Though Congress has just passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, there are still many employees across the country who are not receiving the expanded medical and family leave that they need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Understanding paid sick leave is even more important that ever in light of the moment we’re living in. Paid sick leave isn’t federally mandated. Rather, the laws are created on a state-by-state basis. To help you better understand it, here is a map of U.S. states that offer mandatory paid sick leave to employees who qualify.
This map, provided by The Zoldan Law Group PLLC, shows that only 12 states as well as Washington D.C. have implemented paid sick leave laws.
Five states including Pennsylvania, Illinois, Minnesota, New York and Texas only have laws at the local level that mandate paid sick leave.
Three states including Maryland, California and Washington have local laws for specific cities.
Despite the fact that there is now expanded paid sick leave across the country in the wake of COVID-19, it is important to note that this is not a permanent change to sick leave laws. It will remain to be seen if this global crisis will spark greater change to the U.S. employment laws and working life as whole.
