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What's Up With Paid Leave?
Editor's Note
What's Up With Paid Leave?
I'm in favor of paid leave as an essential business tool. Yep. Paid leave. No matter why the employee needs or wants leave, if it isn't paid, chances are the employee can't afford to take the leave.
Employees sometimes need leave. It may be because they or someone they love is sick or recovering from an injury. It might be because they are about to have a baby. It might be because they are burnt out and need a break.
In our manic, competitive, workaholic culture it's really hard to remember that taking breaks BEFORE we need them works way better. We have a chance to relax, have fun, and recharge. All of those things come only AFTER we recover, heal, and rest. So it's essential to stop before we actually need to. As someone who regularly pushes beyond capacity, I have to keep learning this the hard way.
The important thing is that paid leave for fun is also a very good business tool. It helps with recruiting, retention, and improves people's ability to do the actual work. What could be better?
Still, employers are often very concerned that any time employees get protected leave, paid or unpaid, that employees will abuse it. First, I'm not sure what that means. I suspect it means taking the leave, particularly when it may not be convenient for the work. And the reality is that employees taking leave is rarely convenient for the work.
Well, unless leave is normal and you actually plan for it. This is not only possible, it's not even that hard.
And yes, some employees will take advantage of leave and probably misrepresent why they are leaving, especially if your paid sick leave is use it or lose it. But if they have earned the time off or have a legal right to take it, then they are not taking advantage or abusing leave.
Paid leave is good for employees and good for business. It's not too late to schedule that long weekend. And the article below will give you the latest in state laws on paid leave.
Here's the rest of my Summer Sofalism Series on the importance of taking breaks to do great work.
Overtime Is About More Than Time and Money
- Heather Bussing
Within the past ten years or so, there has been an uptick in states adopting laws concerning paid sick leave. As a result, multi-state employers have become accustomed to having to closely monitor the adoption of laws in the states in which their employees work to ensure their policies and practices are in compliance with all applicable paid leave laws. That task became more cumbersome with the rise in remote work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the rise in local jurisdictions following suit and adopting their own paid leave laws.
While the trend of states and local jurisdictions adopting paid leave laws has slowed, it has not stopped. For example, Alaska has adopted a sick leave law, with leave accrual under the new law beginning on July 1, 2025. Additionally, Nebraska recently adopted a law requiring paid sick leave as of October 1, 2025.
Based on a review of recent legal changes concerning paid leave laws, however, there is another emerging trend: state and local jurisdictions that already have paid laws in place are now amending their paid leave laws, generally, to expand the requirements and provide greater benefits to employees. As such, while employers can certainly expect the task of monitoring for new leave laws to continue, employers should also add to their task list the monitoring of amendments to already existing paid leave laws in the states and local jurisdictions in which they do business.
Examples of amendments to existing paid leave laws
- Connecticut. Effective January 1, 2025, Connecticut adopted multiple amendments to its current paid sick leave law, including, but not limited to, a faster accrual rate of paid time off and an expansion of the scope of covered reasons for use of the leave.
- Illinois. Effective January 1, 2024, state-required accrued paid leave, up to a maximum of 40 hours annually, can now be used for any reason the employee chooses.
- City of Chicago and Cook County, Illinois. These two ordinances allow employees who accrue paid leave to use such leave for any reason the employee chooses.
- Maine. Effective September 24, 2025, employers must allow employees to carry over up to 40 hours of leave to the following year while still allowing the employees to accrue up to 40 hours in that year.
- Washington state. Effective July 27, 2025, the scope of covered reasons for use of the leave was broadened.
While the above demonstrates the broadening of rights and expansion of benefits under current paid leave laws, not every state and local jurisdiction is moving in that direction. In fact, many states have introduced legislation banning local jurisdictions from establishing a right to paid leave. Moreover, just earlier this month, the governor of Missouri signed legislation that will repeal the statewide paid leave that voters approved last fall and just went into effect May 1, 2025. The repeal is set to go into effect on August 28, 2025, thereby eliminating Missouri employers’ obligation to provide paid sick leave to Missouri employees as of August 28, 2025. While employers will not be penalized for providing employees with greater benefits than required by applicable law, staying on top of such developments may nonetheless have a large financial impact on employers should they choose to amend their policies.
Key Takeaways for Employers
Given the frequent changes to state and local paid leave laws, employers should maintain an up-to-date list consisting of the city, county, and state where each employee works and a process that ensures either in-house or outside counsel are regularly monitoring the laws in the applicable jurisdictions for new and amended paid leave requirements in order to confirm the employer’s policies and practices remain compliant.
