Federal Law

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) generally requires private employers with 50 or more employees to provide eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a 12-month period for certain family and medical reasons. Those reasons include the birth and care of a newborn child or placement of an adopted or foster child with an employee, as well as leave to care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition or when an employee is unable to work because of the employee’s own serious health condition (including incapacity due to pregnancy).

Employees are eligible for federal FMLA leave if they have worked for their employer for at least 12 months, at least 1,250 hours over the past 12 months, and work at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles. Employers subject to FMLA are required to maintain group health insurance coverage for an employee on FMLA leave on the same terms as if the employee continued to work. Upon return from FMLA leave, an employee generally must be restored to his or her original position or an equivalent position identical to the original in terms of pay, benefits, and other terms and conditions.

Many states also have laws requiring that employers grant certain employees leave from work due to specified family, medical, or other circumstances.

Alabama Family and Medical Leave

Alabama currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

However, the Alabama Adoption Promotion Act  (AL ST § 25-1-60) requires employers that provide paid leave for biological parents to offer paid leave to adoptive parents as well. The law also mandates unpaid leave for biological and adoptive parents covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Alabama Adoption Promotion Act

Covered Employers and Employees

The law applies to covered employers and eligible employees under the FMLA.

Paid Leave

Under the act, employers that provide paid leave for the birth and care of children born to employees must also provide equivalent paid leave or two weeks’ paid leave (whichever is less) for the care of children placed with employees for adoption during the first year after placement.

Leave may be taken intermittently only if the employer and employee agree.

When two adoptive parents of the same child work for one employer, the employer is required to provide the leave to only one of the parents.  

Unpaid Leave

Covered employers are also required by the new law to provide eligible employees with 12 weeks of unpaid family leave for the birth and care of a child born to or placed for adoption with an employee during the first year after the child’s birth or placement. This leave runs concurrently with FMLA leave.

Requests for additional family leave due to the adoption of an ill or disabled child must be considered on the same basis as cases of complication accompanying the birth of a child to an employee. However, employers are not required to provide leave beyond the employee’s FMLA entitlement.

Family and Medical Leave in Alaska (AK)

Alaska Family and Medical Leave

Alaska currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Family and Medical Leave in Arizona (AZ)

Arizona Family and Medical Leave

Arizona currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Family and Medical Leave in Arkansas (AR)

Arkansas Family and Medical Leave

Arkansas currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Please Note: The state laws summaries featured on this site are for general informational purposes only. In addition to state law, certain municipalities may enact legislation that imposes different requirements. State and local laws change frequently and, as such, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information featured in the State Laws section. For more detailed information regarding state or local laws, please contact your state labor department or the appropriate local government agency.

Covered employers must provide a general notice or policy to each employee explaining the Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act's provisions and providing information concerning the law's entitlements and employee obligations, including procedures for filing complaints of alleged violations of the law with the state labor department, by:

• Including the notice or policy in employee handbooks or other written guidance to employees concerning employee benefits or leave rights, if such written materials exist; or
• Distributing a copy of the notice or policy to each new employee upon hiring. 

Distribution of this notice or policy may be electronic.  

In addition, when an employee requests FMLA leave, or when the employer acquires knowledge that an employee's leave may be for a qualifying reason, the employer must notify the employee of their eligibility to take Connecticut FMLA leave not later than five business days after learning of the need for leave, absent extenuating circumstances. The eligibility notice must state whether the employee is eligible for FMLA leave. If the employee is not eligible for FMLA leave, the notice must give at least one reason the employee is not eligible, including the number of months the employee has been employed by the employer. The notice must be in writing.  

The employer must also provide the employee with written notice detailing the specific expectations and obligations of the employee and explaining any consequences of a failure to meet these obligations. The notice must include, as appropriate:

• That the leave will be designated and counted against the employee’s annual FMLA leave entitlement, if qualifying, and the applicable 12-month period for FMLA entitlement;
• Any requirements for the employee to furnish certification of a serious health condition, certification for military caregiver leave or certification of leave for a qualifying exigency, and the consequences of failing to do so;
• The employee’s right to substitute paid leave, whether the employer requires the substitution of paid leave, the conditions relating to any substitution, the employee’s right to choose to retain up to two weeks of accrued paid leave, and the employee’s entitlement to take unpaid FMLA leave if the employee does not meet the conditions for paid leave; and
• The employee’s right to restoration to the same or, if not available, an equivalent job upon return from leave.

Employers must give the notices of eligibility and rights and responsibilities within a reasonable time after notice of the need for leave is given by the employee, but within five business days if feasible. Employers may distribute the notices of eligibility and rights and responsibilities electronically.

Employers must further provide employees with a notice designating paid or unpaid leave as qualifying. When the employer has enough information to determine whether the leave is being taken for a qualifying reason after receiving a certification or otherwise, the employer must notify the employee whether the leave will be approved and will be counted as FMLA leave within five business days, absent extenuating circumstances. If the employer will require the employee to present a fitness-for-duty certification to be restored to employment, the employer must provide notice of this with the designation notice. If the employer will require the health care provider to consider whether the employee is able to perform their essential job functions in making the fitness-for-duty determination, the designation notice must include this requirement and provide the employee a list of the essential functions of the employee’s position. The designation notice must be in writing. 

If 10% or more of an employer's workforce is not literate in English, the employer must provide the notices in a language in which the employees are literate. The Connecticut Department of Labor has published model notices for employers to use.

Pregnancy Disability Leave

Employers (or their agents) with 3 or more employees are generally prohibited from terminating a woman’s employment because of her pregnancy. In addition, the following rules apply:

• Employers must grant to employees a reasonable leave of absence for disability resulting from pregnancy;
• Employers must not deny any compensation to an employee disabled due to pregnancy to which she is entitled as a result of the accumulation of disability or leave benefits accrued under plans maintained by the employer;
• Employers must reinstate the employee to her original job or to an equivalent position with equivalent pay and accumulated seniority, retirement, fringe benefits, and other service credits upon her signifying her intent to return—unless the employer’s circumstances have so changed as to make it impossible or unreasonable to do so;
• Employers must make a reasonable effort to transfer a pregnant employee to any suitable temporary position which may be available in any case in which she gives written notice of her pregnancy to her employer, and the employer or pregnant employee reasonably believes that continued employment in her position may cause injury to the employee or her fetus;
• Employers must inform the pregnant employee that a transfer (as described above) may be appealed under the law; and
• Employers must inform their employees (by any reasonable means) that they must give written notice of their pregnancy in order to be eligible for transfer to a temporary position.

Military Caregiver Leave

Employers with 75 or more employees are covered by the state military caregiver leave provisions.

Subject to certain provisions, an eligible employee—who is the spouse, son or daughter, parent or next of kin of a current member of the armed forces, who is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation or therapy, is otherwise in outpatient status or is on the temporary disability retired list for a serious injury or illness incurred in the line of duty—is entitled to a one-time benefit of 26 workweeks of leave during any 12-month period for each armed forces member per serious injury or illness incurred in the line of duty. Such 12-month period begins on an employee’s first day of leave taken to care for a covered armed forces member, and ends on the date 12 months after the first day of leave.

In any case in which a husband and wife entitled to leave under the military caregiver provisions are employed by the same employer, the aggregate number of workweeks of leave to which both may be entitled may be limited to 26 workweeks during any 12-month period.

Please Note: The state laws summaries featured on this site are for general informational purposes only. In addition to state law, certain municipalities may enact legislation that imposes different requirements. State and local laws change frequently and, as such, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information featured in the State Laws section. For more detailed information regarding state or local laws, please contact your state labor department or the appropriate local government agency.

