Current Sick Days Laws

Paid sick days laws are or will soon be in place in 10 states, the District of Columbia and 33 other jurisdictions. More than 33 million private sector workers are legally protected by these laws. View a chart summarizing key aspects of existing laws here. Paid sick days standards are emerging across the country. .

Here’s a quick overview (as of June 2018):

• At present, most government employees have access to paid sick days. All states provide paid sick days to at least some state employees, and the federal government provides 13 paid sick days a year to its nearly 2.5 million full-time employees that can be used for self- or family-care. As of January 2017, companies that do business with the federal government must allow workers who work on federal contracts to earn up to seven paid sick days.
• Additionally, 11 states — California, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin — and the District of Columbia allow at least some workers who already have paid sick days to use them to care for certain family members. Some of these laws provide this right only to workers with seriously ill family members, while others permit flexible use of sick leave for family members with routine illnesses.
• Arizona, Connecticut, California, Massachusetts, Oregon, Vermont, Maryland and New Jersey are the only states in the nation with statewide paid sick days laws in effect that allow a significant share of workers in the state to earn paid sick days to recover from illness, seek medical care, or care for a sick family member. These laws also include paid "safe" days that provide earned leave that allows survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault (all except Massachusetts), stalking (all except Connecticut and Massachusetts) or harassment (Oregon only) to seek services related to these incidents.
• The following cities and counties have laws in effect that allow workers to earn paid sick days to recover from a short-term illness, care for a sick family member or seek routine medical care: San Francisco, Oakland, Emeryville, Los Angeles, Berkeley and San Diego (Calif.); Washington, D.C.; New York City; Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane (Wash.); Philadelphia (Pa.); Montgomery County (Md.); Chicago and Cook County (Ill.); St. Paul, Minneapolis and Duluth (Minn.); Newark, Jersey City, Irvington, Passaic, East Orange, Paterson, Trenton, Montclair, Bloomfield, New Brunswick, Elizabeth, Plainfield and Morristown (N.J.); and Austin (Texas).
• The cities and counties with paid sick days laws that include paid "safe" days, which provide time for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking to seek services related to these incidents, include: San Francisco, Emeryville, San Diego, Los Angeles, Berkeley and Santa Monica (Calif.); Washington, D.C.; Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane (Wash.); Philadelphia (Pa.); Montgomery County (Md.); Chicago and Cook County (Ill).; Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth (Minn.); New Brunswick (N.J.); and Austin (Texas).
• The paid sick days laws in Eugene and Portland were preempted by the passage of Oregon's statewide law. Pittsburgh's law was ruled invalid by a county court judge; its implementation is on hold indefinitely pending appeal and a ruling from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. The 13 local laws currently in effect in New Jersey will be superseded by the statewide law in October 2018.
• Washington state and Rhode Island's paid sick days laws — passed in 2016 and 2017, respectively — will take effect in 2018. Maryland’s paid sick days law took effect in February 2018. Paid sick days laws passed in Austin, Texas, and New Jersey will take effect in October 2018. When New Jersey’s statewide law goes into effect it will improve upon the 13 existing local paid sick days laws and those laws will no longer be in effect. The paid sick days law passed in Duluth, Minn., will go into effect in January 2020.

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