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Paid sick leave laws ensure that employees are able to take adequate time off of work to address health concerns. Though there are currently no federal paid sick leave laws in effect within the United States, the provision of paid sick leave is nonetheless a critical component of national labor regulation. Paid sick leave laws are mandated on a state-by-state basis and affect industries of all types.
Including film production.
If you’re planning a shoot anywhere in the U.S., understanding relevant paid sick leave laws beforehand is an absolutely essential pre-production task. To help you speed up the process, we’ve put together a comprehensive overview of paid sick leave requirements by state, including direct links to further information and important points of contact. Keep in mind, this post is not a replacement for legal consultation.
Let’s start from the top:
The state of Alabama does not currently require the provision of paid or unpaid sick leave. However, eligible employees may be entitled to limited protections under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which requires certain employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid, employment-protected leave to eligible employees for select family or medical reasons.
For more information, contact the Alabama Department of Labor.
There are currently no paid sick leave laws active in Alaska. Limited leave protection by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act may be accessible to eligible employees under select circumstances.
For more information, contact the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
The Arizona paid sick leave law known as the Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act requires all Arizona employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees.
When working for employers with 15 or more employees, individual employees are entitled to accrue a minimum of one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked but are not entitled to either accrue or use more than 40 hours of paid sick time per year, except if the employer sets a higher limit.
When working for employers with fewer than 15 employees, individual employees are entitled to accrue a minimum of one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked but are not entitled to either accrue or use more than 24 hours of paid sick time per year, unless the employer sets a higher limit.
For more information, check out this Earned Paid Sick Time FAQ sheet or contact the Industrial Commission of Arizona.
The state of Arkansas currently enforces no law requiring the provision of paid or unpaid sick leave to employees. However, limited leave protection under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act may be accessible to eligible employees.
For more information, contact the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing.
In general, permanent California law on paid sick leave requires that employers provide employees at least 24 hours (or three days) of paid sick leave per year. Employees earn one hour of sick leave per 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 48 hours or 6 days accrued within a given year. Permanent California sick laws apply to most employees who work in California for at least 30 days in a given year, regardless of their employment classification during that time.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a supplemental California paid sick leave law known as S.B. 114 was put into temporary effect. S.B. 114 expands the number of leave hours available to individual employees and modifies eligibility rules to cover more individuals.
For more information on California sick leave laws, check out this California Paid Sick Leave FAQ or contact the California Labor & Workforce Development Agency.
Colorado sick time laws require “all employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees, accrued at one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 48 hours.” Employees begin accruing paid sick leave when their employment begins, and unused time may carry forward to be used in subsequent calendar years.
For more information, contact the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
Connecticut paid sick leave law allows employees to earn one hour of sick leave for every 40 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours accrued in a single year. Employees may further carry over a maximum of 40 unused hours year-over-year.
Additional leave protections may be available under Connecticut’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows employees to take necessary time off to attend to family medical or safety issues.
For more information, contact the State of Connecticut Department of Labor.
There are currently no active paid sick leave laws in the state of Delaware. However, eligible employees may be entitled to limited protections under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
For more information, contact the Delaware Department of Labor.
Paid sick leave laws in Washington D.C. require employers to provide paid leave to most employees. Employees begin accruing leave on their first day of employment and can begin using their accrued leave after only 90 days of work. According to Know Your Rights DC, the exact number of hours an employee can accrue and the rate at which they can accrue them both vary according to the size of your employer and time scope of your employment:
For more information, contact the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services.
There are currently no paid sick leave laws active in the state of Florida. Limited leave protection by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act may be accessible to eligible employees under select circumstances.
For more information, contact the Florida Governor’s Office.
The state of Georgia does not currently require private employers to provide paid or unpaid sick leave. Limited leave protection under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act may be accessible to eligible employees.
For more information, contact the Georgia Department of Labor.