Family and Medical Leave in Delaware (DE)

Delaware Paid Family and Medical Leave

Intermittent Leave

Leave may be taken on an intermittent or reduced schedule when medically necessary. Employees taking intermittent or reduced-schedule leave must provide the employer with prior notice of their leave schedule to the extent practicable.

Certification

Employers must verify employees’ parental leave status, serious health condition or qualifying exigency when they submit an application for leave.

For leave based on a serious health condition, employees must submit a certification issued by their or their family member’s health care provider, as appropriate. The certification must include the following information: 

• The date on which the serious health condition began;
• The probable duration of the condition;
• The appropriate medical facts within the knowledge of the health care provider regarding the condition;
• A statement of the following, as appropriate:
  1. That the employee is needed to care for the family member who has a serious health condition and an estimate of the time that their care is needed;
  2. That the employee is unable to perform the functions of the position; 
• If the leave is to be taken intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule for the employee’s planned medical treatment, the dates on which the medical treatment is expected to be given and the duration of the medical treatment; and
• If the leave is to be taken intermittently or on a reduced schedule for the family member’s serious health condition, a statement that the employee’s intermittent or reduced-schedule leave is necessary for the care of the family member who has the serious health condition, or that it will assist in the family member’s recovery, and the expected duration and schedule of the leave.

Under certain circumstances, employers may require second and third opinions from health care providers, at their expense. Subsequent certifications may be required on a reasonable basis. Expenses for additional opinions and certifications must be borne by the employer.

Employers must require documentation demonstrating the family relationship for leave taken to care for a family member with a serious health condition.

Employees’ Notice Obligations

Employees must provide notice to their employers of their intention to take leave 30 days in advance, if known, or as soon as practicable.

Applications

Employers approve or deny applications for leave. Applications that include all documentation necessary for review must be approved or denied within five business days of the employer receiving them. If the claim is denied, the employer must notify the covered individual of the reason for the denial. Employers must notify the Department of claim denials within three business days.

Employees may request a review of an employer’s denial of their application by the Department within 60 days of the denial.

The first payment of benefits to a covered individual is made within 30 days after the employer has notified the Department of the approved claim. Subsequent payments are made every two weeks.

Job Restoration

Employers must restore employees returning from leave to the position they held when the leave began or to a position with equivalent seniority, status, employment benefits, pay and other terms and conditions of employment, including fringe benefits and service credits.

Continuation of Benefits

During leave, the employer must maintain any health care benefits the employee had before taking the leave. The employee must continue to pay the share of health care benefits they were required to pay before leave began.

Employers’ Notice Obligations

Employers must provide written notice of the following to their employees:

• The employee’s right to family and medical leave benefits under this chapter and the terms under which it may be used;
• The amount of family and medical leave benefits;
• The procedure for filing a claim for family and medical leave benefits;
• The right to job protection and benefits continuation;
• That discrimination and retaliatory personnel actions against the employee for requesting, applying for or using family and medical leave benefits are prohibited;
• That the employee has a right to file a complaint for violations of this chapter; and
• Whether family and medical leave benefits are available to the employee through the state or an approved private plan.

The notice must be provided at the time of hire and when the employee requests covered leave or when the employer acquires knowledge that an employee’s leave may be for a qualifying event. Employers must provide the notice to their Delaware-based employees at least 30 days before the start of contributions on Jan. 1, 2025 (Dec. 2, 2024).

In addition, the notice must be displayed in a conspicuous place accessible to employees at the employer’s place of business. It must be displayed in English, Spanish and any language that is the first language spoken by at least 5% of the employer’s workforce if the poster has been provided by the Department. The Department has created a sample notice employers may use.

Family and Medical Leave in the District of Columbia (DC)

District of Columbia Family and Medical Leave Act

Note: For information about District of Columbia Paid Family and Medical Leave, please see the "Paid Family and Medical Leave" page under the D.C. "Employee Leave" section.

Employers with 20 or more employees in the District must grant an eligible employee up to 16 workweeks of family leave during any 24-month period for:

• The birth of a child of the employee;
• The placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care;
• The placement of a child with the employee for whom the employee permanently assumes and discharges parental responsibility; or
• The care of a family member of the employee who has a serious health condition.

Additionally, an eligible employee who becomes unable to perform the functions of the employee's position because of a serious health condition is entitled to medical leave for as long as the employee is unable to perform the functions, except that the medical leave shall not exceed 16 workweeks during any 24-month period.

Employees are eligible for leave if they have been employed by the same employer for at least 1,000 hours during 12 consecutive or nonconsecutive months over the seven years preceding the leave request.  

An employee may not take family leave for a new child more than 12 months after the birth or placement of the child.  If the need for leave is foreseeable, the employee should provide the employer with reasonable prior notice of the leave and make a reasonable effort to schedule treatment in a manner that avoids unduly disrupting the employer’s business operations.  

Family or medical leave need not be paid.  Any paid sick, family, vacation, personal, or compensatory leave provided by an employer that the employee elects to use for medical or family leave shall count against the 16 workweeks of allowable leave.  

An employee who takes family or medical leave is entitled to restoration of employment to his or her former position or a position with equivalent employment benefits, pay, seniority, and other terms and conditions of employment.  An employee is not entitled to seniority that would have been accumulated during the period of family or medical leave. 

For more information, please see DC Code §32-501 et seq.

Intermittent and Reduced Leave Schedule

• In the case of a family member who has a serious health condition, family leave may be taken intermittently when medically necessary (subject to certain requirements—see § 32-502).
• Medical leave—for an employee who becomes unable to perform the functions of his or her position because of a serious health condition—may also be taken intermittently when medically necessary (subject to the certification provisions of § 32-504).
• Upon agreement between an employer and an employee, family leave may be taken on a reduced leave schedule (leave scheduled for a fewer number of hours than an employee usually works during each workweek or workday), during which the 16 workweeks of family leave may be taken over a period not to exceed 24 consecutive workweeks.
• For intermittent or reduced schedule leave, leave is counted based on the proportion of a normal workweek that an employee misses for family and medical leave purposes.
  • Example: If an employee, who normally works 5 days a week, takes 2 days of intermittent family and medical leave, that leave is counted as two fifths (2/5) of 1 workweek. If an employee who normally works 40 hours per week decreases to working 30 hours per week due to reduced schedule family and medical leave, that leave is counted as one fourth (1/4) of 1 workweek for each week that such reduced schedule leave is maintained.  
   

Employer Posting and Notice Requirements

• Employers must post and maintain in a conspicuous place a notice (devised by the Mayor of the District of Columbia) that sets forth excerpts from or summaries of the pertinent provisions of the law and information that pertains to the filing of a complaint under the law.
  • District of Columbia (DC) Family and Medical Leave Act Poster
    • Poster in English – PDF Format  
     
   
• Employers must make family and medical leave information available to employees by posting it and including it in their employee handbook or manual.
  • Posting includes displaying a hard copy in a conspicuous place frequented by employees or an electronic copy on the employer’s website.
  • If an employer does not maintain an employee handbook or manual, it must distribute family and medical leave information to new employees in another form (such as through a handout or e-mail distribution).  
   
• When an employee requests family or medical leave (or when an employer acquires knowledge that an employee’s leave may be for a family or medical leave qualifying reason), the employer must notify the employee of his or her eligibility under the law in accordance with certain rules:
  • Within 5 days after an employee’s request for family or medical leave, an employer must provide written notice to the employee in the form of an eligibility letter.
  • The eligibility letter must notify the employee of certain information, such as the employee’s rights and the number of hours of leave available to the employee under DC family and medical leave (and federal FMLA, if applicable).  
   
