Effective 1/1/2026:
Delaware Paid Family and Medical Leave
Effective January 1, 2026, Delaware Paid Family and Medical Leave (Paid Leave) provides leave with pay to eligible employees for the following parental, medical, and family caregiving leave reasons:
Up to 6 weeks of medical leave for the employee to care for a serious health condition due to an illness or accident, including pregnancy and childbirth (in a 24-month period).
Up to 6 weeks of family caregiving leave (in a 24-month period) to:
care for a family member with a serious health condition as defined under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), including an illness or accident of a child, spouse, or parent; or
manage family affairs for any qualifying exigency related to the military deployment of the employee’s covered family member as defined under the FMLA.
Up to 12 weeks of parental leave to bond with a new child within the first year of their birth, adoption, or foster care placement (in a 12-month period).
If an employee takes any combination of medical, family caregiving, parental, and qualified exigency leave during a benefit year, paid leave available under Delaware Paid Leave is limited to 12 weeks of total, combined leave per year.
Small businesses in Delaware, those with fewer than 10 employees working in Delaware, are not obligated to provide any Delaware Paid Leave.
Employers with between 10 and 24 employees working in Delaware are only obligated to provide parental leave benefits.
Employers with 25 or more employees working in Delaware are obligated to provide medical, family caregiving, parental, and qualified exigency leave benefits.
For additional information, review Delaware Paid Leave is coming and Delaware Paid Leave – Program overview and FAQs.
Illinois Blood and Organ Donation Leave
Effective January 1, 2026, Illinois Employee Blood and Organ Donation Leave Act has been amended to expand its coverage to make paid leave for organ donation available to part-time employees.
The Act provides full-time employees up to a total of 10 days of paid leave in any 12-month period to serve as an organ donor.
This amendment permits part-time employees to take up to 10 days of leave in any 12-month period to serve as an organ donor. To calculate compensation for a part-time employee using organ donation leave, the employer must calculate the daily average pay the part-time employee received during their previous two months of employment and compensate the employee in the amount of the daily average pay for the leave days used. Although full-time employees may use paid leave to donate blood, the amendment does not extend paid blood donor leave to part-time employees.
For more information, the amended law can be viewed here.
Illinois Pregnancy-Related and Lactation Accommodations
Effective January 1, 2026, Illinois Pregnancy-Related and Lactation Accommodations has amended the break time for nursing mothers section. An employer shall compensate the employee during the break time at the employee's regular rate of compensation. An employer shall not require the employee to use paid leave during the break time or reduce the employee's compensation during the break time in any other manner. An employer shall provide paid reasonable break time as needed by the employee unless to do so would create an undue hardship.
Minnesota Paid Leave
Minnesota Paid Leave is a mandated paid leave program that offers wage replacement and job protection benefits if an employee is unable to work due to injury or illness, including pregnancy and childbirth effective January 1, 2026.
Effective January 1, 2026, Minnesota Paid Leave provides leave with pay to eligible employees for the following parental, medical, and safe leave reasons:
Up to 12 weeks of medical leave for the employee to care for a serious health condition, including pregnancy, childbirth, recovery, or surgery.
Up to 12 weeks of family leave to:
bond with a new child within the first year of their birth, adoption, or foster care placement;
care for a family member with a serious health condition;
manage family affairs for any qualifying exigency related to the military deployment of the employee’s family member; or
safe leave if the employee or their family member is a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking.
Covered Employers: All employers regardless of their size or number of employees located in Minnesota.
Coverage options: The cost of the program will be 0.88%* of an employee’s taxable wages. An employer may not deduct more than a maximum of 50% (0.44%) of this premium to their employees through wage deduction. (*Anticipated rate in 2025)
Employee eligibility: Employees must have earned at least 5.3% of the state average weekly wage in the individual's base period or self-employed individuals who elect coverage under the plan. Some Seasonal Workers are excluded.
Job Protection: Requires continuation of benefits and the right to reinstatement after 90 days of tenure.
Benefits:
Employees receive up to 90% of their average weekly wage on a sliding scale. If an employee takes both family and medical leave during a benefit year, paid leave available under Minnesota Paid Leave cannot exceed 20 weeks. If an employee has worked for their employer for at least 90 days or more, this leave may also be job protected.
