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 — once a separated employee has made a written demand and seven days have passed without payment (W. Va. Code 21-5-4a) — and the state requires that the policy be available to employees in writing or by posted notice. 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; must be available in writing or posted (21-5-9) |
| Nonpayment penalty | 2x the unpaid amount in liquidated damages, on top of the wages — once a written demand goes unpaid for 7 days (21-5-4a) |
| 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.
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 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 left unpaid seven days after a written demand (21-5-4a), and the requirement that the policy be available in writing or posted means it 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.
After a no call, no show termination in West Virginia
| Does West Virginia law define job abandonment? | No statute or regulation defines job abandonment; it is set by employer policy. (W. Va. Code § 21A-6-3(1), (2)) |
|---|---|
| Final paycheck if you treat it as a discharge | When an employer discharges an employee, it must pay the wages due for work performed before the separation on or before the next regular payday on which those wages would otherwise be due and payable (by regular pay channels or, if the employee requests, by mail, deemed paid on the postmark date); an employer that fails to pay as required owes the unpaid amount plus liquidated damages of two times that amount. (W. Va. Code § 21-5-4(b), (c), (e)) |
| Final paycheck if you treat it as a resignation | When an employee quits or resigns (with or without notice; the current statute draws no distinction and no longer contains a separate notice-based deadline), wages due for work performed before the separation must be paid on or before the next regular payday on which they would otherwise be due and payable. (W. Va. Code § 21-5-4(b)) |
| Accrued PTO at separation | Owed unless a written policy clearly provides for forfeiture. 'Wages' payable at separation include accrued fringe benefits (expressly including vacation, PTO and sick leave) that are capable of calculation and payable directly to the employee, but the Supreme Court of Appeals holds that whether benefits have accrued and are payable is determined by the terms of employment, which may condition vesting and may provide that unused benefits are not paid at separation, provided the terms are express and specific (ambiguity is construed for the employee); benefits a written policy makes payable at a later date are paid per the policy rather than as final wages. (W. Va. Code § 21-5-1(c), (l); § 21-5-4(b) proviso; Meadows v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 207 W. Va. 203, 530 S.E.2d 676 (1999), syl. pts. 5-6) |
| Unemployment claims | A claimant who left the most recent work voluntarily without good cause involving fault on the part of the employer is disqualified until returning to covered employment for at least 30 working days (W. Va. Code § 21A-6-3(1)); discharge for misconduct brings a six-week disqualification and benefit reduction, and discharge for 'gross misconduct' (a statutory list plus any act after a prior written warning that termination may result) disqualifies until 30 days of covered employment (§ 21A-6-3(2)). |
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 West Virginia's final-pay rule.
Write a no call, no show policy that fits West Virginia
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 West Virginia 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 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 — but only after the separated employee makes a written demand (email counts) and the employer fails to pay within 7 calendar days | W. Va. Code 21-5-4(e), 21-5-4a |
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.