States With Workplace Laws to Help Parents and Caregivers

More states offer provisions for workers to get paid time off for caregiving

Tamara E. Holmes,

AARP

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Published September 25, 2019

/ Updated October 01, 2024

Though the federal government does not require private employers to offer paid family leave — the Family and Medical Leave Act allows up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave annually — some states have enacted legislation to create mandatory family leave insurance programs to provide money for caregivers and new parents.

About 38 million people in the United States provided unpaid care to older or disabled adults. On average, they devoted an average of 18 hours a week to caregiving, according to AARP’s “Valuing the Invaluable” 2023 report. When the next Caregiving in the U.S. study from AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving is published in about two years, the numbers may go up because of the increasing number of older Americans. From 2022 to 2050, the population of adults 65 and older will increase by 41.4 percent, according to the Census Bureau. Such numbers have pushed state and federal lawmakers to take a new look at providing paid leave for caregiving and other family responsibilities.

Only 1 in 4 workers in the private sector has access to paid family leave, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Action in state legislatures

AARP has long advocated for a national policy on paid family and medical leave.

“These programs allow workers to provide care for themselves and their loved ones without losing their paycheck, or even their job,” says Jessica Eckman, a government affairs director at AARP.

Three of every 5 caregivers balance work with their responsibilities, AARP finds. President Joe Biden’s proposed Build Back Better Act included provisions to establish a family leave program nationwide, but it stalled in Congress.

The president issued an executive order in April 2023 that aims to improve access to home-based care for veterans, test a new model for dementia care and improve access to high-quality long-term care services, among other initiatives.

21 states and the District of Columbia have passed a program

As of August 2024, only nine states and the District of Columbia had government-mandated family leave insurance programs in effect. Four other states have enacted similar measures that will take effect in 2025 and 2026.

An additional nine states have established voluntary family leave programs in which employers can choose whether to participate. In most of these systems, payroll deductions cover the cost of this insurance with contributions drawn from employees, employers or both. All state programs enacted to date provide paid time off to care for a family member with a serious health condition or to bond with a newborn or newly adopted child.

Keep in mind

Some states require employees to give advance notice, typically 30 days, before taking paid family leave although exceptions may be granted for unforeseeable circumstances. Check with your human resources department about notice policies.
Taxes often are not deducted from the amount you receive for paid family leave, and the income is taxable.

Some programs cover paid leave for workers coping with their own illness, certain situations arising from a family member’s military deployment, or domestic violence, harassment or sexual assault.

The amount of time off, and which family members you can take leave to care for, varies from state to state. Where a program covers care for parents, grandparents, children and siblings, it generally includes step, adoptive and legal relationships. Some states exempt very small companies, certain types of employers such as tribal entities or religious organizations, or those with their own state-approved family leave programs. Click the links for details on each state’s policies.

Mandatory family leave states

California

Effective date: In effect.

Maximum benefit: $1,620 a week.

How it works: California was the first state to enact paid family leave, launching its program in 2004. Employees can receive 60 percent to 70 percent of their weekly earnings, up to the maximum benefit for up to eight weeks within any 12-month period, to care for an ill spouse, registered domestic partner, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild or sibling.

Colorado

Effective date: In effect

Maximum benefit: $1,100 a week in 2024.

How it works: Approved by voters in a 2020 ballot measure, Colorado’s program gives employees up to 12 weeks in a 12-month period to care for a seriously ill family member, defined as a spouse, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, sibling or other individual with whom the worker “has a significant personal bond that is or is like a family relationship.”

The benefit calculation is 90 percent of a worker’s pay up to half the state average weekly wage, and 50 percent of any earnings beyond that, up to the maximum benefit.

Connecticut

Effective date: In effect.

Maximum benefit: $941 a week.

How it works: Most workers will be eligible for up to 12 weeks off in a 12-month period to care for a seriously ill spouse, domestic partner, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild or other person “whose close association with the employee shows to be the equivalent of those family relationships.”

Employees who make up to 40 times the state minimum wage of $15.69 an hour — up to $628 a week — will receive up to 95 percent of their pay during family leave. A different calculation is used for those who earn more than that, with benefits capped at 60 times the minimum wage, or $941 a week.

Delaware

Effective date: Benefits begin Jan. 1, 2026. Employers and employees begin paying into the system Jan. 1, 2025.

Maximum benefit: $900 a week in 2026 and 2027, increasing annually after that based on inflation.

How it works: Workers will be able to get up to six weeks of paid leave over any 24-month period to care for a spouse, parent or child with a serious health condition. The benefit amount will be 80 percent of the employee’s average weekly wage, up to the maximum.

District of Columbia

Effective date: In effect.

Maximum benefit: $1,118 a week.

How it works: Employees receive up to 12 weeks’ pay within a 52-week period to care for a family member with a serious health condition, including a spouse, domestic partner, parent, grandparent, child or sibling.

Maine

Effective date: May 1, 2026.

Maximum benefit: Benefits will be capped at the state average weekly wage, which is $1,144 in 2024.

How it works: Both public- and private-sector employers and employees will contribute at least 0.5 percent each of a worker’s weekly wages to a fund starting Jan. 1, 2025. Employees who have earned enough — a calculation of six times the average weekly wage — in the previous year before their start date will be eligible for a portion of their weekly wage for up to 12 weeks within a 52-week period.

Maryland

Effective date: Benefits begin July 1, 2026. Employee contributions to finance the program begin July 5, 2025, while employer contributions start Oct. 1, 2025.

