Which States Have Paid Family and Medical Leave?

How these programs work

A state paid family and medical leave program is an insurance fund. Employers send in contributions through payroll each quarter, sometimes deducting part of them from employee pay, and the state (or an approved private plan) pays weekly benefits to employees who are out for a qualifying reason. Typical reasons are bonding with a new child, a serious health condition, caring for a family member, and military family needs.

The employer does not pay the benefit itself. Your jobs are to register, withhold and send contributions, post notices, and coordinate the leave with your own policies and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 13 states and Washington, DC, have passed laws creating these programs.

State programs at a glance

State paid family and medical leave programs, as of October 2026
State	Program	Who pays in	Weeks of paid leave	Benefits
California	Paid Family Leave (PFL)	Employees, through State Disability Insurance (SDI) withholding (1.3% in 2026)	Up to 8 weeks in 12 months	Paying now
New York	Paid Family Leave	Employees, through payroll deductions	Up to 12 weeks	Paying now
New Jersey	Family Leave Insurance (FLI)	Employees (0.23% of wages up to $171,100 in 2026)	Up to 12 weeks in 12 months (or 56 separate days)	Paying now
Washington	Paid Family and Medical Leave	Employees; employers with 50 or more employees also pay a share	Up to 12 weeks of family or medical leave	Paying since 2020
Massachusetts	Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML)	Employers and employees	Up to 20 weeks medical, 12 weeks family, 26 weeks combined per benefit year	Paying now
Connecticut	CT Paid Leave	Employees (0.5% of pay)	Up to 12 weeks in 12 months, plus 2 for incapacity during pregnancy	Paying now
Oregon	Paid Leave Oregon	Employees (60% of 1%); employers with 25 or more employees pay the other 40%	Up to 12 weeks, up to 14 in some pregnancy situations	Paying now
Colorado	Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI)	0.88% of wages, split 50/50 (employers with 9 or fewer employees send only the employee half)	Up to 12 weeks, plus 4 for pregnancy complications and 12 for a newborn in intensive care	Paying now
Washington, DC	DC Paid Family Leave	Employers, through a payroll tax	From October 1, 2026: 12 weeks parental, 10 medical, 6 family care, 2 prenatal	Paying now
Delaware	Delaware Paid Leave	Employers, who may deduct up to half from employees	12 weeks parental; 6 weeks medical or family care in any 24 months	Since January 1, 2026
Minnesota	Paid Leave	Employers pay at least half; employees the rest	Up to 12 weeks medical or 12 family, up to 20 combined	Since January 1, 2026
Maine	Paid Family and Medical Leave	1% of wages; employers may deduct up to half (employers under 15 employees send only that half)	Up to 12 weeks per benefit year	Since May 1, 2026
Maryland	Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI)	Not yet collecting	Up to 12 weeks	Scheduled for January 1, 2028

This table covers the programs confirmed on official sources for this page; check any other state where you have employees. Hawaii and Puerto Rico have paid temporary disability programs, and New Hampshire, Vermont and Virginia have voluntary private family and medical leave insurance.

Programs that started in 2026, and what is next

Delaware: contributions began January 1, 2025 and benefits a year later. Employers with 10 to 24 employees are covered for parental leave only; employers with 25 or more for all leave types.
Minnesota: premiums and leave began January 1, 2026. Small employers (30 or fewer employees, with average wages at or below 150% of the state average) pay a reduced rate.
Maine: contributions began in January 2025, and benefits are paid for time out of work on or after May 1, 2026.
Colorado: parents of a newborn in neonatal intensive care can get up to 12 more weeks, and the premium is 0.88% of wages.
Washington, DC: on October 1, 2026, medical leave dropped to 10 weeks and family care leave to 6 weeks. Parental and prenatal leave did not change.
Maryland: benefits are now scheduled to start January 1, 2028, later than first planned.
Massachusetts: the contribution rate will be 0.88% of eligible wages from January 1, 2027.

Paid leave is not always job-protected leave

A state benefit pays the employee. Whether you must hold the job open is a separate question. California's Paid Family Leave and New Jersey's Family Leave Insurance pay benefits but do not themselves protect the job: job protection comes from other laws, such as the federal FMLA, the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) or the New Jersey Family Leave Act. New York and Maryland describe their programs as job-protected leave.

When an employee qualifies for both the FMLA and a state program, the leave often runs at the same time, but the rules for each are separate. Track both. See how to handle an FMLA request.

What an employer has to do

Register with each state program where you have employees, as soon as you hire your first person there.
Set up the payroll deduction and the employer share, if any, and file the quarterly wage reports.
Display the required notice and give employees the written notice the state requires.
Decide whether to use the state plan or an approved private plan, where that is allowed (Colorado, Massachusetts and Connecticut allow private plans, for example).
When someone takes leave, confirm the dates with the state program and coordinate any company pay you add on top.

Common mistakes

Forgetting to register when you hire your first remote employee in a program state.
Deducting more than the employee share the state allows.
Treating a state benefit as a reason to end the job, when another law protects it.
Missing a rule change, such as DC's October 2026 cut in medical and family care weeks.

Common questions

Do small employers have to take part in state paid leave programs?

Usually yes, but some states lower the employer share for small companies. Colorado employers with 9 or fewer employees, Maine employers under 15 and Oregon employers under 25 do not pay the employer share, but still withhold and send the employee share.

Does the employer pay the weekly benefit?

No. The state fund or an approved private plan pays it. The employer collects and sends contributions and coordinates the leave.

Is state paid family leave the same as FMLA?

No. The FMLA is federal, unpaid and applies at 50 or more employees. State programs pay benefits and can apply at any size, and the two often run at the same time.

How MambaHR handles this

MambaHR checks federal FMLA eligibility for each leave request, cites the state paid-leave program that applies to the employee, and sends it to a person to decide how the two combine. The approved leave becomes a payroll change for your current payroll provider or for Deel-managed payroll (Powered by Deel), and a person approves every payroll run.

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Sources

Last reviewed October 2, 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and exceptions apply, so check the sources above or an employment lawyer before you act on a specific case.