Leave Legislation
Several state and federal legislative updates related to workplace absences are enacted or updated each year and employers may need to comply. Below please find recent leave legislation to be aware of.
Jurisdiction
Type
| State | Legislation | Type | Effective Date | Summary | Date Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | CA Crime Victim Leave | Enacted Law | 1/1/2026 | CA AB406 amends the existing crime victim leave law. It allows employees to use leave if they or a family member are a victim of certain crimes and are attending judicial proceedings related to that crime, including, but not limited to, any delinquency proceeding, a post-arrest release decision, plea, sentencing, postconviction release decision, or any proceeding where a right of that person is an issue. | 10/1/2025 |
| Connecticut | CT Victim of Family and Violence Leave | Enacted Law | 10/1/2025 | Expands eligibility to all non-certified school employees. | 6/30/2025 |
| Federal | DOL Publishes FMLA Opinion Letter | Administrative Guidance | 1/14/2025 | The opinion letter addresses whether the Family and Medical Leave Act regulations pertaining to substitution of paid leave apply when employees take leave under state or local paid family leave programs. | 1/14/2025 |
| Federal | DOL Publishes Opinion Letter | Administrative Guidance | 1/1/2026 | In September 2025, the U.S. DOL issued an Opinion Letter to provide guidance on calculating FMLA entitlement for employees working a fixed “Pitman Schedule” requiring 12-hour shifts over a 2-week cycle with mandatory overtime. | 9/15/2025 |
| Illinois | Nursing Mother in the Workplace Act | Enacted Law | 1/1/2026 | Updates reasonable break time to express milk to 30 minutes of paid break time. | 8/1/2025 |
| Illinois | Family Military Leave Act | Enacted Law | 8/1/2025 | Allows qualifying employees of covered employers (51+ employees) to take up to 8 hours a month (40 hours per year) of paid leave to participate in a funeral honors detail. | 8/1/2025 |
| Illinois | Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act | Enacted Law | 6/1/2026 | An employee of an employer with 16-50 employees is entitled to use a maximum of 10 days of unpaid leave while any child of the employee is a patient in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Additionally an employee of an employer with 51 or more employees shall be entitled to use 20 days of unpaid neonatal intensive care leave while a child of the employee is a patient in a neonatal intensive care unit. | 8/15/2025 |
| Illinois | IL Employee Blood and Organ Donation Leave Act | Enacted Law | 1/1/2026 | A participating employee or part-time employee of an employer may use up to 10 days of leave in any 12-month period to serve as an organ donor. | 8/15/2025 |
| Indiana | Indiana Educational Activities Leave | Enacted Law | 7/1/2025 | An employer may not take an adverse employment action against an employee as a result of the employee's absence from work to attend a case conference committee meeting for the employee's child. | 4/24/2025 |
| Maryland | MD Parental Leave: 15-49 Employees | Enacted Law | 10/1/2025 | Effective 10/1/2025 the Maryland Parental Leave Act excludes employers that are covered by the federal FMLA in the current calendar year. | 5/6/2025 |
| Nevada | NV Civil Air Patrol Leave | Enacted Law | 10/1/2025 | Volunteer members of the Nevada Wing of the Civil Air Patrol are entitled to a leave without loss of position and seniority accrued leave or benefits for the purpose of training (up to 10 days per federal fiscal year) or responding to an emergency mission (up to 30 workdays during each federal fiscal year). | 5/30/2025 |
| Oregon | Oregon Family Leave Act | Enacted Law | 9/28/2025 | The amendment clarifies leave eligibility for caring for a sick child expands leave without prior notice authorizes employer access to benefit information and updates return-to-work certification and eligibility for airline employees. | 5/14/2025 |
| Vermont | VT Parental and Family Leave | Enacted Law | 7/1/2025 | Substantially expands the reasons and covered relationships for which leave can apply. Expands eligibility for airline flight crews to match the FMLA. | 12/3/2024 |
| Vermont | VT Short-Term Family Leave | Enacted Law | 7/1/2025 | Substantially expands the covered relationships for which leave can apply. | 6/19/2025 |
| Washington | WA Domestic Violence Leave | Enacted Law | 1/1/2026 | Expands access to leave and safety accommodations to include workers who are victims of hate crimes. | 5/20/2025 |