By the time we’re halfway through 2025, several paid leave laws will have taken effect in US states.
While federal law doesn’t require employers to grant employees paid leave to deal with illnesses or family matters—such as bonding with a new baby—multiple states have passed their own laws to this effect in recent years.
Alaska, Michigan, and Maine are among the latest states with paid sick or family leave laws on the books.
The Alaska policy cites a number of reasons employees may use paid sick leave, including dealing with a mental or physical illness, caring for a family member dealing with an illness, or dealing with safety-related issues such as domestic violence.
Like Alaska’s law, Michigan’s allows workers to take earned sick time for a variety of reasons, including handling an illness for themselves or a family member, seeking services to handle domestic violence or sexual assault, or caring for a child whose school or daycare has closed due to a public health emergency.
Nearly 20 states now require employers to provide paid sick leave to workers, while three states—Illinois, Maine, and Nevada—have enacted laws mandating paid leave for any reason.
The state of paid family leave. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted paid family leave programs in recent years. All of the programs grant workers paid time off to bond with or care for a new child, as well as care for a family member with a serious health condition.
