Research Summary: American employees are well known for their tendency to come to work sick, a habit that not only harms their health but also puts all of their co-workers and clients in jeopardy. Most commonly, American workers do this because they don’t have access to sick leave and cannot afford to miss out on a day of pay.
Luckily, nearly half of all US states, 20 to be exact, have opted to enact laws that provide mandatory paid sick leave on a regional or statewide level for employees.
With that in mind, we’ve investigated all of the most essential facts about paid sick leave laws in the US, and according to our extensive research, these are all of the states with statewide paid sick leave laws:
| State | Covered Employees | Qualifying Reasons | Accruals | Annual Max Usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | All employees and employers | Personal or family member’s health condition; the need for diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care; domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking reasons | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked |
15+ employees: 40 hours
1-15 employees: 24 hours |
| California | Employees and employers with 1+ employee who work 30+ days per year for the business | Personal or family member’s health condition; the need for diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care; domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking reasons | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked | 24 hours |
| Colorado | Employers and employees who work at a business with 16+ employees | Personal or family member’s health condition; the need for diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care; domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking reasons | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked | 48 hours |
| Connecticut | Employers and employees who work at a business with 50+ employees | Personal or family member’s health condition; the need for diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care; domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking reasons | 1 hour for every 40 hours worked | 40 hours |
| Maine | Employers with 10+ employees and employees with 120 consecutive days of employment | Personal or family member’s health condition; the need for diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care; domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking reasons | 1 hour for every 40 hours worked | 40 hours |
| Maryland | Employers with 15+ employees and employees with 12+ hours of work per week | Personal or family member’s illness, injury, or condition; preventive care; maternity or paternity leave; domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking reasons | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked | 64 hours |
| Massachusetts | All employees and employers | Personal or family member’s health condition; the need for diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care; domestic violence reasons | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked | 40 hours |
| Michigan | Employers with 50+ employees and employees who’ve worked 25+ hours per week 26 weeks per year | Personal or family member’s illness, injury or condition; preventive care; maternity or paternity leave; domestic violence or sexual assault reasons; exposure to communicable disease | 1 hour for every 35 hours worked | 40 hours |
| Nevada | Employers and employees who work at a business with 50+ employees (employers must be in business for 2+ years) | Any reason | 0.01923 hours of paid leave for each hour worked | 40 hours |
| New Jersey | All employees and employers | Personal or family member’s illness, injury, or condition; preventive care; school conference; meeting regarding a child’s health or disability; domestic or sexual violence reasons | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked | 40 hours |
| New York | Private sector employers and employees at businesses with 5+ employees or net income of more than $1 million | Personal or family member’s illness, injury, or condition; preventive care; domestic or sexual violence reasons | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked |
100+ employees: 56 hours
1–99 employees: 40 hours |
| New Mexico | All employees and private employers with at least 1 employee | Personal or family member’s illness, injury, or condition; preventive care; school conference; meeting regarding a child’s health or disability; domestic or sexual violence reasons | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked | 64 hours |
| Oregon | Employers and employees at businesses with 10+ employees or in large cities (500,000+ population) with 6+ employees | Personal or family member’s illness, injury or condition; preventive care; caring for a sick child; domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault, or stalking reasons; bereavement; donation to co-worker | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked or 1.33 hour for every 40 hours worked | 40 hours |
| Rhode Island | All employees and employers with 18+ employees | Personal or family member’s illness, injury, or condition; preventive care; exposure to communicable disease; domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking reasons | 1 hour for every 35 hours worked | 40 hours |
| Vermont | All employers and employees with 18+ hours of work per week | Personal or family member’s illness, injury, or condition; preventive care; appointments related to long-term care; domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking reasons; when a family member’s school or business is closed for public health or safety reasons | 1 hour for every 52 hours worked | 40 hours |
| Washington | All employees and employers | Personal or family member’s illness, injury or condition; preventive care; domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking reasons | 1 hour for every 40 hours worked | No max |
Cities That Require Employers to Provide Paid Sick Leave In 2022
While there are 16 states that have enacted statewide paid sick leave laws, 4 other states and many of the 16 also have regional laws that only affect certain cities. Currently, here are the 16 cities that have their own paid sick leave policies:
| City | Covered Employees | Qualifying Reasons | Accruals | Annual Max Usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley, CA | All employers and employees who work 2+ hours per week | Personal or family member’s health condition; need for diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked capped at 72 hours |
25+ employees: No max
1-24 employees: 48 hours |
| Emeryville, CA | All employers and employees who work 2+ hours per week | Personal or family member’s health condition; need for diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care; domestic violence reasons; to aid or care for a service dog | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked |
56+ employees: 72 hours
1-55 employees: 48 hours |
| Los Angeles, CA | All employers and employees who work 2+ hours per week under the same employer for at least 30 days | Illness for employee, family member, or any individual related by blood or affinity. | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked | 48 hours |