Hawaii currently does not require employers to provide unpaid or paid sick leave to their employees. However, eligible employees may be entitled to limited protections under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
For more information, contact the Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
In Idaho, there are currently no labor laws requiring that employers provide paid or unpaid sick leave time to employees of any type. However, limited leave protection under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act may be accessible to eligible employees.
For more information, contact the Idaho Department of Labor.
Paid sick leave laws in Illinois require employers to give employees one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours accrued in a given year.
The Illinois Employee Sick Leave Act further requires employers to allow employees to “use at least a portion of the sick leave time that is already available to them, under certain existing employer policies, to care for certain relatives.”
The City of Chicago’s Paid Sick Leave ordinance also specifies that “any employee who works at least 80 hours for an employer in Chicago within any 120-day period is covered by the ordinance and is eligible for paid sick leave.”
For more information, contact the Illinois Department of Labor.
Indiana labor law only requires that employers pay employees for actual time worked. Employees do not have the protection of unpaid or paid sick leave laws. Limited leave protection by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act may be accessible to eligible employees under select circumstances.
For more information, contact the Indiana Department of Labor.
The state of Iowa currently enforces no regulations requiring the provision of paid or unpaid time off for being sick. However, eligible employees may be entitled to limited protections under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
For more information, contact the Iowa Division of Labor.
Kansas labor laws do not require employers to offer any kind of paid leave, neither for vacation nor medical purposes. However, limited leave protection under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act may be accessible to eligible employees.
For more information, contact the Kansas Department of Labor.
There are currently no paid safe or sick leave laws active in the state of Kentucky. Eligible employees may be entitled to certain leave protections under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
For more information, contact the Commonwealth of Kentucky Labor Cabinet.
The state of Louisiana currently enforces no paid sick leave laws. However, limited leave protection under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act may be accessible to eligible employees.
For more information, contact the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
Maine’s Earned Paid Leave law requires employers with more than 10 employees in Maine for more than 120 days in any calendar year to provide paid leave time.
Employees accrue one hour of earned paid leave for every 40 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours accrued in a single year. The law applies to employees of all types.
For more information, check out this Maine Earned Paid Leave fact sheet or contact the State of Main Department of Labor directly.
The Maryland Healthy Working Families Act requires that employers with 15 or more employees provide paid sick and safe leave and that employers with 14 or fewer employees provide unpaid sick and safe leave.
Earned sick and safe leave may be either awarded as a lump sum at the beginning of the year or accrued in increments over the course of the year at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours an employee works.
For more information, check out the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act FAQ or contact the Maryland Department of Labor.
Earned sick time laws in the state of Massachusetts require all employers with 11 or more employees to provide paid sick leave time up to a rate of 40 hours of paid sick time per calendar year. The state similarly requires employers with fewer employees to provide unpaid sick leave time at a rate of up to 40 hours per calendar year.
Employees of all types are eligible for earned sick time, including temporary and seasonal employees. Paid sick time may be accrued at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked.
For more information, check out this compilation of Massachusetts sick leave law resources or contact the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
Paid sick leave laws in Michigan require employers who employ 50 or more individuals to provide paid sick leave rights to their employees. Paid medical leave is accrued at a rate of 1 hour for every 35 hours worked, but “an employer is not required to allow accrual of over 1 hour in a calendar week or more than 40 hours in a benefit year”.
Employees may carry over up to 40 hours of unused paid leave from one benefit year to the next, but employers are not required to allow employees to use more than 40 hours in a single benefit year.
For more information, contact the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.
In Minnesota, there are currently no statewide sick leave regulations in place. However, the City of Duluth and the City of St. Paul both maintain their own Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) ordinances. Duluth’s earned sick and safe time policy requires that sick leave be provided by all employers with five or more employees, while St. Paul’s earned sick and safe time ordinance extends sick leave rights to all employees working within the city.
For more information, contact the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.
Mississippi does not require employers to provide any paid sick leave to their employees. Eligible employees may be entitled to limited leave protections under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
For more information, contact the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
The state of Missouri currently maintains no paid or unpaid sick leave laws. However, eligible employees may be entitled to limited protections under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
For more information, contact the Missouri Department of Labor & Industrial Relations.
