AbsentEase
West Virginia sick leave law & call-off rules
West Virginia has no sick leave mandate — but the Wage Payment and Collection Act enforces whatever your written fringe-benefit policy says with double liquidated damages, and the state requires that policy be disclosed in writing at hire. The Harless public-policy tort is among the strongest in the country. Here is what applies in 2026.
West Virginia at a glance
| Paid sick leave mandate | None |
|---|---|
| Fringe benefits (WPCA) | Vacation/sick/holiday pay earned under your WRITTEN policy = final wages; disclosure at hire required |
| Nonpayment penalty | 2x the unpaid amount in liquidated damages, on top of the wages |
| Voting leave | Up to 3 hours paid, on written request 3+ days ahead |
| Meal break | 20 minutes on 6+ hour shifts when breaks aren't otherwise possible |
| Employment relationship | At-will with the strong Harless public-policy tort |
| Final paycheck deadline | Next regular payday, fired or quit |
Is paid sick leave required in West Virginia?
No. West Virginia has no sick leave requirement and no local ordinances. Your written policy plus the federal floor governs — and the WPCA makes the writing itself load-bearing.
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 West Virginia
West Virginia is at-will, but Harless v. First National Bank created one of the country's most muscular public-policy torts, and Cook v. Heck's makes handbooks contract material — an attendance termination that collides with either doctrine gets expensive fast. Day to day, the WPCA is the discipline: the written fringe-benefit policy governs what goes in the final check, doubling applies to shortfalls, and the disclosure-at-hire requirement means the policy has to exist on paper before the dispute does. The Division of Labor's Wage and Hour Section enforces. A call-off hotline or text-based call-off system gives every attendance decision the record it needs to survive both doctrines.
PTO payout and final paychecks
| Scenario | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Employee is fired or laid off | On or before the next regular payday (the old 72-hour rule is gone) | W. Va. Code 21-5-4 |
| Employee quits | Same — next regular payday | W. Va. Code 21-5-4 |
| Fringe benefits | Vacation, sick, and holiday pay earned and payable under the written policy count as final wages; the policy may condition or exclude payout — in writing | WPCA |
| Nonpayment | Liquidated damages of 2x the unpaid amount, plus the wages themselves | W. Va. Code 21-5-4(e) |
Unwritten PTO practices default toward payout under the WPCA — put accrual, forfeiture, and timing in writing and hand it out at hire. See how PTO accrual works.
Leave West Virginia employers must (and must not) provide
| Leave type | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Voting | Yes — paid | Up to 3 hours on written request made 3+ days before the election, if the employee lacks 3 free poll hours; essential services may stagger (W. Va. Code 3-1-42) |
| Meal break | Yes | At least 20 minutes on workdays of 6+ hours when the employee can't otherwise take breaks or eat while working |
| Jury duty | Yes — unpaid | Discrimination over a summons or service is prohibited, with contempt fines and an employee suit with fees (W. Va. Code 52-3-1) |
| Military | Yes | USERRA (federal) plus West Virginia National Guard protections |
| Sick leave | No | Whatever your written policy provides |
The West Virginia 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.