New and Updated State Sick Leave Laws in 2025

At a Glance

• Effective in 2025, Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska will introduce brand new sick leave laws and several states’ laws will debut new requirements.
• Employers with employees in any of these states — and in particular, employers with employees in multiple states with sick leave laws — should review their sick leave or paid time off policies to ensure compliance.

Over the past decade, states and localities have adopted sick leave laws and ordinances, and the number of sick leave laws has increased every year. The year 2025 will be no exception, as three states — Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska — will introduce brand new sick leave laws and several states’ laws will debut new requirements. Below, we summarize the key provisions of these new and updated laws.

New Laws

Alaska

On November 5, 2024, Alaska voters passed Measure 1, which will, among other things, provide paid sick leave effective July 1, 2025. With some limited exceptions, Alaska’s sick leave law will apply to all nonexempt employees, as well as employees who are exempt from minimum wage and overtime laws under the “white collar” exemptions (the professional, executive and administrative exemptions), the outside sales exemption or the computer professional exemption. Other exempt employees are not covered by the law.

Employees must accrue at least one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 56 hours for employers with 15 or more employees and 40 hours for employers with fewer than 15 employees. Paid sick leave must carry over to the following year, but employers may limit annual usage to the accrual cap (i.e., 56 hours for large employers and 40 hours for small employers). The law does not explicitly state whether an employer may frontload leave at the beginning of the year, rather than allowing employees to accrue leave.

Employees may use sick leave for their own or a family member’s illness, injury or health condition (including preventative care), or for certain absences due to the employee’s or the employee’s family member’s domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.

Missouri

Also on November 5, 2024, voters in Missouri passed Proposition A, which will, among other things, require paid sick leave benefits effective May 1, 2025. Missouri’s law will cover most private-sector employees.

Like Alaska’s new sick leave law, Proposition A requires that employees must accrue at least 1 hour of leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 56 hours for employers with 15 or more employees and 40 hours for employers with fewer than 15 employees. Employees may carry over up to 80 hours of unused paid sick leave to the next year, and employers may limit annual usage to the accrual cap (i.e., 56 hours for large employers and 40 hours for small employers). In the alternative, employers may frontload the full amount of leave at the beginning of the year; however, if they elect to do so, they must pay employees for unused leave at the end of the year.

Employees may use sick time for their own or a family member’s illness, injury or health condition (including preventative care); for certain absences due to the employee’s or a family member’s domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking; or for specific reasons due to a public health emergency.

Nebraska

Not to be outdone, Nebraska voters also passed a new sick leave law on November 5, Initiative 436, effective October 1, 2025. That law covers most private-sector employees who work in Nebraska for at least 80 hours per year.

Employees must accrue at least one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 56 hours for employers with 20 or more employees, and 40 hours for employers with fewer than 20 employees. Paid sick leave must carry over to the following year, but employers may limit annual usage to the accrual cap (i.e., 56 hours for large employers and 40 hours for small employers). In the alternative, employers may frontload the full amount of leave at the beginning of the year; however, if they elect to do so, they must pay employees for unused leave at the end of the year.

Employees may use sick time for their own or a family member’s illness, injury or health condition (including preventative care) or for specific reasons due to a public health emergency.

Updated Laws

California

Effective January 1, 2025, California’s Healthy Workplace Healthy Family Act will allow employees to use paid sick leave to cover absences for certain specified purposes when the employee’s family member is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking. The law already protects and allows the use of paid sick leave for such absences when the employee is a victim.

Connecticut

Effective January 1, 2025, Connecticut’s sick leave law will apply to all employees (with limited exceptions), rather than just to the nonexempt “service workers” that it currently covers. Furthermore, effective January 1, 2025, employers with 25 or more employees in Connecticut, rather than 50, will be covered by the law. Beginning January 1, 2026, employers with 11 or more employees in Connecticut will be covered, and starting January 1, 2027, all employers will be covered.

The new accrual rate for paid sick and safe leave will be one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked (up from one hour for every 40 hours worked) and employees may accrue up to 40 hours of leave per year. If an employer frontloads sick and safe leave at the beginning of the year, carryover from year to year will not be required. If an employer uses the accrual method, employees still must be allowed to carry over at least 40 hours, though employers may limit usage of sick leave to 40 hours per year.

Employees may also use paid leave for the following new reasons: (1) the employee or the employee’s family member’s illness, injury or health condition (including preventative care); (2) specific purposes related to family violence or sexual assault; and (3) certain closures and quarantine restrictions related to a public health emergency.

In addition, the definition of “family member” will include a spouse, sibling, child, grandparent, grandchild or parent of an employee, or an individual who is related to the employee by blood or by an affinity whose close association the employee can show to be equivalent to those family relationships (previously, the law only covered spouses and children). The law also includes new notice and certification requirements.

Massachusetts

Effective November 21, 2024, employees in Massachusetts may use earned sick time for absences to care for themselves or their spouse in the event of pregnancy loss or failed assisted reproduction, adoption or surrogacy.

Michigan

Effective February 21, 2025, rather than the Paid Medical Leave Act (PMLA), Michigan employers will be required to comply with the requirements of the Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA). ESTA includes more generous employee entitlements to paid sick and safe leave compared to the PMLA. A summary of the differences between the two laws is discussed in our previous alert.

Minnesota

Effective January 1, 2025, the protections granted by Minnesota’s Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) law will expand to all paid leave made available to employees in excess of the minimum amount required for absences from work due to personal illness or injury. In other words, additional paid leave benefits must meet the same requirements that apply to the rest of their employees’ earned sick and safe time. This includes notice, documentation and anti-retaliation requirements, but does not include accrual requirements. This change will not apply to short-term or long-term disability, or other similar salary continuation benefits.

For other changes to Minnesota’s ESST law that took effect in 2024, please check out our previous alert.

New York State

Effective January 1, 2025, New York employers must provide up to 20 hours of paid prenatal personal leave per year in addition to the current required paid sick leave. Paid prenatal personal leave includes leave taken for health care services during or related to pregnancy and discussions with a health care provider related to pregnancy. Unlike regular sick leave, which may be taken in 4-hour increments, paid prenatal personal leave may be taken in hourly increments.

New York’s COVID-19 sick leave is also scheduled to expire on July 31, 2025.

Washington State

Effective January 1, 2025, employees in Washington may take paid sick leave for the closure of the employee’s child’s school or place of care due to a federal, state or local government declaration of emergency. In addition, the definition of “family member” for sick leave purposes will be expanded to include: (1) an individual who regularly resides in an employee’s home with an expectation that the employee cares for the individual; and (2) an individual whose relationship with the employee creates an expectation that the employee cares for the individual, and the individual depends on the employee for care. Finally, the amendments clarify the definitions of “child,” “grandchild,” “grandparent” and “spouse.”

Key Takeaways

• Employers with employees in any of these states — and in particular, employers with employees in multiple states with sick leave laws — should review their sick leave or paid time off policies to ensure compliance.
• Employers should also be aware that many cities and counties have enacted local paid sick and safe leave laws that may be changing in the coming year as well.
• Employers should work with counsel to revise any policies and practices as necessary, including coordinating paid sick leave with other available time off benefits and providing any required notices to employees eligible to receive paid sick leave.

We will continue to monitor state rollouts or updates of sick leave laws.