| Oakland, CA | All employees and employers | Personal or family member’s health condition; need for diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked |
9+ employees: 72 hours
1-9 employees: 40 hours |
| San Diego, CA | All employees and employers | Personal or family member’s health condition; need for diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care; domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking reasons | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked | 40 hours |
| San Francisco, CA | All employees and employers | Personal or family member’s health condition; need for diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care; domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking reasons | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked | No max |
| Santa Monica, CA | All employers and employees who work 2+ hours per week | Personal or family member’s health condition; need for diagnosis, care, treatment or preventive care; domestic violence, sexual violence or stalking reasons | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked | No max |
| Washington D.C. | All employees and employers | Personal or family member’s health condition; need for diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care; domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking reasons |
100+ employees: 1 hour for every 37 hours worked
25-99 employees: 1 hour for every 43 hours worked 1-24 employees: 1 hour for every 87 hours worked |
100+ employees: 7 days
25-99 employees: 5 days 1-24 employees: 3 days |
| Chicago, IL | Employers with 1+ covered employee and employees who’ve worked 2+ hours over any 2-week period | Personal or family member’s health condition; need for diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care; domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking reasons | 1 hour for every 40 hours worked | Half of unused sick leave up to 20 hours |
| Duluth, MN | Employers with 5+ employees and employees with 80+ of annual work in the city | Personal or family member’s illness, injury or condition; preventive care; domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking reasons | 1 hour for every 50 hours worked | No max |
| Minneapolis, MN | Employers with 6+ employees and employees with 80+ of annual work in the city | Personal or family member’s illness, injury, or condition; preventive care; domestic or sexual violence reasons; Family member place-of-care closure | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked | 40 hours |
| Saint Paul, MN | Employers with 1+ employees and employees with 80+ of annual work in the city | Personal or family member’s illness, injury, or condition; preventive care; domestic or sexual violence reasons; Family member place-of-care closure | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked | No max |
| New York City, NY | Employers with 5+ employees and employees with 80+ of annual work in the city | Personal or family member’s illness, injury, or condition; preventive care; family offense matters, sexual offenses, stalking, or human trafficking reasons | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked | 40 hours or 2 days for domestic workers |
| Philadelphia, PA | Employers with 10+ employees (all chain establishments) and employees with 40+ hours of work in the city | Personal or family member’s illness, injury or condition; preventive care; stalking, domestic or sexual violence reasons | 1 hour for every 30 hours worked | 40 hours or 2 days for domestic workers |
| Seattle, WA | All employers and employees | Personal or family member’s illness, injury or condition; preventive care; domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking reasons |
250+ employees: 1 hour for every 30 hours worked
1-249 employees: 1 hour for every 40 hours worked |
No max |
| Tacoma, WA | All employers and employees with 80+ of annual work in the city | Personal or family member’s illness, injury or condition; preventive care; domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking reasons; bereavement |
250+ employees: 1 hour for every 30 hours worked
1-249 employees: 1 hour for every 40 hours worked |
No max |
Salary History Ban Trends
Paid sick leave is a fairly new phenomenon that has become more popular over the years, especially since the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) expired. In fact, prior to 2015, there were only three states that passed paid sick leave laws: Connecticut (2011), California (2014), and Massachusetts (2014).
Since then, many more states have passed paid sick leave laws, with New Mexico being the most recent to enact its new paid sick leave law in 2022.
Results of Paid Sick Leave
The main goal of paid sick leave is not only to provide workers with a better financial safety net but also to protect co-workers and clients from illness. The COVID-19 Pandemic made it clear that when workers don’t have access to paid sick leave, illness is able to spread much faster through sick employees showing up to work.
Overall, here are some examples of the benefits of paid sick leave:
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Paid sick leave reduces COVID-19 infections by up to 400 cases per day.
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In locations where workers have access to paid sick leave, the general flu rate in the population decreased by 5.5 to 6.5%.
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79% of US workers support paid sick leave laws.
Paid Sick Leave Laws FAQ
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Can you get fired for calling in sick?
You can be fired for calling in sick in any state with at-will employees. In these states, employers can fire you for any reason, meaning you don’t have protection for being sick.
Unfortunately, at-will employment status is the standard in all U.S. states except Montana. Even in states with paid sick leave laws, there are typically few to no protections in place for employees who choose to take leave.
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Can a boss ask why you are sick?
No, your boss cannot ask why you are sick for paid or unpaid leave. This is true on the federal level.
However, employers are free to ask other questions, especially if you want paid leave instead of unpaid leave. For instance, employers may ask when you expect to return to work or for proof of your illness via a note from a physician.
Conclusion
Similar to other forms of paid leave, paid sick leave is becoming more common throughout the US. Prior to 2015, there were only three states with paid sick leave laws, but today, there are 20 states around the country.
And there’s a reason why, as these laws have proven to reduce illness among employees and civilians and have widespread support among the working population.
And with the majority of states enacting paid sick leave laws from 2019 onward, we might even see more states follow in the future.
Author
Jack Flynn is a writer for Zippia. In his professional career he’s written over 100 research papers, articles and blog posts. Some of his most popular published works include his writing about economic terms and research into job classifications. Jack received his BS from Hampshire College.
