinances are active and not preempted
Local accrual rules	Philly 1:40 (40h cap) · Pittsburgh 1:30 (72h/48h caps, new 2026) · Allegheny 1:35 (40h cap)
Employment relationship	At-will, with narrow public-policy exceptions (jury duty, workers' comp claims)
PTO payout at termination	Not required by statute — but a promised policy is enforceable as wages under the WPCL
Final paycheck deadline	Next regular payday, fired or quit
Meal & rest breaks	None for adults; minors get 30 minutes at 5+ consecutive hours
Jury duty protection	Job-protected — but retail/service under 15 employees and manufacturers under 40 are excluded

Is paid sick leave required in Pennsylvania?

Not statewide. Pennsylvania law imposes no sick leave requirement — but it also doesn't block local governments from doing so, and three ordinances are in force. If you have employees working in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, or Allegheny County, you have a mandate; elsewhere in the commonwealth, your written policy is the rulebook.

The three local ordinances

Jurisdiction	Who's covered	Accrual	Annual cap
Philadelphia	10+ employees paid; under 10 unpaid	1 hour per 40 worked	40 hours
Pittsburgh (amended eff. Jan 1, 2026)	All employers	1 hour per 30 worked in the city	72 hours at 15+ employees · 48 hours under 15
Allegheny County	26+ employees	1 hour per 35 worked	40 hours

All three prohibit retaliation — counting protected sick time as an attendance occurrence violates the ordinance itself. Philadelphia's 2025 POWER Act amendments added penalties up to $2,000 per violation and a 3-year statute of limitations, and Pittsburgh's higher accrual rate and 72-hour cap just took effect January 1, 2026. If you operate across these lines, each location's bank has to be tracked to its own ordinance.

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.

Call-offs, no-call no-shows, and firing in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is at-will with narrow public-policy exceptions — firing over jury service or a workers' comp claim (Shick v. Shirey) is actionable, but ordinary attendance enforcement, including no-call no-show terminations, is broadly lawful. The real complexity is geographic: an attendance-points policy that's perfectly legal in Harrisburg becomes ordinance retaliation the moment it counts protected sick time in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, or Allegheny County. Multi-site employers need the call-off record to carry not just when and why, but where — because the same absence can be protected at one site and pointable at another. Wage claims go to the PA Department of Labor & Industry's Bureau of Labor Law Compliance. A call-off hotline or text-based call-off system captures each report with the detail that classification requires.

PTO payout and final paychecks

Scenario	Rule	Source
Employee is fired or laid off	Final pay due by the next regular payday	PA WPCL, 43 P.S. 260.5
Employee quits	Same — next regular payday	PA WPCL, 43 P.S. 260.5
Unused vacation / PTO	No statutory payout — but a policy or agreement that promises vacation makes it enforceable as wages under the WPCL, per its own terms	PA Wage Payment and Collection Law
Policy silent on payout	The terms of the policy control; ambiguity invites WPCL claims with liquidated damages	—

The WPCL turns policy promises into wage obligations with teeth — liquidated damages and attorney's fees — so the payout language should say precisely what you intend. See how PTO accrual works.

Leave Pennsylvania employers must (and must not) provide

Leave type	Required?	Notes
Local sick leave	Yes — in 3 jurisdictions	Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Allegheny County, per the table above
Jury duty	Yes — unpaid	Job-protected, but the statute excludes retail/service employers under 15 employees and manufacturers under 40 (42 Pa.C.S. 4563)
Military	Yes	USERRA (federal) plus Pennsylvania National Guard protections
Voting	No	Pennsylvania has no voting-leave requirement
Sick leave (statewide)	No	Outside the three local jurisdictions, your written policy governs

The Pennsylvania 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.

Note: This is general information for Pennsylvania private-sector employers as of 2026, not legal advice. Federal contractors and public employers have additional rules, and laws change. Confirm specifics with qualified counsel.

Comparing states? See all published guides on the state sick leave laws hub.

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