There are currently no paid sick leave laws active in the state of Montana. Limited leave protection under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act may be accessible to eligible employees.
For more information, contact the Montana Department of Labor & Industry.
The state of Nebraska currently enforces no paid sick leave regulations, though certain employees may have leave protection under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
For more information, contact the Nebraska Department of Labor.
Paid sick leave laws in Nevada require every employer with “not less than 50 employees” to provide paid leave to each employee. Employees are entitled to “at least 0.01923 hours of paid leave for each hour of work performed”, and unused paid leave is required to carry over year-to-year up to a maximum of 40 hours per benefit year.
For more information, contact the Nevada Office of the Labor Commissioner.
New Hampshire currently enforces no paid sick leave requirements by state-mandate. However, eligible employees may be entitled to limited protections under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act or the Granite State Paid Family and Medical Leave Plan, which is set to go into effect on January 1, 2023.
For more information, contact the New Hampshire Department of Labor.
Paid sick leave laws in New Jersey entitle employees to accrue one hour of earned sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours of leave per benefit year. With their employers’ consent, employees may have the further right to work additional hours to compensate for work missed rather than use their accrued sick leave.
For more information, contact the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
In New Mexico, the Healthy Workplaces Act of 2021 requires all private employers to allow their employees to accrue and use “earned sick leave”. Employees accrue one hour of earned sick leave for every 30 hours worked unless their employer chooses a higher accrual rate. Unused sick leave may extend year-to-year, but employers are not required to permit more than 64 hours of such leave to carry over.
For more information, contact the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions.
Paid sick leave laws in New York differ significantly between New York State and New York City.
The New York State sick leave (NYSSL) law requires that paid sick leave be provided by employers with five or more employees or a net income of more than $1 million and that unpaid sick leave be provided by employers with fewer than five employees and a net income of $1 million or less. New York State paid sick leave time must be accrued at a minimum rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked.
NYC sick leave law expands coverage to include safe leave, which provides covered employees the right to use accrued time for the care of either themselves or a family member for safety reasons in addition to health. For further details, check out the NYC paid sick leave FAQ.
Both New York State and New York City may enforce additional paid sick leave laws in response to COVID-19 as the situation continues to evolve. For up-to-date NYC COVID sick leave details, visit the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. For details on New York State paid leave for COVID-19, check out the state’s COVID-19 Paid Family Leave policy.
For more information, contact the New York Department of Labor.
In North Carolina, there are no paid sick leave laws currently in place. Unless an employee is eligible for coverage under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, they can be legally terminated or otherwise punished for missing work due to medical needs.
For more information, contact the North Carolina Department of Labor.
The state of North Dakota has thus far enacted no paid safe and sick leave laws. However, eligible employees may be entitled to certain leave protections under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
For more information, contact the North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights.
The state of Ohio currently enforces no paid sick leave laws, though eligible employees may still be entitled to limited protections under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
For more information, contact the Ohio Department of Commerce.
Oklahoma does not maintain any paid sick leave requirements by state-mandate. However, eligible employees may be entitled to certain leave protections under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
For more information, contact the Oklahoma Department of Labor.
Paid sick leave laws in Oregon require that employers with 10 or more employees (6 or more if they’re located in the city of Portland) provide paid sick leave. In other cases, sick leave time is still required but may be unpaid.
Employees accrue at least one hour of sick time for 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours of accrued sick leave per year. Employers may alternatively choose to provide 40 hours or more of sick leave as a lump sum at the beginning of the year.
For more information, contact the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries.
Pennsylvania currently enforces no paid sick leave requirements by state-mandate. However, the City of Philadelphia does require that employers with 10 or more employees provide paid sick leave. Employers with nine or fewer employees are required to pay unpaid sick leave.
For more information, check out the City of Philadelphia’s sick leave information page or contact the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry.
Rhode Island’s Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act mandates that “all employees employed by an employer of eighteen (18) or more employees in Rhode Island shall accrue a minimum of one hour of paid sick and safe leave time for every thirty five (35) hours worked.”
