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State Paid Family Leave Laws Across the U.S.

The Brief

This page was last updated Jan 20, 2023.

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.

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Status of PFL Laws

  • States with no PFL laws
  • States with PFL laws, but programs are not yet active
  • States with active PFL laws
WA OR CA ID NV WY WV WI VT VA UT TX TN SD SC RI PA OK OH NM NY NJ NH NE ND NC MT MS MO MN MI ME MD MA LA KY KS IN IL IA HI GA FL DE CT CO AZ AR AL AK DC
  • States with no PFL laws
  • States with PFL laws, but programs are not yet active
  • States with active PFL laws
Alabama
Alaska
Arkansas
Delaware
Florida
Idaho
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Nevada
New Hampshire
North Carolina
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Texas
Utah
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
South Dakota
Alabama
Arizona
Georgia
Hawaii
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Maryland
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
New Mexico
North Dakota
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Tennessee
Vermont
Virginia
Connecticut
Oregon
Colorado
California
New Jersey
Rhode Island
New York
District Of Columbia
Washington
Massachusetts
Download the Table

Features of State PFL Programs

Sources

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