• If an employer receives a medical certification from an employee, the employer is responsible for designating leave as DC family and medical leave or federal FMLA-qualifying, and for giving notice in writing of the designation to the employee within 5 business days after receiving the medical certification (unless there are extenuating circumstances).
• Notices provided to employees with limited English proficiency must comply with the Language Access Act of 2004 (§§ 2-1931 et seq.).

Employee Notice Requirements

• If an employee has (or reasonably should have) at least 30 days notice of the need for family or medical leave, the employee must notify the employer of his or her intention to take family or medical leave at least 30 days before the employee wishes the leave to begin.
• If an employee could not reasonably have foreseen the need for family or medical leave at least 30 days in advance, the employee must notify the employer of the need for leave as soon as practicable prior to the date on which the employee wishes the leave to begin.
• If the approximate timing of the need for leave is not foreseeable, the employee must request family or medical leave no later than 5 business days after the absence begins (or as soon as practicable thereafter).
• If the necessity for leave is foreseeable based on an expected birth or placement of a child with an employee, the employee must provide at least 30 daysadvance notice of the expected birth or placement of a child with the employee.
  • If the exact date of birth or placement of a child is unknown, the employee may fulfill this advance notice requirement by communicating to the employer with sufficient notice the expected approximate birth or placement date.  
   
• If the necessity for family or medical leave is foreseeable based on planned medical treatment or supervision, an employee must:
  • Provide the employer with at least 30 days advance notice of the medical treatment or supervision; and
  • Make a reasonable effort to schedule the medical treatment or supervision (subject to the approval of the health care provider) in a manner that does not unduly disrupt the operations of the employer.  
   

Click here for additional rules regarding employee notice.

Interaction with Federal FMLA
For leave which qualifies under both DC family and medical leave and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the leave will count against an employee’s entitlement for both laws and will be counted or applied concurrently under both laws. 

District of Columbia Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act

The District of Columbia’s Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act generally requires employers to provide to each employee paid leave to be used by the employee for any of the following: 

• An absence resulting from a physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition of the employee or of a family member.
• An absence resulting from obtaining a professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventive medical care, for the employee or a family member. 
• An absence if the employee or the employee's family member is a victim of stalking, domestic violence, or sexual abuse, if the absence is directly related to social or legal services pertaining to the stalking, domestic violence, or sexual abuse.

Click here for more information. 

Florida Family and Medical Leave

Florida currently does not have a comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Georgia Family and Medical Leave

Georgia currently does not have a comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Family and Medical Leave in Idaho (ID)

Idaho Family and Medical Leave

Idaho currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Family and Medical Leave in Iowa (IA)

Iowa Family and Medical Leave

Iowa currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Family and Medical Leave in Kansas (KS)

Kansas Family and Medical Leave

Kansas currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Family and Medical Leave in Kentucky (KY)

Kentucky Family and Medical Leave

Kentucky currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Leave for Adoption

Kentucky law requires all employers to grant an employee up to six weeks of personal leave for the adoption of a child under the age of 10 upon receiving a written request from the employee. If the employer has an established policy of providing a greater amount of time off for birth parents, that amount of leave must also be provided to adoptive parents of children under 10.

Following the adoption of a child, adoptive parents must be provided with the same paid leave or other benefits provided to employees who are birth parents following the birth of a child. The law contains exceptions for adoptive parents who are foster, step- or blood relatives of an adopted child already in their care.

Louisiana Family and Medical Leave

Louisiana Family and Medical Leave

Louisiana currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Louisiana Pregnancy Disability Leave

Louisiana's pregnancy disability leave law applies to employers with more than 25 employees within the state for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year.

Leave Requirements

• Employers are required to provide a female employee disability leave on account of normal pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions for a period of up to 6 weeks.
• Employees are generally allowed to take a leave on account of pregnancy for a reasonable period of time (the period during which the female employee is disabled on account of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions) of up to 4 months. Such employee is entitled to utilize any accrued vacation leave during this period of time.  
  • Note: An employer may require any employee who plans to take leave to give reasonable notice of the date the leave will commence and the estimated duration of such leave.

Transfer of Position 

• It is an unlawful employment practice (unless based upon a bona fide occupational qualification) for any employer to refuse to temporarily transfer a pregnant female employee to a less strenuous or hazardous position for the duration of her pregnancy (if she so requests), with the advice of her physician, where such transfer can be reasonably accommodated.
• An employer is not required to create additional employment which it would not otherwise have created, nor is an employer required to discharge any employee, transfer any employee with more seniority, or promote any employee who is not qualified to perform the job.

For More Information

• Louisiana Statutes (§ 23:341)
• Louisiana Statutes (§ 23:342)

Louisiana Bone Marrow Leave

Employers with 20 or more employees must allow paid leave (no more than 40 hours) to any employee who works at least 20 hours per week and seeks to donate bone marrow.  The employer may require verification from a physician before allowing leave.  Employers cannot discriminate against employees who take such leave.

Family and Medical Leave in Maine (ME)

Maine Family Medical Leave Requirement

Employers with 15 or more employees at one location must provide each employee who has been employed for 12 consecutive months up to 10 work weeks of family medical leave in any two years for the following reasons:

• Serious health condition of the employee;
• The birth of the employee's child or the employee's domestic partner's child;
• The placement of a child 16 years of age or less with the employee or with the employee's domestic partner in connection with the adoption of the child by the employee or the employee's domestic partner;
• A child, grandchild, domestic partner's child, domestic partner's grandchild, parent, domestic partner, sibling or spouse with a serious health condition;
• The donation of an organ of that employee for a human organ transplant; or
• The death or serious health condition of the employee’s spouse, domestic partner, parent, sibling or child if the spouse, domestic partner, parent, sibling or child as a member of the state military forces or the United States Armed Forces, including the National Guard and Reserves, dies or incurs a serious health condition while on active duty.

Unless prevented by medical emergency, the employee must give at least 30 days’ notice of the intended date upon which family medical leave will commence and terminate. The employer may generally require certification from a physician to verify the amount of leave requested by the employee.

Family medical leave may consist of unpaid leave. If an employer provides paid family medical leave for fewer than 10 weeks, the additional weeks of leave added to attain the total of 10 weeks may be unpaid.

Subject to certain limitations, leave for a serious health condition or the donation of an organ may be taken intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule when medically necessary.  Leave for the birth or adoption of a child may not be taken by an employee intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule unless the employee and the employer agree otherwise.

Employees who exercise the right to family medical leave are generally entitled to be restored by the employer to the position held when the leave commenced, or to a position with equivalent seniority status, employee benefits, pay and other terms and conditions of employment.

Employees of school administrative units who have worked at least 900 hours in the previous 12–month period are eligible for family medical leave under the same terms and conditions as leave provided to eligible employees under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

For more information, please see Maine Revised Statutes: Title 26, Section 843 et seq.

Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave

Maine has enacted a paid family and medical leave (PFML) program that will require payroll deductions beginning in January 2025, and offer 12 weeks of job-protected, paid employee leave. The Maine Department of Labor will begin processing PFML claims in May 2026. Funding for the program is evenly split between employees and employers with at least 15 employees. The department is charged with adopting rules necessary for implementation of the program by Jan. 1, 2025.

Covered Employers

All public and private employers are covered by the program; however, employers with fewer than 15 employees are not required to contribute to PFML funding.

Employers may apply to have private PFML plans approved by the Maine Department of Labor.

