AbsentEase
Wyoming sick leave law & call-off rules
Wyoming has no sick leave mandate and almost no wage-and-hour code — but its courts are unusually willing to turn handbooks into implied contracts, and accrued vacation is owed at separation unless your policy says "forfeited" and the employee signed an acknowledgment. In Wyoming, the paperwork is the law. Here is what applies in 2026.
Wyoming at a glance
| Paid sick leave mandate | None |
|---|---|
| Vacation at termination | Owed — unless the written policy says forfeited AND the employee signed an acknowledgment |
| Handbooks | Readily become implied contracts without a conspicuous at-will disclaimer |
| Voting leave | 1 hour paid (beyond meal breaks) if the employee lacks 3 free hours |
| Final paycheck deadline | Next regularly scheduled payday; 18% interest + fees on wrongful withholding |
| Employment relationship | At-will with implied-contract and narrow public-policy exceptions |
| Meal & rest breaks | None for adults |
Is paid sick leave required in Wyoming?
No. Wyoming has no sick leave requirement, and no municipality has attempted an ordinance. Your written policy plus the federal floor governs — with the documentation quirks below.
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 Wyoming
Wyoming is at-will in name, but its courts routinely find implied contracts in handbooks — progressive-discipline language without a conspicuous at-will disclaimer can obligate you to follow every listed step before an attendance termination. That makes Wyoming the state where your attendance policy's own text is the biggest litigation variable: promise three warnings, and skipping to termination is breach. Pair the disclaimer audit with the vacation acknowledgment audit, and exits get clean. Wage claims go to the Department of Workforce Services' Labor Standards Office. A call-off hotline or text-based call-off system documents that each promised step actually happened.
After a no call, no show termination in Wyoming
| Does Wyoming law define job abandonment? | No statute or regulation defines job abandonment; it is set by employer policy. (Wyo. Stat. §§ 27-3-311(a)(i), 27-3-311(f), 27-3-102(a)(xxiv)) |
|---|---|
| Final paycheck if you treat it as a discharge | When an employee is discharged, the employer must pay whatever wages are then due no later than the employer's usual practice on regularly scheduled payroll dates (or at a time specified in a collective bargaining agreement); the Department of Workforce Services states this as 'by the next regular payday'. (Wyo. Stat. § 27-4-104(a)) |
| Final paycheck if you treat it as a resignation | When an employee quits service (with or without notice; the statute draws no distinction), wages due must likewise be paid no later than the employer's usual practice on regularly scheduled payroll dates, i.e., the next regular payday. (Wyo. Stat. § 27-4-104(a)) |
| Accrued PTO at separation | Owed unless a written policy clearly provides for forfeiture. 'Wages' recoverable under the wage-collection article include fringe benefits but exclude the value of vacation leave accrued at termination only if the employer's written policies provide that accrued vacation is forfeited upon termination and the employee has acknowledged those policies in writing; otherwise accrued vacation is payable as wages (the DWS employer FAQ says payout can be denied only if the written policy clearly says so and the employee acknowledged it). (Wyo. Stat. § 27-4-501(a)(iii); see also § 27-4-507(c)) |
| Unemployment claims | A claimant who left the most recent work voluntarily without good cause attributable directly to the employment is disqualified until earning at least eight times the weekly benefit amount in subsequent employment (Wyo. Stat. § 27-3-311(a)(i)); a claimant discharged for misconduct connected with work is disqualified until earning twelve times the weekly benefit amount (§ 27-3-311(f)), with 'misconduct connected with work' defined as an act indicating intentional disregard of the employer's interests or of an employee's commonly accepted duties (§ 27-3-102(a)(xxiv)). |
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 Wyoming's final-pay rule.
Write a no call, no show policy that fits Wyoming
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 Wyoming 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 | Next regularly scheduled payday (the old 5-working-day rule was repealed in 2015); 18% interest plus attorney fees on wages wrongfully withheld | Wyo. Stat. 27-4-104 |
| Employee quits | Same — next regularly scheduled payday | Wyo. Stat. 27-4-104 |
| Unused vacation | Payable at separation unless the written policy declares forfeiture AND the employee acknowledged it in writing — silent or unacknowledged policies mean payout | Wyo. Stat. 27-4-501(a)(iii) |
| Unused sick leave | Policy controls | — |
Wyoming's double-documentation rule (forfeiture language + signed acknowledgment) is unique — audit both halves before the next separation. See how PTO accrual works.
Leave Wyoming employers must (and must not) provide
| Leave type | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Voting | Yes — paid | 1 hour, apart from meal breaks, unless the employee has 3+ consecutive non-working hours while polls are open (Wyo. Stat. 22-2-111) |
| Jury duty | Yes — unpaid | Job-protected (Wyo. Stat. 1-11-401) |
| Military | Yes | USERRA (federal) plus Wyoming National Guard protections |
| Sick leave | No | Whatever your written policy provides |
| Meal & rest breaks | No | None for adult private-sector employees |
The Wyoming 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.