What federal FMLA gives you
The Family and Medical Leave Act is job-protected but unpaid. It applies to private employers with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks of this year or last, and to public agencies and schools. You qualify if you have worked for the employer for at least 12 months, for at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before the leave, at a site with at least 50 employees within 75 miles.
Eligible workers get up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period for a birth or adoption, a serious health condition of their own or of a spouse, child or parent, or certain military exigencies — and up to 26 workweeks to care for a seriously injured or ill servicemember. Your employer must keep your group health coverage going on the same terms and restore you to the same or an equivalent job. Paid vacation or sick time can run at the same time, and your employer may require that it does.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #28: The Family and Medical Leave Act, checked .
State by state
A note appears below only where we read a state law that adds something to FMLA. A state without a note may still have rules we have not covered — your state labor department is the authority.
Alabama
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Alaska
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Arizona
Arizona’s earned paid sick time law (A.R.S. §23-372) lets employees of an employer with 15 or more workers accrue one hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year; at smaller employers the cap is 24 hours. That covers a few days of illness or a family member’s care — not a parental or extended medical leave. (A.R.S. §23-372 (earned paid sick time accrual))
Arkansas
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Florida
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Georgia
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Idaho
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Illinois
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Indiana
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Iowa
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Kansas
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Kentucky
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Louisiana
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Michigan
Michigan’s Earned Sick Time Act took effect on February 21, 2025. The state labor department’s guidance frames the yearly entitlement as 72 hours for standard employers and 40 hours for small employers. It is short-term paid sick time, not a wage-replacement program for a long leave. (Earned Sick Time Act)
Mississippi
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Missouri
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Montana
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Nebraska
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Nevada
Nevada (NRS 608.0197) requires private employers with 50 or more employees to provide at least 0.01923 hours of paid leave per hour worked — about 40 hours over a 2,080-hour year — usable for any reason, paid at the employee’s regular rate. Carry-over can be limited to 40 hours a year. (NRS Chapter 608 (§608.0197 paid leave))
New Mexico
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
North Carolina
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
North Dakota
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Ohio
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Oklahoma
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Pennsylvania
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
South Carolina
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
South Dakota
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Tennessee
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Texas
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Utah
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Virginia
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
West Virginia
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin’s Family and Medical Leave Act (Wis. Stat. §103.10) covers employers with at least 50 permanent employees and workers with more than 52 consecutive weeks and 1,000 hours. In a 12-month period it allows up to 6 weeks of family leave for a birth or adoption, 2 weeks to care for a child, spouse, domestic partner or parent with a serious health condition, and 2 weeks of medical leave for your own serious health condition. The leave itself is unpaid, but the statute lets an employee substitute paid leave of any other type the employer provides. (Wis. Stat. §103.10 (family or medical leave))
Wyoming
No state paid family leave, medical leave or disability insurance program. FMLA applies if you and your employer meet the federal tests above.
Ways people do get paid
- Employer paid parental or medical leave. Many larger employers offer it voluntarily; check your handbook.
- Short-term disability insurance through work or bought privately usually covers your own illness or recovery from childbirth — not bonding or caregiving.
- Accrued sick leave and vacation, including the state paid sick time laws noted above.
- Working in a program state. Coverage is tied to the job, so if you work in a program state you may be covered there even though you live here. Check that state’s page.
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