Covered Employees

All employees are eligible for PFML if they have earned at least six times the state average weekly wage during their base period. The base period is the first four calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day of an individual's benefit year. The benefit year is the 12-month period beginning on the first day of the calendar week immediately preceding the day PFML begins. 

Individuals who are self-employed may opt in to the program for an initial period of at least three years. The minimum earnings requirements do not apply to these people.

Permitted Reasons for Leave

Eligible employees may take PFML if they have a serious health condition that makes them unable to work. They may also take PFML to:

• Bond with their child during the first 12 months after the child's birth or placement with them for adoption or foster care;
• Care for a family member with a serious health condition;
• Attend to a qualifying military exigency (as defined by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act);
• Care for a family member who is a covered service member; or
• Take safe leave.

Employees may also take PFML for any other reason allowed by the Maine family and medical leave law. 

"Family member" is defined expansively, and includes:

• A child of any age, including a biological, adopted, foster or step- child, or a child to whom the employee or spouse or domestic partner of the employee stands in loco parentis or has under legal guardianship, or any individual to whom the employee or employee's spouse or domestic partner stood in any of these relationships when the individual was a minor child; 
• A parent, including a legal, biological, adoptive, foster, step- or de facto parent, or a legal guardian or person who stood in loco parentis when the employee or their spouse or domestic partner was a minor child; 
• A grandparent, including a legal, biological, adoptive, foster, step- or de facto grandparent; 
• A grandchild, including a legal, biological, adoptive, foster, step- or de facto grandchild; 
• A sibling, including a legal, biological, adoptive, foster, step- or de facto sibling; 
• A spouse or domestic partner of an employee; or 
• As designated by the employee in accordance with rule, an individual with whom the employee has a significant personal bond that is or is like a family relationship, regardless of biological or legal relationship. 

"Safe leave" means any leave taken because the employee or their family member is a victim of violence, assault, sexual assault (as defined by state law), stalking or any act that would support an order for protection under state law. 

Safe leave applies if the employee is using the leave to protect themselves or their  family member by: 

• Seeking an order for protection; 
• Obtaining medical care or mental health counseling for themselves or their family member to address physical or psychological injuries resulting from the act of violence, assault, sexual assault or stalking or act that would support an order for protection; 
• Making the covered individual's or the covered individual's family member's home secure from the perpetrator of the act of violence, assault, sexual assault or stalking or act that would support an order for protection, or seeking new housing to escape the perpetrator; or 
• Seeking legal assistance to address issues arising from the act of violence, assault, sexual assault or stalking or act that would support an order for protection, or attending and preparing for court-related proceedings arising from the act or crime. 

Length of Leave

Employees are limited to 12 weeks of combined family and medical leave per benefit year. However, eligible employees may take medical leave that is immediately followed by family leave when:

• The medical leave is taken during pregnancy or recovery from childbirth; and 
• The medical leave is supported by documentation from a health care provider. 

Intermittent Leave

PFML may be taken intermittently in increments of not less than eight hours, or on a reduced leave schedule otherwise agreed to by the employee and the employer. 

Benefit Amount

Following a seven-day waiting period, employees on leave receive partial wage replacement at the following rate:

• The portion of the individual's average weekly wage that is equal to or less than 50% of the state average weekly wage must be replaced at a rate of 90%. 
• The portion of the individual’s average weekly wage that is more than 50% of the state average weekly wage must be replaced at a rate of 66%, up to the maximum weekly benefit. 

The maximum weekly benefit is the state average weekly wage. Employees may use any accrued paid leave available to them during the seven-day waiting period.

Funding

The PFML program will be funded by contributions shared evenly between employers and employees and remitted to the state by employers, beginning Jan. 1, 2025. Employers with fewer than 15 employees are not required to contribute to the program; however, they must remit their employees' PFML contributions to the state.
Beginning January 1, 2025, the premium amount may not be more than a combined rate of 1.0% of wages, up to the Social Security wage base. Beginning in 2028, the Maine Department of Labor will set the premium for the coming calendar year by October 1.

Administration

Applications for PFML are submitted to the Maine Department of Labor or a third party the department selects as a contractor. Employees may file an application for PFML no more than 60 days before the anticipated start date of the leave and no more than 90 days after leave begins. The department (or third-party administrator) will notify the employer within five business days of receiving an employee's application.

Employees' Notice Obligations

Absent an emergency, illness or other sudden necessity for taking leave, employees must provide their supervisors with reasonable notice of their intent to use PFML. Leave must be scheduled to prevent undue hardship on the employer, as reasonably determined by the employer. 

If an employer fails to provide notice as required, the employee's obligation to provide notice is waived.  

Employers' Notice Obligations

Employers must post a notice about the law in a conspicuous place on each of its premises. The notice must be one provided or approved by the Maine Department of Labor, which is charged with issuing a model notice for this purpose in English, Spanish, French, Somali, Portuguese and any other language that is the primary language of at least 2,000 residents of the state. 

In addition, employers must provide written notice of the following to each employee, not more than 30 days from the start of employment:

• An explanation of the availability of PFML benefits provided under law, including rights to reinstatement of employment and continuation of health insurance;
• The employee's contribution amount and obligations;
• The name and mailing address of the employer; 
• The identification number assigned to the employer by the Department of Labor;
• Instructions on how to file a claim for family leave benefits or medical leave benefits; 
• The mailing address, e-mail address and telephone number of the Department of Labor; and 
• Any other information deemed necessary by the Department of Labor. 

Violations of the notice requirement are subject to a civil penalty of $50 per employee for the first violation and $150 per employee for each subsequent violation. 

Job Protection

Employers must restore employees who have been employed for at least 120 days to their former or equivalent positions upon returning from leave. Any equivalent position must offer equivalent employment benefits, pay and other terms and conditions of employment as the original job.

Nonretaliation

Employers may not discharge, fire, suspend, expel or discipline (through the application of attendance policies or otherwise) or threaten or in any manner discriminate against an employee for exercising their right to PFML.

Private Plans

Employers may meet their PFML obligations with approved private plans. They must apply to the Maine Department of Labor to have their private plans approved, and the plans must provide rights, protections and benefits substantially equivalent to those provided by the PFML law.

In addition, for private plans in the form of self-insurance, the employer must furnish a bond with a surety company authorized to transact business in the state, in the form, amount and manner required by the Department of Labor. Further, private plans must provide coverage for all employees of the employer throughout an employee's employment with that employer. Finally, if the plan is in the form of a third-party insurance policy, the policy must be issued by an insurer authorized to do business in Maine. 

Interaction With Other Leave

PFML runs concurrently with leave taken under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Maine family and medical leave. Employees may take PFML while ineligible for FMLA leave in the same benefit year.     

Maine Family Military Leave

An employer with 15 or more employees is required to provide an eligible employee, who is the spouse, domestic partner or parent of a person who is a resident of Maine and is deployed for certain military service for a period lasting longer than 180 days, up to 15 days of family military leave per deployment (if requested). Family military leave may consist of unpaid leave.

To be eligible, the employee must have been employed with the employer for at least 12 months and at least 1,250 hours of service during the 12-month period immediately preceding the commencement of the employee’s family military leave.

Family military leave may be taken only during one or more of the following time frames:

• The 15 days immediately prior to deployment;
• Deployment, if the military member is granted leave; or
• The 15 days immediately following the period of deployment.

The employee must give at least 14 days’ notice of the intended date upon which the family military leave will commence if leave will consist of 5 or more consecutive work days. An employee taking family military leave for fewer than 5 consecutive work days must give the employer advance notice as is practicable. An employer may require certification from the proper military authority to verify an employee's eligibility for the family military leave requested.

