Has Your State Updated Its Sick Leave Laws? What Employers Need to Know

In our recent 2025 Employment Law Checklist, we noted that several states have either updated their sick leave laws or implemented new requirements in the past year. Here are some of the jurisdictions and laws we are keeping an eye on for our clients:

• Illinois’ Paid Leave for All Workers Act has been in effect since January 2024, but new Chicago-specific provisions requiring that employees be provided with “general paid time off” in addition to sick leave went into effect on July 1, 2024.
• New York has a new Paid Prenatal Leave requirement that provides for a separate bank of 20 hours per year for pregnancy and fertility-related absences in addition to regular paid sick leave (and thus requires separate tracking).
• Michigan’s Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA) went into effect February 21, 2025, and will replace the Michigan Paid Medical Leave Act (PMLA), significantly expanding employee eligibility for sick time benefits. Employees accrue a minimum of 1 hour of earned sick time for every 30 hours they work. A key piece of the PMLA is that there is no cap on accrual.
• Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Washington State have also made employee-friendly updates to their laws.
• Alaska, Missouri, and Nebraska will have new paid sick leave laws which for the first time require employers to provide anywhere from 40-56 hours of paid sick time depending on their size.

All of these laws are different when it comes to coverage, carryover and use rules, and effective dates, so make sure you understand the law in every state where you have employees to ensure that you’re able to stay on the right side of these varied requirements. Employers will be required to comply with the implementation dates that range from Spring through Fall of 2025. Facing additional questions on what these new laws require of employers? Contact Saman Haque, Laura Friedel, or another member of Levenfeld Pearlstein’s Employment and Executive Compensation group for more information.