Do I have to give my employees paid sick leave?

Not under federal law: there is no general federal paid sick leave requirement for private employers. Your state, and sometimes your city, decides. As of November 5, 2026, we confirmed 20 states with a sick or paid leave law in force. Most require 1 hour of leave per 30 hours worked, often capped at 40 hours a year, and several have small-employer rules. Virginia starts in July 2027.

That count covers only states we could confirm on an official page. Fourteen states could not be settled either way, and they are named below, so check yours. A handbook written two years ago may also be out of date: Alaska and Nebraska added laws in 2025, and Missouri repealed one.

What federal law requires

Very little. The US Department of Labor says plainly that there are currently no federal legal requirements for paid sick leave (US DOL). The Family and Medical Leave Act gives eligible employees of employers with 50 or more employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for serious health conditions (US DOL, FMLA). That is leave, not pay.

So the answer for a private business comes from the states where your employees work.

The states with a law in force

These 20 states have a paid sick or paid leave law in force as of November 5, 2026. The usual rate is 1 hour of leave for every 30 hours worked:

• 1 hour per 30 worked: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Oregon.
• 1 hour per 40 worked: Illinois, Maine and Washington.
• Other rates: Rhode Island, 1 hour per 35; Vermont, 1 hour per 52 (21 V.S.A. 482); Nevada, 0.01923 hours per hour worked, which comes to about 40 hours a year at full time.

Caps vary. Colorado allows up to 48 hours a year (SB20-205). Minnesota caps accrual at 48 hours a year and the balance at 80 hours (Minn. Stat. 181.9446). New Mexico lets employers cap use at 64 hours in 12 months (HB 20, 2021). California requires employers to allow at least 40 hours or five days of use a year, whichever is more (California DIR). Illinois and Maine allow the leave to be used for any reason (Illinois DOL, Maine DOL).

Small-employer rules

Size matters in most of these states. A few examples:

• Massachusetts: paid at 11 or more employees, unpaid but job-protected below that (G.L. c. 149, s. 148C).
• Maryland: paid at 15 or more employees, unpaid at 14 or fewer (Lab. & Empl. 3-1304).
• Arizona: up to 40 hours a year at 15 or more employees, 24 hours below 15 (A.R.S. 23-372).
• Oregon: paid at 10 or more Oregon employees, or 6 or more with a Portland location; smaller employers give unpaid protected time (Oregon BOLI).
• New York: 56 paid hours at 100 or more employees, 40 paid at 5 to 99, and 40 hours at 4 or fewer, paid only if net income is over $1 million (New York State).
• Rhode Island: the paid requirement applies at 18 or more employees (R.I. Gen. Laws 28-57-5).
• Nevada: applies at 50 or more employees, and exempts employers in their first 2 years and temporary, seasonal and on-call employees (NRS 608.0197).
• New Jersey, Colorado, New Mexico and Washington cover employers of every size (Washington L&I).

What changed recently, and what is coming

• Missouri repealed its law. The voter-passed paid sick leave statute was repealed by H.B. 567, effective August 28, 2025 (RSMo 290.600).
• Alaska began on July 1, 2025: 1 hour per 30 worked, up to 40 hours a year below 15 employees and 56 hours at 15 or more (Alaska DOLWD).
• Nebraska began on October 1, 2025, for employers with 11 or more employees: up to 40 hours a year at 11 to 19 employees and 56 at 20 or more (Nebraska DOL).
• Michigan small businesses of 10 or fewer had to comply from October 1, 2025, with a 40-hour annual use cap; larger employers cap at 72 (Earned Sick Time Act).
• Connecticut covers employers with 11 or more employees now and every employer with one or more from January 1, 2027 (CT DOL).
• Virginia starts on July 1, 2027, for employers with 50 or more employees, 25 or more from January 1, 2028, and every employer from January 1, 2029: 1 hour per 30 worked, up to 40 hours a year (Va. Code 40.1-33.6:1).

States with no requirement, and states we could not confirm

State labor agencies in these 14 states say state law does not require private employers to give sick leave: Georgia (GDOL), Hawaii (DLIR), Idaho (IDOL), Iowa (DIAL), Montana (DLI), North Carolina (NCDOL), Oklahoma (ODOL), Pennsylvania (L&I), South Carolina (LLR), South Dakota (DLR), Texas (TWC), Utah (Labor Commission), West Virginia (Division of Labor) and Wisconsin (DWD). Missouri belongs on this list since its repeal. Virginia leaves it in 2027.

For the other 14 states, Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee and Wyoming, we did not find an official state page that settles the question either way. Do not read their absence from the first list as a yes or a no. Ask the state labor department directly. This article does not cover Washington, D.C.

Where a state has no law, a written policy can still bind you. In Texas, leave promised in a written policy becomes enforceable under the Texas Payday Law (TWC).

Cities matter too. Pennsylvania has no state law, but Philadelphia requires 1 hour per 40 worked, up to 40 hours a year, paid at 10 or more employees and unpaid below that. Since January 1, 2026, Pittsburgh requires 1 hour per 30 worked in the city, up to 48 hours a year below 15 employees and 72 hours at 15 or more. In Illinois, employers covered by a Chicago or Cook County ordinance generally follow that ordinance instead of the state law. If you have a branch in a large city, check its rules separately.

A worked example

Say a pest control company in Colorado hires a seasonal technician who works 45 hours a week for 26 weeks, or 1,170 hours. At 1 hour per 30 worked, the technician earns 39 hours of paid sick leave over the season, just under Colorado’s 48-hour annual cap.

The same technician in Utah earns nothing unless the company’s own policy gives it. In New Jersey they earn leave from the first hour, but can be made to wait until the 120th day of employment to use it (P.L. 2018, c. 10). A seasonal job can end before the waiting period does.

Mistakes owners make

• Assuming small means exempt. New Jersey, Colorado, New Mexico and Washington cover every employer, and Connecticut will in 2027.
• Leaving seasonal workers out. A few laws exclude them (Nevada does), but do not assume yours is one. Rhode Island, for example, covers seasonal hires and only lets you make them wait up to 150 days before use.
• Assuming a PTO bank automatically complies. Nevada exempts employers with an equivalent paid leave policy; other states set their own conditions for when a general PTO policy counts.
• Using the home state’s rule everywhere. The rule follows where the employee works.
• Not tracking accrual in payroll. Without a record, it is hard to show what was earned and used.

What to do this week

1. List every state and city where you have employees, including seasonal ones.
2. For each, write down the accrual rate, the cap, the waiting period and the size threshold.
3. Check that payroll is tracking accrual for every covered employee.
4. If you have employees in Connecticut or Virginia, put January 1, 2027 and July 1, 2027 on the calendar and update your policy before then.

SimplyHR’s Foundation package includes a core handbook with state addendums and federal and state compliance templates, for small businesses of 1 to 500 employees, working federally and across multiple states. If you are not sure your leave policy matches the states you operate in, start with our free 12-question HR diagnostic or book a call. For seasonal crews, see our guide to seasonal hiring and layoffs.

This article is general information as of November 5, 2026, not legal advice. Sick leave laws change often; confirm the current rule for each state and city where you have employees.