Employees who exercise the right to family military leave are generally entitled to be restored by the employer to the position held when the leave commenced, or to a position with equivalent seniority status, employee benefits, pay and other terms and conditions of employment.

For more information, please see Maine Revised Statutes: Title 26, Section 814.  

Family and Medical Leave in Maryland (MD)

This page covers Maryland state laws on paid family and medical leave, adoption leave and kin care leave (Maryland Flexible Leave Act). For information on the Maryland Parental Leave Act and leave for the deployment of family members, please see the Maryland state laws section on Employee Leave.

Paid Family and Medical Leave

In April 2022, Maryland enacted a paid family and medical leave (PFML) insurance program providing partially compensated, job-protected employee leave for reasons related to the health and well-being of employees and their family members. All employers are covered, although those with fewer than 15 employees are not required to contribute to the program. Amendments to the law delayed the planned start of the program, so that employer and employee payroll contributions begin July 1, 2025, with benefits becoming available July 1, 2026.

Covered Employers

The law applies to all employers who employ at least one individual in the state. However, it does not cover owners of a sole proprietorship and sole owners of a limited liability company, C corporation, or S corporation who are their only employees.

People who are self-employed may opt in to the program, but their initial participation must be for at least three years.

Covered Employees

Employees who worked at least 680 hours in Maryland during the 12-month period before leave is to begin are eligible for PFML.

Use of PFML

Notice Obligations of Employees

The law allows employers to require 30 days’ written notice of foreseeable leave; however, employee requests for PFML are submitted to and decided by the state. 

For unforeseeable leave, employees must provide notice to the employer as soon as practicable and generally comply with the employer’s notice or procedural requirements for requesting or reporting other leave, as long as they do not interfere with the employee’s ability to use PFML.

Reasons for Leave

PFML is permitted for the following reasons:

• To care for a child during the first year after the child’s birth or placement 
• Because a child is being placed for adoption, foster care or kinship care or to care for or bond with the child during the first year after the placement;
• To care for a family member with a serious health condition;
• For a serious health condition of the employee that prevents the employee from performing the functions of their position; 
• To care for a service member who is the employee’s next of kin; or
• For a qualifying exigency arising out of the deployment of a service member who is the employee’s family member.

Definition of “Family Member”

The law’s definition of “family member” is expansive, including:

• A biological, adopted, step- or foster child of the covered individual; a child for whom the covered individual has legal or physical custody or guardianship; or a child for whom the covered individual stands in loco parentis, regardless of the child’s age;
• A biological, adoptive, foster or stepparent of the covered individual or their spouse; the legal guardian or ward of the covered individual or their spouse; an individual who acted as a parent or stood in loco parentis to the covered individual or their spouse when the covered individual or the spouse was a minor;
• The spouse or domestic partner of the covered individual;
• A biological, adopted, step-, or foster grandparent of the covered individual;
• A biological, adopted, step- or foster grandchild of the covered individual; or
• A biological, adopted, step- or foster sibling of the covered individual.

Amount of Leave

The law allows 12 weeks of leave per employee per application year, plus an additional 12 weeks if an employee needs leave in a year for both their own serious health condition and for child bonding. 

Intermittent Leave

Leave may be taken intermittently in increments of at least four hours; however, employees must make a reasonable effort to schedule intermittent leave so it does not unduly disrupt the operations of the employer. In addition, employees must provide employers with reasonable and practicable prior notice of the reason for the intermittent leave.

Certification

The law requires certain certifications in support of claims for benefits. For leave relating to a serious health condition or a servicemember’s care or deployment, the certification must include:

• The first date on which the covered individual took or intends to take leave and whether the leave will be intermittent or continuous;
• The date the serious health condition of the family member, covered individual or service member began;
• The probable duration of the serious health condition; 
• Appropriate facts related to the serious health condition within the knowledge of the licensed health care provider;
• For a family member’s serious health condition, a statement that the employee needs to care for the family member and an estimate of the amount of time required to provide the care; or
• For the employee’s serious health condition, a statement that the employee is unable to perform the functions of their position.

Certifications are also required for intermittent leave.

PFML Funding

The PFML law establishes a state fund to pay for the program. Employees and employers with at least 15 employees must contribute to the fund, beginning July 1, 2025. 

The state secretary of labor will set the contribution rate by Feb. 1, 2025, for use from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. Thereafter the rate will be set by February 1 each year, to take effect for the 12-month period beginning the following July 1. The total combined rate is capped at 1.2% of worker wages.  

Employers must deduct employees’ contributions from their wages, but employers may pay part or all of the employee contribution if they wish.

Amount of PFML Compensation 

PFML compensation benefits are based on a formula that takes into account the recipient’s average weekly wage (AWW) and the state average weekly wage (SAWW), as shown below.

Notice Obligations of Employers

Employers may terminate an employee on PFML leave only for just cause, and they may deny job restoration for an employee returning from leave only if:

Leave for Adoption

Under Maryland law, an employer who provides paid leave to an employee following the birth of the employee's child must provide the same paid leave to an employee when a child is placed with the employee for adoption. 

Maryland Flexible Leave Act

Under the Flexible Leave Act, employers with 15 or more employees must permit employees to use accrued paid leave (including sick leave, vacation time, and compensatory time) for the illness of a child, spouse, or parent. Leave is also allowed under the Act for bereavement of the death of a spouse, parent or child of any age. The Act does not require an employer to provide paid leave they do not already provide. More information on Maryland's Flexible Leave Act can be found here.

Note: Under state law, agreements between employers and employees to waive an employee’s right to use leave with pay due to the illness of the employee’s child, spouse, or parent are void. Additionally, an employer may not discharge, demote, suspend, discipline, or otherwise discriminate against an employee (or threaten to take any of these actions) because he or she has requested leave under the law.

Massachusetts Family and Medical Leave

In addition to federal law, Massachusetts requires employers to provide paid family and medical leave, parental leave, and small necessities leave. The chart below provides general information on these requirements.

Additional requirements and exceptions to the information above may apply. For more information, please contact the Massachusetts Office of Labor and Workforce Development at 617-626-7122.

Michigan Family and Medical Leave

Michigan currently does not have a comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Family and Medical Leave in Minnesota (MN)

Minnesota has laws concerning parenting leave, family military leave and paid family and medical leave, which will provide benefits beginning in 2026. These laws are discussed below.

Pregnancy and Parenting Leave 

• For leave taken for the birth or adoption of a child, the leave must begin within 12 months of the birth or adoption.
• In the case where the child must remain in the hospital longer than the mother, the leave must begin within 12 months after the child leaves the hospital. 
• The length of leave may be reduced by any period of:
• Paid parental, disability, personal, medical, sick leave, or accrued vacation provided by the employer so that the total leave does not exceed 12 weeks (unless agreed to by the employer); or
• Leave taken for the same purpose under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. 
• As noted above, effective Aug. 1, 2024, the length of leave may not be reduced by leave taken for prenatal medical care appointments.

Click here to read the text of the law.

Basic Provisions

The following provisions apply to parenting leave under Minnesota law:

• The leave must begin at a time requested by the employee.
• The employer may adopt reasonable policies governing the timing of requests for leave.
• The employee's health insurance through the employer must be continued during the leave, although the employee may be required to pay for this coverage. Effective Aug. 1, 2024, the employer must continue the health insurance coverage as if the employee were not on leave. Employees must continue to pay any employee share of the cost.
• If an employee takes a parental leave, the employer cannot discharge, discipline, penalize, interfere with, threaten, restrain, coerce or otherwise retaliate or discriminate against him or her for requesting or taking a leave.
• An employee returning from a leave of absence longer than one month must notify a supervisor at least two weeks prior to return from leave.