Maximum benefit: $1,000 a week in 2026, with annual increases after that.

How it works: Maryland lawmakers passed the Time to Care Act late in their 2022 legislative session and overrode Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto, modifying the act slightly in 2023. Workers will be eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid leave within a 12-month period to care for an immediate family member — spouse, parent or child — with a serious health condition.

Massachusetts

Effective date: In effect.

Maximum benefit: $1,150 a week.

How it works: Employees can get paid leave for up to 12 weeks within a 52-week period to care for a spouse, domestic partner, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild or sibling with a serious health condition. Benefits are calculated based on benefit year, wages and other paid and unpaid leave taken.

Minnesota

Effective date: Jan. 1, 2026.

Maximum benefit: Calculations will be released in late 2025.

How it works: The program is financed through employee payroll deductions. Employers are required to contribute at least half of the premium.

New Jersey

Effective date: In effect.

Maximum benefit: $1,055 a week.

How it works: Workers can receive 85 percent of their average weekly earnings, up to the maximum, for up to 12 consecutive weeks or 56 days of intermittent caregiving in a 12-month period. The time can be taken to care for a spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, child, grandchild, “chosen family” or “any other individual related by blood or that you consider to be family.”

New York

Effective date: In effect.

Maximum benefit: $1,151.

How it works: Employees can receive 67 percent of their average weekly earnings, up to the maximum, for up to 12 weeks every 52 weeks to care for a family member with a serious health condition. The program covers care for spouses, domestic partners, parents, parents-in-law, grandparents, children, grandchildren and siblings.

Oregon

Effective date: In effect.

Maximum benefit: $1,569 a week.

How it works: Workers who have been with a company for at least 180 days can take up to 12 weeks every 52 weeks to care for a family member — defined as any person related by blood or “who is connected to you and has a family relationship” — with a serious health condition. Companies with fewer than 25 employees do not need to pay the employer portion of the contribution.

Rhode Island

Effective date: In effect.

Maximum benefit: $1,070 a week.

How it works: Employees receive about 60 percent of weekly earnings for up to six weeks during a 52-week period to care for a spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent or child with a serious health condition. The governor signed a bill expanding benefits recently, upping the number of paid weeks to seven for 2025 and eight weeks for 2026.

Washington

Effective date: In effect.

Maximum benefit: $1,456 a week.

How it works: Workers can receive up to 90 percent of their weekly pay, up to the maximum, for up to 12 weeks a year to care for a seriously ill spouse, domestic partner, parent, in-law, grandparent, child, grandchild, sibling or “someone who has an expectation to rely on you for care.”

States with voluntary paid family leave

As of August 2024, nine states have embraced paid family leave using a different model than the earlier ones.

Rather than requiring businesses of a certain size to offer paid family leave to employees, they allow businesses to decide whether or not they want to offer paid family leave to their employees. Leave is funded by purchasing an insurance product. How much of the premium the employee pays varies by employer, as does the wage replacement rate and how many paid weeks leave the employee can take. Four states that have recently passed paid family leave programs — Alabama, Florida, Kentucky and Texas — mandate employers offer at least two weeks of paid leave in a 52-week period. Two states, Arkansas and Tennessee, have no minimum paid leave that employers must offer.

These states have more detailed information about the benefits employers offer:

New Hampshire

Effective date: In effect.

Maximum benefit: $1,945 a week, 60 percent of the Social Security taxable wage maximum, which is adjusted annually.

How it works: New Hampshire became the first state to offer voluntary paid family leave when it launched its program Jan. 1, 2023. Employees receive 60 percent of weekly earnings for up to six weeks a year to care for a seriously ill spouse, domestic partner, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild.

The program caps benefits at 60 percent of the Social Security taxable wage maximum. The taxable wage maximum is $3,242 a week in 2024. So benefits are limited to $1,945 a week.

Though employers don’t have to offer the program, they will receive a tax credit if they do. If an employer does not offer coverage, a New Hampshire resident may be able to purchase an individual plan.

Vermont

Effective date: In effect for private employers; July 1, 2025, for individuals who don’t receive coverage through an employer.

Maximum benefit: 60 percent of the Social Security taxable wage maximum, which is adjusted annually.

How it works: Vermont residents will receive up to 60 percent of their average weekly earnings for six weeks each year to care for a seriously ill family member including a spouse, domestic partner, parent or child. When calculating benefits, wages are capped at the Social Security taxable wage maximum — $3,242 a week for 2024. So benefits are limited to $1,945 a week.

Virginia

Effective date: Jan. 1, 2025. Employers and employees began paying premiums in 2024.

Maximum benefit: Benefits can’t exceed 80 percent of the state of Virginia’s average weekly wage, which is adjusted annually.

How it works: Virginia residents can receive up to 80 percent of their average weekly wages for 12 weeks in a year to care for a spouse, domestic partner, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild or sibling who is seriously ill. Benefits can’t exceed 80 percent of the state of Virginia’s weekly wage, which is $1,410 in 2024; 80 percent is $1,128. A bill that would have made paid family leave mandatory was passed by the legislature but vetoed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin on April 5, 2024.

This story, originally published Sept. 25, 2019, has been updated to reflect new information on states offering paid family leave.

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Tamara E. Holmes is a Washington-based writer and editor. She has written extensively about money, entrepreneurship and careers for more than two decades. Her work has appeared in such publications as USA Today, Working Mother and Essence.