Employees are capped at a maximum of 40 hours of paid sick and safe leave accrued per year unless their employer decides to set a higher limit “in both accrual and use”.
Employers with fewer than 18 employees are still required to provide sick and safe leave time, but it is not required that this time be paid.
For more information, contact the State of Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training or check out their Paid Sick and Safe Leave FAQ.
To date, the state of South Carolina has enacted no paid sick leave laws, though recent proposals suggest this may change in the future.
Eligible employees may still be entitled to limited protections under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
For more information, contact the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.
South Dakota currently maintains no paid sick leave requirements by state-mandate. The state considers sick leave entirely a matter of employer policy.
However, select employees may be entitled to limited leave protections under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
For more information, contact the South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation.
The state of Tennessee does not currently require employers to provide paid or unpaid sick leave of any kind. Select employees may have limited leave protection options under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
For more information, contact the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development.
There are currently no Texas laws requiring that employers provide sick leave, paid or unpaid. However, eligible employees may have limited leave protections under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
For more information, contact the Texas Workforce Commission.
Utah does not currently maintain any paid sick leave requirements by state-mandate, though certain employees may have leave protection under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
For more information, contact the Utah Labor Commission.
The Earned Sick Time Law in Vermont entitles employees to earn “40 hours per year of paid leave after January 1, 2019.” Employees may earn paid sick time either based on the time they work or as a lump sum provided on an annual basis, depending on the preference of their employer.
For more information, contact the State of Vermont Department of Labor.
Virginia paid sick leave laws stipulate that “employees shall accrue a minimum of one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.”
While paid sick leave does not accumulate indefinitely within the state, paid leave hours do carry over to the year following the year in which it is initially accrued.
Employees are not permitted to use or accrue more than 40 hours of paid sick leave in a given year, unless the employer sets a higher limit.
For more information, contact the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry.
Paid sick leave requirements by state-mandate in Washington guarantee both the provision of paid sick leave and minimum requirements for employers’ paid sick leave policies.
According to the Washing State Department of Labor & Industries, “at a minimum, employees must be provided one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked.” Washington state paid sick leave laws further mandate that employers provide paid sick leave to all employees, regardless of their employment status (full-time, part-time, etc.).
For more information, reach out to the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries.
The state of West Virginia does not currently maintain any paid sick leave laws that require employers to provide employees with sick leave benefits.
For more information, contact the West Virginia Division of Labor.
There are currently no paid sick leave requirements by state-mandate within Wisconsin, though the Wisconsin Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) does guarantee unpaid leave for eligible employees.
The FMLA provides leave for the serious health condition of an employee, their parent, child, or spouse. Under Wisconsin law, a “serious health condition” refers to “a disabling physical or mental illness, injury, impairment, or condition involving inpatient care or outpatient care that requires continuing treatment or supervision by a healthcare provider.”
Standard Wisconsin family medical leave is unpaid. However, the FMLA stipulates that “the employee must be allowed to substitute accrued paid or unpaid leave of any other type the employer provides.”
For more information, contact the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.
According to the Wyoming Department of Health, “employees accrue sick leave based on the number of hours worked in the month and may earn up to eight hours per month (12 days per year) for 160 hours per month worked with unlimited accumulation.”
Wyoming paid sick leave laws further stipulate that “upon termination of employment, the employee is paid 50% of accumulated sick leave to a maximum of 60 days.”
You can contact the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services for more information, including up-to-date details on paid sick leave requirements by state mandate as a result of COVID-19 within Wyoming.
To learn more about critical labor requirements, check out our Producer’s Guide to New Employment Laws in California or our breakdown of Required Startwork Documents by State.
At Wrapbook, we pride ourselves on providing outstanding free resources to producers and their crews, but this post is for informational purposes only as of the date above. The content on our website is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for legal, accounting, or tax advice. You should consult with your own legal, accounting, or tax advisors to determine how this general information may apply to your specific circumstances.
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