Returning to Work

Employees are entitled to employment in their former position or one with comparable duties, number of hours and pay. Employees are also entitled to the same benefits and seniority they had before the leave.

Employees may return to work part-time during the leave without forfeiting the right to return to full-time work at the end of the leave.

Exception: If, during a parenting leave the employer experiences a layoff and the employee would have lost a position had the employee not been on leave, pursuant to the good faith operation of a bona fide layoff and recall system, including a system under a collective bargaining agreement, the employee is not entitled to reinstatement in the former or comparable position. In such circumstances, the employee retains all rights under the layoff and recall system, including a system under a collective bargaining agreement, as if the employee had not taken the leave. 

Posting

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry has created a poster for employer use, advising employees of their rights to pregnancy and parenting leave. The poster is not required, however.

A parental leave fact sheet is available by clicking here.

Minnesota Family Military Leave

An employer must grant up to 10 working days of a leave of absence without pay to an employee whose immediate family member, as a member of the United States armed forces, has been injured or killed while engaged in active service. The length of leave may be reduced by any period of paid leave provided by the employer.

Unless the leave would unduly disrupt the operations of the employer, an employer must grant a leave of absence without pay to an employee whose immediate family member, as a member of the United States armed forces, has been ordered into active service in support of a war or other national emergency. The employer may limit the amount of leave to the actual time necessary for the employee to attend a send-off or homecoming ceremony for the mobilized service member, not to exceed one day's duration in any calendar year. 

• Click here to read the full text of the law.
• Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry  

Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave

On May 25, 2023, Minnesota enacted a paid family and medical leave (PFML) law that will provide workers with up to 20 weeks of paid, job-protected leave for family and medical reasons. Employer and employee contributions begin Jan. 1, 2026, the same date benefits become available.

Covered Employers

All employers are covered and may apply for approval of private plans.

Eligible Employees

All employees are covered except seasonal employees and independent contractors. For PFML eligibility, employees must have base period wages of at least 5.3% of the state’s average annual wage, rounded down to the next lower $100. 

Self-employed workers may apply to participate in the PFML program.

PFML Use

PFML may be used for a serious health condition, a qualifying exigency, safety leave, family care, new child bonding or medical care related to pregnancy. Qualifying events must last at least seven calendar days, except for child-bonding leave. Employer and employee notice obligations apply. 

Employers must continue workers’ health insurance during leave and reinstate returning workers to their former jobs or an equivalent.

PFML Benefit and Funding

PFML provides partial wage compensation based on income, capped at the state’s average weekly wage. 

Employers and employees fund PFML equally through quarterly payroll contributions remitted to the state by employers beginning Jan. 1, 2026. The contribution rate is adjusted annually, starting at 0.7% of wages in 2026.

Employers with fewer than 30 workers receive a discount on contributions according to a formula in the law and may be eligible for small business assistance grants.

Agency Information

Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry  

443 Lafayette Road N.

St. Paul, Minn. 55155

(651) 284-5005 or 800-342-5354
Agency contact for optional educational poster summarizing employees' leave rights:

Labor Standards, Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry  

443 Lafayette Road N.

St. Paul, Minn. 55155

(651) 284-5005 or 800-342-5354

Family and Medical Leave in Mississippi (MS)

Mississippi Family and Medical Leave

Mississippi currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Family and Medical Leave in Missouri (MO)

Missouri Family and Medical Leave

Missouri currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Family and Medical Leave in Montana (MT)

Montana Family and Medical Leave

Montana currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Reasonable Maternity Leave

Montana law does require employers to grant a pregnant employee a reasonable leave of absence for the temporary disabilities associated with childbirth, delivery and related medical conditions. The employer may not place restrictions on the leave which would not apply to leaves of absence for any other valid medical reason. The following provisions apply regarding reasonable maternity leave:

• Whether maternity leave is reasonable is determined case by case based upon the ability of the employee to perform her job. In the case of normal pregnancy and delivery, medical providers typically consider a reasonable leave to be six to eight weeks after delivery.
• If the employee is unable to perform her job prior to delivery, or if there are complications such as illness or surgical delivery, necessary leave may be longer than normally required. If the employer and the employee cannot agree in establishing a reasonable period of time for the leave, the employer should rely on the judgment of the employee's physician or other medical provider who has actually examined the employee.
• An employer and an employee may mutually agree to a longer period of leave, either compensated or uncompensated, than would otherwise be required by law. An employer is not required to provide maternity leave for child care beyond the period of actual disability. If an employer permits the use of leave beyond the period of disability, however, it should allow child care leave for both mothers and fathers.
• As a condition of maternity leave, an employer may require the employee to provide medical verification that the employee is unable to perform her employment duties.
• Leave for fathers and parents of adopted children are not required by state law (except for employees of the State of Montana) but may be required under federal law. An employer may, however, voluntarily provide for such leave.

A pregnant employee is entitled to use any disability benefits, sick leave, vacation time, annual leave or compensatory time accrued pursuant to plans maintained by the employer for her maternity leave. If the employer maintains no such plans or benefits, the employee is entitled to maternity leave without pay.

An employee who has signified her intent to return at the end of a reasonable leave of absence for maternity must be reinstated to her original job or to an equivalent position with equivalent pay and accumulated seniority, retirement, fringe benefits and other service credits. The law provides a limited exception to this rule for private employers when the employer's circumstances have changed so much that it is impossible or unreasonable to do so. For example, an employer who has gone out of business while the employee is on maternity leave would not be required to reinstate her.

For more information, please click here.

Family and Medical Leave in Nebraska (NE)

Nebraska Family and Medical Leave

Nebraska currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Family and Medical Leave in Nevada (NV)

Nevada Family and Medical Leave

Nevada currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

"Kin Care" Leave

Nevada private employers that provide sick leave must allow employees to take the leave for an immediate family member’s illness, injury, medical appointment or other authorized medical need.

Employers may limit this “kin care leave” to the amount of leave the employee accrues over six months. Employers that provide sick leave must post a notice created by the state labor commissioner about the kin care provision in a conspicuous location in the workplace. Violators may be fined up to $5,000 per violation.

Pregnancy--Equal Opportunities for Employment

For employers with 15 or more employees: Under Nevada law, if an employer grants leave with pay, leave without pay, or leave without loss of seniority to his or her employees for sickness or disability because of a medical condition, it is an unlawful employment practice to fail or refuse to extend the same benefits to any female employee who is pregnant. The female employee who is pregnant must be allowed to use the leave before and after childbirth, miscarriage or other natural resolution of her pregnancy, if the leave is granted, accrued or allowed to accumulate as a part of her employment benefits. See NRS §613.335.

Family and Medical Leave in New Hampshire (NH)

New Hampshire Family and Medical Leave

New Hampshire currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

New Hampshire Paid Family Medical Leave

New Hampshire enacted a voluntary paid family medical leave insurance program (PFML) as part of the state's 2021 budget bill. The state has created a website for the program, which has links to employer resources, such as FAQs. Employers are not required to offer PFML.

Covered Employers and Employees

Participation in the plan is completely voluntary for private employers; however, permanent state employees must be covered at no cost. Employers with more than 50 employees that sponsor coverage contract directly with the insurance carrier chosen by the state (currently MetLife). Employers that offer their own PFML benefit or PFML insurance through a different carrier than the one selected by the state are not eligible for a tax credit covering up to 50% of the cost of premiums. Workers whose employers do not offer the plan or an equivalent benefit may purchase their own individual PFML insurance through the state-selected contractor. 