Family member includes a child (biological, adopted, step, or foster child, or a child you raise even if you are not legally related), parent or person that raised the employee, parent-in-law, spouse, domestic partner, sibling, grandparent or spouse’s grandparent, grandchild, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, or any individual with whom the employee has a personal relationship that depends on the employee like family, even if not related by blood.
It can be taken intermittently (minimum of one day) or continuously.
For additional information, review Minnesota Paid Leave - Frequently Asked Questions and Minnesota Paid Leave – Individuals Families Toolkit.
New Hampshire Leave to Attend Medical Appointments for Childbirth, Postpartum Care, and Infant Pediatric Health
Requires employers with at least 20 employees to allow employees to take up to 25 hours of unpaid, job-protected leave to:
attend the employee's own medical appointments for childbirth and postpartum care; or
accompany the employee’s child to medical appointments within the first year of the child's birth or adoption.
If the employee and their spouse are both employed by the same employer, they may be limited to a combined total of 25 hours of leave that may be taken within the first year of the child’s birth or adoption.
New Hampshire Spouse Military Leave
Requires employers with 50 or more employees at the same location in New Hampshire to allow eligible employees up to 5 cumulative years of unpaid, job-protected leave to spend time with a spouse who is a member of the armed forces of the United States or National Guard, who are involuntarily mobilized in support of war, national emergencies, or contingency operations.
Oregon Paid Leave (Family and Medical Leave Insurance)
Effective January 1, 2026, the amendment updates the definition of unemployment benefits that would disqualify an employee from receiving FAMLI benefits, replacing the specific reference to Oregon unemployment benefits with a broader reference to state or federal unemployment wage replacement benefits. There are additional details included in the link to the bill here.
Oregon Paid Sick Leave
Effective January 1, 2026, Oregon Paid Sick Leave has amended the allowable uses of sick time an employee may use. An employee may use accrued sick time for blood donation that is made in connection with a voluntary program for the donation of blood that is approved or accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks or the American Red Cross.
Rhode Island Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI)
Effective January 1, 2026, Rhode Island will mandate paid leave by allowing qualified employees to take medical leave to undergo donation procedures, medical tests, and recovery related to being a living organ donor or bone marrow transplant donor. The law specifies that the maximum durations of leave for each type of donation is:
no more than 5 business days of recovery from a bone marrow transplant; and
up to 30 business days recovery from a living organ donor transplant.
The state has also added expanded caregiver allowance to include siblings. Current law provides leave to workers who take time off work to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, or to bond with a new child.
Key Point to keep in mind:
Rhode Island has amended its law related to temporary caregiver benefits. Under the law, an employee is eligible for monetary benefits during weeks where they are absent from work in order to bond with a newborn or newly placed child, or care for a family member with a serious health condition. Effective January 1, 2026, employees are entitled to 8 weeks of temporary caregiver benefits for this purpose.
Washington Domestic Violence Leave
Effective January 1, 2026, Washington Domestic Violence Leave is amended to expand access to reasonable leave under the law for employees who are, or whose family member is, a victim of hate crime. Hate crime means certain malicious and intentional offenses committed against a person because of the person’s race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, or mental, physical, or sensory disability.
Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML)
Effective January 1, 2026, Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) is making amendments to the law. Here is a summary of the changes:
Benefits: The minimum claim period to qualify for benefits is reduced from 8 to 4 consecutive hours.
Employer Applicability for Job Protection:
Previously, employees were required to work for an employer with at least 50 employees in the state of Washington to be entitled to job protection. The amendment decreases this threshold over a three-year period, providing an eligible employee with protection if the employer has:
25 or more employees from January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2026
15 or more employees from January 1, 2027, to December 31, 2027
8 or more employees on or after January 1, 2028.
Employee Eligibility for Job Protection:
Previously, to be entitled to job protection, an employee receiving benefits from state administration was required to have worked 1,250 hours over the prior 12-month period, and an employee receiving benefits through a voluntary plan was required to have worked 965 hours over the prior 9-month period.
The amendment removes the minimum hourly thresholds and instead provides that all employees, regardless of plan type, must have begun employment with their current employer at least 180 calendar days prior to taking leave to qualify for job protection.
Health Care Coverage: The requirement for employers to maintain health care coverage is expanded; employers must maintain an employee’s health care coverage during any period of leave in the WA PFML program in which the employee is also entitled to employment protection.
For more information, you can read the amendment to the law here.