Guides
The calculator gives you a number. These guides explain the rules behind it once, for every state, using the same verified data — so the state pages can stay focused on what is different about each program.
Start from your question
My estimate is lower than I expected. Why?
Most surprises come from which wages count. A program that reads a quarter from a year ago, or divides a whole year by 52, will not see a recent raise or will be pulled down by weeks you did not work. This guide shows the four wage rules side by side and runs one $60,000 salary through every program. Read: How paid family leave benefits are calculated.
Am I a high earner who will hit the cap?
Above roughly the state average wage the weekly maximum, not the percentage, decides what you receive. The maximums guide lists every cap by date, says which 2027 figures are already official and when the missing ones are due. Read: Maximum weekly paid leave benefits, 2026 and 2027.
What is this deduction on my pay stub?
Each program’s premium, the share an employer may pass to you, and the wage ceiling it stops at — with the yearly amount at three salaries, so you can check a stub line against the law. Read: Paid leave payroll deductions by state.
We are having a baby. How many paid weeks will each of us get?
Pregnancy and recovery usually run under the disability or medical side of a program, bonding under the family side, and states stack the two very differently. One table covers both parents in every program. Read: Paid leave for pregnancy and a new child, by state.
Will my job be there when I come back?
A weekly benefit and job protection are separate rights. This guide sets the federal FMLA tests next to the state programs so you can see which of the two — or both — applies to you. Read: Paid family leave vs. FMLA: pay versus job protection.
How these guides are kept accurate
Every table in the guides is generated from the same program records the calculator uses, and every record carries the date we last compared it with the statute or agency notice. When a state publishes a new maximum or premium, the calculator, the state page and these guides change together. If you spot a figure that no longer matches your agency, the corrections form is the fastest way to reach us; the methodology explains exactly what the engine does with your wages.
- How paid family leave benefits are calculatedThe three steps every state uses — which wages count, how much is replaced, and the caps — compared across all 17 programs, with the formula for each.
- Maximum weekly paid leave benefits, 2026 and 2027Every state paid family and medical leave maximum for 2026, the 2027 figures already published, and when the missing ones are due.
- Paid leave payroll deductions by stateHow much each state’s paid leave or disability program takes from your paycheck in 2026 — rates, wage caps and worked amounts at $50,000 and $100,000.
- Paid leave for pregnancy and a new child, by stateHow many paid weeks a birth parent and a partner can get in each state program, how disability and bonding leave stack, and where waiting weeks apply.
- Paid family leave vs. FMLA: pay versus job protectionFMLA protects your job but pays nothing; state programs pay but may not protect your job. How the two overlap, with the federal eligibility rules.
Updated .