Qualifying Reasons for Leave

The plan provides wage replacement for leave taken for the following reasons:

• The employee’s own serious health condition when disability coverage does not apply, including childbirth (employees of private employers only; not a qualifying reason for state employees);
• The birth of a child of the employee, or placement of a child with the employee for adoption or fostering, within the past 12 months;
• A serious health condition of a family member of the employee; or
• A qualifying military exigency (a need arising from the military service of the employee’s spouse, child or parent), or to care for a service member with a serious injury or illness, if the service member is the employee’s spouse, child, parent or next of kin. 

Length of Leave

Private Employer Plans

Private employers have a choice of offering either six or 12 weeks of leave under the MetLife plan.

Individual Plans

Workers whose employers do not offer PFML insurance and who buy individual insurance are limited to coverage for six weeks of leave. 

State Employee Plan

State workers receive a maximum of six weeks of leave.

Intermittent Leave

Leave may be taken continuously or intermittently. The smallest increment in which leave may be taken is four hours.

Compensation During Leave

Under the program, workers on leave receive 60% of their average weekly wage up to the Social Security wage cap. Employers with 50 or more employees who sponsor leave must continue workers’ health insurance during leave and restore workers to their former jobs. Employers may require the leave to run concurrently with other leaves.

Waiting Period

Private Employer Plans

There is no waiting period, but there is a one-week unpaid “elimination period” before benefits begin.

Individual Plans 

Workers who buy their own individual PFML insurance plans must wait seven months before submitting a claim. In addition, these workers have a one-week unpaid “elimination period” before benefits are paid.

State Employee Plan

There is no waiting period, but there is the same one-week elimination period as above before six weeks of paid benefits begin.

Claims Administration

The insurer selected by the state administers workers’ PFML benefit claims, and employers should refer workers to the insurer for questions and claims processing. Employers may be contacted by the insurer for information about wages, leave, work schedules and other benefits information concerning a claim.

Funding

Private employers may fund none, part or all of the cost of PFML insurance premiums, at their discretion. Employers work directly with the state-selected insurer to set their premiums within state regulatory parameters. The law allows employers a business enterprise tax credit of up to 50% of PFML insurance premiums they pay on behalf of their employees for up to six weeks of leave.

Workers whose employers do not offer PFML insurance who purchase an individual policy from the state-selected contractor pay a maximum premium of $5 per week. 

Employers with 50 or more employees must collect worker premium payments through payroll deductions regardless of whether the employer sponsors the plan or employees purchase individual plans from the insurer. The insurer will contact employers with payroll deduction and remittance instructions for workers’ individual plans. Employers paying 100% of the premium do not take payroll deductions.

Employers with fewer than 50 workers are not required to collect premium payments through payroll deductions. These employers make payment arrangements with the insurer. 

Business Enterprise Tax Credit

Employers that purchase PFML insurance through the state-selected insurer qualify for a business enterprise tax credit. The tax credit is in the amount of 50% of the employer’s payment towards the premium for six weeks of leave. To claim the credit, employers submit the most recent Schedule of Business Profits Tax Credit (Form DP-160) to the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration.  

Continuation of Benefits During Leave

Employers with 50 or more employees that sponsor leave must continue their workers' health insurance during leave, with employees paying any shared costs they usually pay. Smaller employers are not required to continue workers' health insurance during leave.

Job Restoration

Employers with 50 or more employees that sponsor leave under the program must restore workers returning from leave to their former jobs or an equivalent position, consistent with the job restoration provisions of the FMLA.

Employers with fewer than 50 workers are not required to restore a worker to their prior position.

New Jersey Family and Medical Leave

Under the New Jersey Family Leave Act, New Jersey requires covered employers to provide family leave to many employees. Employees can receive wage replacement benefits during leave through the New Jersey Family Leave Insurance program. The chart below provides general information on the Family Leave Act and the Family Leave Insurance program.  

Additional requirements and exceptions to the information above may apply. For more information, contact the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights.

Family and Medical Leave in New Mexico (NM)

New Mexico Family and Medical Leave

New Mexico currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Family and Medical Leave in New York (NY)

All New York State employers must provide eligible employees with job-protected paid family leave (PFL). The following chart explains the law and its requirements in detail.

Additional requirements and exceptions to the information above may apply. For more information, please contact the New York State PFL Program.

North Carolina Family and Medical Leave

North Carolina currently does not have a comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Family and Medical Leave in North Dakota (ND)

North Dakota Family and Medical Leave

North Dakota currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Ohio Family and Medical Leave

Ohio currently does not have a comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Family and Medical Leave in Oklahoma (OK)

Oklahoma Family and Medical Leave

Oklahoma currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Oregon Family and Medical Leave

As with workers nationwide, eligible employees in Oregon are entitled to the leave benefits of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). In addition, Oregon state law provides for family leave, military family leave and paid family and medical leave. Highlights of these requirements are set forth in the chart below.

Pennsylvania Family and Medical Leave

Pennsylvania currently does not have a comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Family and Medical Leave in Rhode Island (RI)

Rhode Island Parental and Family Medical Leave

The Rhode Island Parental and Family Medical Leave Act (PFMLA) requires that employers of 50 or more employees grant an unpaid leave of absence, upon the request of an eligible employee, for 13 consecutive weeks in any two calendar years, under certain conditions. Employees are eligible to apply for leave if they are full-time employees who work an average of 30 hours a week or more and have been employed continuously for at least 12 months.

The leave required to be provided under the PFMLA must be for one or more of the following reasons:

• Birth of a child of an employee
• Placement of an adopted child 16 years of age or younger
• "Serious illness" of the employee or the employee's parent, spouse, child, mother-in-law, or father-in-law (serious illness is defined to mean a disabling physical or mental illness, injury, impairment or condition that involves in-patient care in a hospital, nursing home, or hospice, or out-patient care requiring continuing treatment or supervision by a health care provider)

Unless prevented by medical emergency, the employee must give at least 30 days’ notice of the intended date upon which the requested leave is to commence and terminate. Employers may require the employee to provide written certification from a physician which specifies the probable duration of the requested leave.

Employees who are granted leave under the PFMLA are entitled to be restored to the position held when the leave commenced, or to a position with equivalent seniority, status, employment benefits, pay and other terms and conditions of employment, including all fringe benefits and service credits that the employee had been entitled to at the commencement of the leave.

The employer is required to maintain any existing health benefits of the employee for the duration of the parental or family leave. Prior to commencement of the leave, the employee must pay the employer the premium required to maintain the employee's health benefits during the period of leave. The employer must return such payment to the employee within 10 days following the employee's return to employment.

Employers must post the following notice in conspicuous places where notices to employees and applicants for employment are customarily posted:

• Notice to Employees

School Involvement Leave

Employers with 50 or more employees are also required to grant an employee who has been employed for 12 consecutive months 10 hours of leave during any 12 month period to attend school conferences or other school-related activities for a child of whom the employee is the parent, foster parent, or guardian. A notice of 24 hours prior to the leave must be given to the employer by the employee. The leave is not required to be paid, except an employee may substitute any accrued paid vacation leave or other appropriate paid leave.

For more information, please click here. 

Temporary Disability Insurance (Wage Replacement)

Rhode Island's temporary disability insurance program provides income support to individuals who are out of work because of a non-work related illness or injury. To be eligible, an individual must meet certain earnings requirements and be medically certified by a qualified health care provider as unable to work. Click here for more information.

Under the Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI) Program, eligible claimants may receive up to six weeks of caregiver benefits (wage replacement benefits) to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law or grandparent, or to bond with a newborn child, new adopted child or new foster-care child. Employers must hold an employee’s position or offer a comparable position upon the employee’s return. Employers are required to deduct the TDI/TCI tax from employees’ wages and send it to the Rhode Island Employer Tax Unit on a quarterly basis.

