State Paid Sick Leave Calculator
Estimate earned sick leave or general paid-leave accrual using the state where you work, your hours worked, employer size, carryover balance and leave already used. The calculator distinguishes accrual from annual use limits instead of treating every state as a flat 40-hour rule.
Estimate your state-law leave
Uses the accrual method. Frontloaded PTO policies can produce a different balance.
State-specific details
Informational estimate only. Coverage can change because of exemptions, local ordinances, collective bargaining agreements, industry rules, waiting periods, frontloading or a more generous employer policy. This is not legal, payroll or HR advice.
Quick answer: There is no single U.S. paid sick leave formula. Many state laws use 1 hour per 30 hours worked, but Washington uses 1 per 40, Rhode Island 1 per 35, Vermont 1 per 52, D.C. uses employer-size tiers, and some states provide general paid leave that can be used for any reason. Annual use, carryover and whether the leave must be paid can also change with employer size.
Reviewed by Ruby Miller · HR & Employment Law Content Lead · Updated
How the state sick leave calculator works
The calculator starts with the law’s statutory accrual rate, then applies state-specific limits and the details you enter. It does not assume every state has a 40-hour cap, because that is one of the easiest ways to get a sick-leave estimate wrong.
Hours worked are converted into earned leave using the state’s rate, such as 1:30, 1:40, 1:35 or another statutory formula.
Your carryover or starting balance is added, then any state-level bank cap is applied where the law allows one.
Leave already used is deducted, and a separate annual use limit is applied where the statute allows one.
Why the distinction matters: in California, for example, an accrual-plan employee can build a larger bank than the amount an employer may allow them to use in one year. “Accrued,” “carried over” and “usable this year” are not interchangeable terms.
2026 state paid sick leave and general paid-leave rules at a glance
This table covers broad statewide private-sector laws modeled by the calculator. It intentionally separates dedicated sick/safe leave laws from general paid-leave laws that can also be used for illness. Local laws may be more generous.
| Jurisdiction | Type | Base accrual | Common annual limit | Key employer-size rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Sick leave | 1 hr / 30 hrs | 40 or 56 hrs | Under 15 FTEs: 40; 15+: 56 |
| Arizona | Sick time | 1 / 30 | 24 or 40 hrs | Under 15: 24; 15+: 40 |
| California | Sick leave | 1 / 30 | Use: 40 hrs or 5 days | Accrual-plan bank may be capped at 80 hrs or 10 days |
| Colorado | Sick leave | 1 / 30 | 48 hrs | Broad employer coverage |
| Connecticut | Sick leave | 1 / 30 | 40 hrs | In 2026, generally 11+ employees; expands again in 2027 |
| Maryland | Sick & safe | 1 / 30 | 40 hrs earned/year | 15+: paid; under 15: generally unpaid |
| Massachusetts | Sick time | 1 / 30 | 40 hrs | 11+: paid; 10 or fewer: may be unpaid |
| Michigan | Sick time | 1 / 30 | Use: 40 or 72 hrs | Small business (10 or fewer): 40; others: 72 |
| Minnesota | Sick & safe | 1 / 30 | 48 hrs/year | Carryover bank can generally reach 80 hrs |
| Nebraska | Sick time | 1 / 30 | 40 or 56 hrs | 11–19: 40; 20+: 56; under 11 generally not covered |
| New Jersey | Sick leave | 1 / 30 | 40 hrs | Employers of all sizes generally covered |
| New Mexico | Sick leave | 1 / 30 | Use: 64 hrs | Law does not impose a general 64-hour accrual cap |
| New York | Sick leave | 1 / 30 | 40 or 56 hrs | 100+: 56; 5–99: 40; smallest employers depend on income |
| Oregon | Sick time | 1 / 30 | 40 hrs | Paid at 10+ employees, or 6+ with a Portland location |
| Rhode Island | Sick & safe | 1 / 35 | 40 hrs | 18+: paid; fewer than 18: may be unpaid |
| Vermont | Sick time | 1 / 52 | 40 hrs | Broad covered-employer rule with statutory exceptions |
| Washington | Sick leave | 1 / 40 | No general annual accrual cap | At least 40 unused hrs must be allowed to carry over |
| District of Columbia | Sick & safe | 1 / 37, 43 or 87 | 3, 5 or 7 days | Rate and day limit depend on employer size |
| Illinois | General paid leave | 1 / 40 | 40 hrs | Can be used for any reason |
| Maine | General paid leave | 1 / 40 | 40 hrs | Generally applies to employers with more than 10 employees |
| Nevada | General paid leave | 0.01923 hr / hr worked | Use may be limited to 40 hrs | Generally 50+ Nevada employees; first 2 years of operation exempt |
Not seeing your state in the table? The calculator still includes every state. For states without a broad statewide private-sector accrual law in this model, it returns a local-law/employer-policy warning rather than inventing a default entitlement.
Accrual rate is only one part of the answer
Annual accrual cap
An accrual cap limits how much new leave an employee can earn during the benefit year. Minnesota, for example, generally requires at least 48 hours of ESST accrual per year. New Mexico works differently: its law can limit annual use to 64 hours while accrual continues beyond that amount under the 1:30 method.
Annual use limit
A use limit controls how much of the available bank the employer may require the employee to stay within during a year. California and Michigan are important examples where the earned bank can be larger than the permitted annual use minimum.
Carryover and total bank
Carryover rules control what happens to unused hours at year-end. Some states require carryover but allow a maximum bank; others allow frontloading that changes or removes carryover duties. That is why the calculator asks for a starting balance instead of assuming every year begins at zero.
