State Paid Family Leave Laws Across the U.S.

Thirteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted paid family leave (PFL) laws: California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington have laws in effect; Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Oregon enacted laws not yet in effect.

Most of these state programs provide parental and family caregiving leave as well as temporary disability insurance to cover paid personal medical leave. Some also use a social insurance policy design that funds these benefits through pooled payroll taxes on employees and/or employers.

However, some states are exploring the role of private insurance. New York, New Hampshire, and Virginia have enacted laws that provide paid family and medical leave through private insurance on a mandatory (New York) or voluntary (New Hampshire and Virginia) basis. In these systems, companies and/or workers pay premiums to private insurers that provide benefits for paid parental, family caregiving, and/or personal medical leave.

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) guarantees most workers at companies with at least 50 employees access to unpaid, job-protected parental, family caregiver, personal medical, and military exigency leave. Some states expanded job protection as part of their PFL program while others left job protection for leave-takers as it is under FMLA. For a full list of state-level job protection laws, see the State Family and Medical Leave and Job-Protection Laws explainer.

The map below shows the status of state-level PFL policies and programs, and the table outlines the basic features of the PFL programs that have been enacted.