Family and Medical Leave in South Carolina (SC) 

South Carolina Family and Medical Leave

South Carolina currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Family and Medical Leave in South Dakota (SD)

South Dakota Family and Medical Leave

South Dakota currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Family and Medical Leave in Tennessee (TN)

Tennessee Family and Medical Leave

Tennessee currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Maternity Leave

Tennessee does have a law regarding maternity leave. Under the law, employers with 100 or more full-time workers at a job location are generally required to grant employees who have been employed full-time for at least 12 consecutive months leave from employment for a period not to exceed 4 months for:

• Adoption (the 4 month period begins at the time the employee receives custody of the child)
• Pregnancy
• Childbirth
• Nursing an infant

Maternity leave may be with or without pay. Leave may not affect the employees’ right to receive vacation time, sick leave, bonuses, advancement, seniority, length of service credit, benefits, plans or programs for which employees were eligible at the date of their leave, and any other benefits or rights of their employment. However, the employer is not required to provide for the cost of any benefits, plans or programs during the period of leave unless such cost is provided for all employees on leaves of absence.

Employees who give at least 3 months' advance notice of the anticipated start date for maternity leave, the length of leave, and their intention to return to full-time employment after leave, generally must be restored to their previous or similar positions with the same status, pay, length of service credit and seniority, as of the date of their leave. However, employees who are prevented from giving 3 months’ advance notice either because a medical emergency requires that leave begin earlier than anticipated, or because notice of adoption was received less than 3 months in advance, do not forfeit their rights and benefits under the law.

For more information, please see Tennessee Statutes § 4-21-408.

Family and Medical Leave in Texas (TX)

Texas does not have a family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). However, if employers with 15 or more employees have a leave policy that entitles to employees to personal leave to care for or otherwise assist the employee's sick biological or adopted child, that leave benefit must also cover an employee's foster child, if he or she resides in the same household as the employee and is under the conservatorship of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Family and Medical Leave in Utah (UT)

Utah Family and Medical Leave

Utah currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Family and Medical Leave in Vermont

Vermont's Parental and Family Leave Act provides unpaid leave to employees for certain family and medical reasons. The state's voluntary paid family and medical leave insurance program provides compensation to employees during leave for family and medical reasons. The voluntary insurance program has a phase-in period for different groups of employers and employees in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Vermont Parental and Family Leave Act

The Vermont Parental and Family Leave Act provides for both parental leave (which generally applies to employers with 10 or more workers) and family leave (which generally applies to employers with 15 or more workers).

Under the law, employees who have worked an average of 30 hours per week for a year are entitled, during any 12-month period, to up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave:

• For parental leave, during the employee’s pregnancy and following the birth of an employee’s child or within a year following the initial placement of a child 16 years of age or younger for adoption with the employee
• For family leave, for the serious illness of the employee or the employee’s child, stepchild, ward, foster child, party to a civil union, parent, spouse, or parent of the employee’s spouse

Family leave includes short-term family leave, which allows for up to an additional four hours of unpaid leave in any 30-day period (not to exceed 24 hours in any 12-month period) to participate in preschool or school activities, to accompany a family member to routine medical or dental appointments (or other appointments for professional services related to their care and well-being), or to respond to a medical emergency involving a family member.

Employees are generally required to give reasonable written notice of intent to take family or parental leave. For short-term family leave, a worker must give notice as early as possible, at least seven days before the leave is to be taken unless waiting seven days could have a significant adverse impact on the employee’s family member.  Employers may require that short-term family leave be taken in a minimum of two-hour segments. An employee may choose (but may not be required) to use up to six weeks of sick or vacation leave, or any other accrued paid leave time during the parental or family leave. 

Upon return from leave, employees generally must be offered the job held previously or a comparable one at equal pay, benefits, seniority, and other terms and conditions.

Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance

Gov. Phil Scott announced on Dec. 6, 2022, that the state had hired investment and insurance company The Hartford to create a voluntary paid family and medical leave (PFML) insurance program. State government employees receive coverage under the program in 2023, and private and nonstate public employers will be able to purchase coverage in 2024. The insurance becomes available for purchase by individual workers and employers with only one employee in 2025.

Qualifying Events, Benefits

Effective July 2023, Vermont state employees receive 60% wage replacement for six weeks of leave for the following qualifying events:

• The birth of a child and their care within one year of birth;
• The adoption or foster placement of a child within one year of placement;
• The employee’s or a family member’s serious health condition; and
• A qualifying military exigency or to care for a covered service-member family member with a serious injury or illness.

Plan designs for private and nonstate public employers, as well as individuals, may have additional optional features when they become available for purchase in 2024 and 2025, but at a minimum they will include the qualifying reasons, length of leave and compensation listed above for the state worker plan.

More Information

The Hartford has published FAQs about the program.

Virginia Family and Medical Leave

Virginia currently does not have a comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave

Washington employers generally must comply with the state's paid family and medical leave (PFML) law. The following chart explains the law and its requirements.

Additional requirements and exceptions to the information above may apply. For more information, please contact the Washington Employment Security Department at 360-902-9500.

Family and Medical Leave in West Virginia (WV)

West Virginia Family and Medical Leave

West Virginia currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). 

Family and Medical Leave in Wisconsin (WI)

Wisconsin Family and Medical Leave Act

The Wisconsin Family and Medical Leave Act (WFMLA) applies to employers of at least 50 permanent employees during at least 6 of the preceding 12 calendar months. The WFMLA generally entitles employees who have worked for an employer for more than 52 consecutive weeks and at least 1,000 hours in the 12 months prior to leave, up to:

• 6 weeks of leave in a calendar year for the birth or adoption of a child (leave must commence within 16 weeks before or after the birth or adoption);
• 2 weeks of leave in a calendar year for the care of a child, spouse, domestic partner, or parent or parent of a domestic partner with a serious health condition; and
• 2 weeks of leave in a calendar year for the serious health condition of the employee.

Leave requests must be made by the employee in advance in a reasonable and practicable manner.  The employee may elect to substitute accrued paid or unpaid leave of any other type provided by the employer. (Note: The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has held that the WFMLA’s “substitution provision,” which requires employers to allow an employee to substitute “paid or unpaid leave of any other type provided by the employer” for the unpaid leave provided by the WFMLA, is preempted by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to the extent it requires an employer to pay short-term disability (STD) benefits contrary to the terms of an employer’s plan. As Wisconsin is located in another Circuit (the Seventh Judicial Circuit), employers with questions on how to proceed regarding the administration of employee benefits are advised to contact a knowledgeable employment law attorney.)

Intermittent leave is permitted for all family and medical leaves in increments equal to the shortest increment permitted by the employer for any other non-emergency leave.

If an employee qualifies for federal family and medical leave and for leave under state law, leave used counts against the employee's entitlement under both laws. The federal and Wisconsin leaves will run concurrently where an employee is entitled to both. Where an employee is entitled to leave under both laws, the notice, certification, substitution and intermittent leave requirements which provide the greater leave rights apply. However, if an employee's leave extends beyond the period of coverage under one of the laws, an employer may require the employee to comply with the requirements of the continuing law.

Poster Requirement

• Wisconsin (WI) Family and Medical Leave Act (50 or more employees)
  • Poster in English - PDF format
  • Poster En Español - PDF format 
   

Family and Medical Leave in Wyoming (WY)

Wyoming Family and Medical Leave

Wyoming currently has no comprehensive family and medical leave law requiring private employers to provide leave rights greater than those required by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).