Paid versus protected unpaid sick time
Employer size can determine whether the leave must be paid. Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon and Rhode Island all have employer-size rules that can produce protected but unpaid sick time for smaller employers.
Worked examples
At the standard 1:30 accrual rate, 1,000 hours produces about 33.3 hours of accrued sick leave. Because that is below the 40-hour/5-day annual use minimum and below the accrual-plan bank cap, the estimated usable balance is 33.3 hours if nothing has been used and there is no carryover balance.
Washington uses 1 hour per 40 hours worked, not 1 per 30. 1,600 ÷ 40 = 40 hours. The state does not impose the same kind of general annual accrual cap as many 1:30 states.
Raw accrual is 60 hours at 1:30. A 100+ employee employer may limit annual use to 56 paid hours, so the use limit—not the raw accrual formula—becomes the practical ceiling for that year.
The employee can still earn protected sick time at 1:30. Whether it must be paid depends on location: a 7-employee employer can fall below the normal 10-employee threshold but meet the 6-employee Portland threshold.
Remote workers and multi-state employers
For state sick-leave analysis, the physical location where the employee performs work is usually more important than the employer’s headquarters. A company based in Texas can still have California, Washington or New York leave obligations for employees working in those states.
Remote and traveling employees can be harder. A worker may split time among jurisdictions, a statute may define how much work must be performed in-state, and local ordinances can layer additional rights on top of state law. Use the state selector as a starting point, not as a substitute for a jurisdiction-specific coverage review.
Local ordinance warning: city or county rules can be more generous than the state baseline. This calculator does not attempt to identify every local sick-leave ordinance.
Frontloaded sick leave and combined PTO policies
Many state laws let an employer comply by frontloading a full bank at the start of the year instead of adding leave hour by hour. A combined PTO policy can also satisfy a sick-leave law when it provides at least the required amount, accrual pace, permitted uses and protections.
This calculator is deliberately an accrual-method estimator. If your employer frontloads leave, the payroll or HR system’s available balance can be higher than the number produced from hours worked. You can enter that existing bank in the starting-balance field to compare the policy balance with the statutory accrual minimum.
Paid sick leave vs PTO vs FMLA
Usually short-duration paid time that accrues as work is performed and can be used for illness, medical care, caregiving or safe-leave reasons.
May be employer-provided vacation/PTO or a state law allowing paid leave for any reason. The rules are not automatically the same as dedicated sick leave.
A separate federal job-protection law for qualifying serious health, caregiving and family situations. Federal FMLA is generally unpaid, although paid leave may run at the same time.
For federal leave eligibility, use the FMLA Eligibility Calculator. For employer vacation-style accrual, use the PTO Accrual Calculator.
Common mistakes this calculator is designed to avoid
- Using 1 hour per 30 hours for every state. Washington, Rhode Island, Vermont, D.C., Illinois, Maine and Nevada use different formulas.
- Treating an annual use limit as an accrual cap. California, Michigan and New Mexico show why those are different concepts.
- Ignoring employer size. Employer headcount can change the number of hours, whether the leave is paid, or whether the state law applies at all.
- Using the company headquarters instead of the employee’s work location. State leave rules usually follow where work is performed.
- Assuming “no broad state law” means “no sick leave rights.” Local ordinances, industry-specific laws, public-sector rules and employer policies can still apply.
- Comparing an accrual estimate to a frontloaded PTO bank without accounting for the policy method. Those balances can legitimately differ.
State sick leave calculator FAQs
How do I calculate paid sick leave accrual?
Find the state’s accrual rate and divide hours worked by the required hours-per-leave-hour ratio. For a 1:30 law, 900 hours worked produces 30 hours of raw accrual. Then apply any annual accrual, use or balance limit separately.
Is paid sick leave required by federal law?
There is no general federal paid sick leave requirement for all private-sector employees. Federal laws can apply in narrower settings, while many states and local jurisdictions have their own paid sick or paid-leave rules.
Why does the calculator ask for employer size?
Because headcount changes the legal result in several jurisdictions. It can affect the annual hour limit, whether leave must be paid, or whether the statewide law applies to that employer in the first place.
Why is Washington different from most 1:30 states?
Washington requires at least 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked. It also has no general statewide annual accrual cap, although carryover and employer-policy rules still matter.
Can unused sick leave carry over?
Often yes, but the amount and effect differ by state. Some laws require carryover but allow a maximum bank; others change carryover obligations when the employer frontloads the full yearly amount.
Does my employer have to pay out unused sick leave when I leave the job?
State sick-leave statutes commonly do not require payout of unused sick leave at separation, but a combined PTO or vacation policy can create different payout rights under state wage law. Check the policy and state-specific rules.
Do part-time employees earn state sick leave?
Many state laws cover part-time workers because accrual is based on hours actually worked. Coverage exceptions and minimum work thresholds still vary by jurisdiction.
Can I use sick leave to care for a family member?
Many state sick and safe leave laws allow caregiving for specified family members, but the definition of family varies. Some laws also cover domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, school closures or other safe-leave reasons.
What if my employer gives me PTO instead of a separate sick bank?
A combined PTO policy can satisfy a state sick-leave law if it meets or exceeds the law’s minimum accrual, amount, permitted uses, pay and employee-protection requirements. The employer does not always need a separate line labeled “sick leave.”
What if my city has its own sick leave law?
Use the state result as a baseline only. A city or county ordinance may require faster accrual, more hours, broader coverage or different employer-size thresholds. The more protective rule can control.
Methodology and official sources
The calculator models broad statewide private-sector paid sick leave and general paid-leave statutes using current state labor-agency or statutory guidance reviewed in August 2026. The page does not attempt to replace the full statute, regulations, local ordinances or legal advice.
Core official references used for the 2026 rule set: