State paid leave and disability insurance

See which states run paid family leave and disability insurance programs, how they fit with the FMLA, and how to record a leave in Every

Several states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have programs that pay workers part of their wages while they take family or medical leave, or while an illness or injury that isn’t from work keeps them from working. Who must take part, and what employers do, differs from state to state.

This page explains general rules, not legal or tax advice for your company. Rules change, and they depend on where your company is registered and where your people work. Before you act, check with your own lawyer, accountant or tax advisor.

State programs

Each row links the program’s own page.

Two programs start in stages. In Maryland, contributions begin January 1, 2027, and benefits become available January 1, 2028. In Virginia, payroll contributions begin April 1, 2028, and benefits become available December 1, 2028.

New Hampshire and Vermont also have paid family and medical leave insurance, but it’s voluntary:

• In New Hampshire, employers aren’t required to provide NH Paid Family and Medical Leave, but state law gives all employers responsibilities regarding it.
• In Vermont, employers can opt in to the Vermont Family and Medical Leave Insurance Plan.

What employers do

Employer duties differ by program. For example:

• In California, employers withhold mandatory payroll deductions for Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave and send the contributions to the EDD.
• In Delaware, most businesses with 10 or more employees must take part.
• In Hawaii, the law requires employers to provide temporary disability insurance coverage, for example by buying an insured plan from an authorized insurance carrier.
• In Maryland, each employer with at least one employee there registers with FAMLI. Employers may withhold up to half the contribution from employees’ paychecks, add their half and send the total each quarter.
• In New York, virtually all employers must provide disability and Paid Family Leave benefits coverage for their employees.
• In Oregon, employees pay contributions, and so do employers with 25 or more employees on average.

When someone asks for leave

In California, an employer gives new hires both of these brochures, and gives an employee who asks for time off the one for their reason:

• The Disability Insurance Provisions brochure (DE 2515), for pregnancy, childbirth or an illness, injury or surgery that isn’t from work
• The Paid Family Leave Benefits brochure (DE 2511), to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill family member or support a family member in the US armed forces who is deploying abroad

In New York, Paid Family Leave gives eligible employees job-protected, paid leave and continued health insurance.

How state programs fit with the FMLA

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) gives eligible employees of covered employers unpaid, job-protected leave for family and medical reasons. During it, the employer keeps up the employee’s group health benefits on the same terms. The Department of Labor’s FMLA page has the details.

• Covered employers include private employers with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks of the current or previous calendar year.
• Eligible employees have worked for the employer at least 12 months, with at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before the leave, at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles.
• An eligible employee takes up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period, or up to 26 workweeks of military caregiver leave.
• When an employee asks for FMLA leave, or the employer learns a leave may qualify, the employer tells the employee within 5 business days, absent extenuating circumstances, whether they’re eligible.
• After the leave, the employee goes back to the same job, or an equivalent one with the same pay, benefits and terms.
• The employer keeps its FMLA records for at least 3 years.

Where the FMLA and a state law both apply:

• The FMLA doesn’t override a state or local law that gives greater leave rights. The employer follows both, and leave that qualifies under both counts against both.
• Leave under a disability plan that meets the FMLA’s criteria counts as FMLA leave for a serious health condition. Because that leave is paid, neither the employer nor the employee can require accrued paid time off to be substituted for it. They can agree, where state law permits, to have paid leave supplement the plan’s benefit.
• The same holds for an absence covered by workers’ compensation.

In Every

Every turns on time off and leave of absence company by company. If you don’t see them, email [e-mail] to ask about them.

Record a leave of absence

Company Admins and HR Admins record a leave on a person’s profile in People. Add Leave appears for a person who has a pay schedule and hasn’t been terminated. Each phase of a leave sets what your company pays a salaried person each week in place of their salary, and can note the weekly benefit their state program pays them.

1. Open the leave form

   On People, select the person, then select Actions → Add Leave. Or, on the Job & pay tab’s Leave of absence card, select Add leave.

2. Choose the reason

   In Choose reason, select the reason for the leave, such as Medical leave or Parental leave (birthing parent).

3. Add a phase

   Select Add phase. In the phase dialog, enter the phase’s Name, Start date and End date.

4. Enter the state benefit

   Optional: in Weekly benefit (optional), enter the weekly amount from the person’s state claim letter.

5. Enter what your company pays

   In Weekly gross salary (required), enter what your company pays a salaried person each week during the phase. For an unpaid phase, enter 0.

6. Save the phase

   In the phase dialog, select Add phase. Add each later phase the same way, such as an unpaid phase after a paid one.

7. Choose how benefit contributions are paid

   When Benefit contributions appears, select Take from leave pay or Take from future paychecks.

8. Attach documents

   Optional: under Supporting documentation, upload the official documents for the leave.

9. Save the leave

   Select Save leave.

A leave needs at least one phase.

In each regular payroll, the days a phase covers come off the person’s salary, and payroll pays those days at the phase’s weekly gross salary, converted to the pay period. Benefit contributions says the person’s coverage continues during the leave and they still owe their usual contributions. Their paystub for each such payroll says their pay was adjusted for a leave of absence, and that a state benefit is paid by the state and isn’t on the paystub (see the employees’ guide to paid leave and disability insurance).

Time off policies

On Time → Time Off, each time off policy is Paid time off or Unpaid time off (see Set up time off policies).

The paid family leave and disability alert

Company Admins and HR Admins see a paid family leave and disability compliance alert when Home has one. To record your provider from it:

1. Open the alert

   On Home, select the alert to open Setup paid family leave & disability insurance.

2. Enter your provider

   In Paid family leave and disability provided by, enter your provider’s name.

3. Save the provider

   Select Submit. Every completes the alert.

If you don’t have a provider, the sheet links to an application. To dismiss the alert instead:

1. On the alert, select Dismiss. Confirm you don’t need PFL & Disability insurance asks you to confirm that each employee on payroll, excluding contractors, is a company owner.
2. Select Dismiss, we are all founders and don’t need insurance.

Payroll tax accounts and workers’ compensation

Settings → Payroll → Company tax accounts takes an account number for each of your company’s tax agencies (see Payroll taxes). You record your workers’ compensation insurer and policy number from its compliance alert on Home (see Workers’ compensation).