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More State Paid Leave Laws Ahead & More

March 25, 2025 (1 min read)

Patchwork of Paid Leave Laws Set to Continue

There’s currently no federal law requiring paid leave. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 only requires employers to provide unpaid time off.

But 19 states have laws requiring paid sick leave, as well as 17 cities and four counties, according to the non-profit National Partnership for Women and Families. In addition, 13 states require some type of paid family and medical leave.

Details of the laws can vary. Some permit employers to provide partial pay for certain forms of leave, for example. Others require specific types of paid leave, such as New York’s recently enacted law mandating paid leave for prenatal medical checkups.

And it looks like the patchwork nature of the laws is going to continue. Aleta Sprague of UCLA’s World Policy Analysis Center said she doesn’t see a federal paid leave law coming anytime soon.

But the issue is gaining momentum in the states. In November voters approved paid sick leave laws in Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska. And at least seven states are weighing paid family and medical leave legislation this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Jessica Mason, a senior policy analyst with the National Partnership for Women and Families, said interest in paid leave has been building since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic really brought to the forefront of everyone’s mind how important paid sick leave is,” she said. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

OH Pushes to Allow 14- & 15-Year Olds to Work Later

The Ohio Senate’s Committee on Workforce Development advanced a bill (SB 50) that would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work until 9 p.m. on school nights, two hours beyond the state’s current limit. The committee also advanced a resolution (SCR 3) urging Congress to amend the federal Fair Labor Standards Act to allow the state to make that change. (CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)

—Compiled by SNCJ Managing Editor KOREY CLARK

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