State sick leave laws

Sick leave, call-off, and attendance rules are set state by state: some states mandate paid sick time with accrual rates and anti-retaliation rules, others leave it entirely to your written policy. Each guide below covers what employers in that state must do in 2026 — mandates, PTO payout, final paychecks, and how far an attendance policy can go.

State guides

The rules that don't depend on your state

Wherever you operate, FMLA and the ADA set a federal floor, and every attendance decision is easier to defend with a written policy and a time-stamped call-off record. Start with how to write an attendance policy and what a call-off hotline is. Canadian employer? See the province-by-province guides.

Frequently Asked Questions

Roughly a third of states, plus the District of Columbia, require employers to provide paid sick leave with set accrual rates and caps, and a few more (Illinois, Maine, Nevada) require paid leave that can be used for any reason. The rest leave sick time to the employer’s written policy, though many cities and counties add their own ordinances. Each state guide above says which applies and what the thresholds are.

Yes. Every state that mandates sick leave still lets employers set reasonable notice procedures — a deadline before the shift, a required channel such as a call-off line, and what the message must include. What the laws prohibit is denying or penalizing protected sick leave when the employee followed that procedure, or a procedure so burdensome it effectively blocks the leave. A text-based call-off line satisfies notice requirements in every state; see whether employees can text in sick.

It depends on the state. Some cover every employer from the first employee, some set a headcount threshold below which leave may be unpaid or not required, and some exempt specific industries or seasonal workers. The covered-employers section of each state guide spells out the threshold for that state.

No. These guides summarize each state’s rules for employers in plain language and point to the statutes they draw on. Laws and local ordinances change, so confirm anything you plan to enforce with employment counsel or the state labor department before acting on it.

One call-off record, every state

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State sick leave laws

State guides

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

District of Columbia

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

The rules that don't depend on your state

Frequently Asked Questions

Which states require paid sick leave?

Can an employer require employees to call in before using sick leave?

Do these laws apply to small employers?

Is this legal advice?

One call-off record, every state