No federal law requires American employers to give paid sick days. The Family and Medical Leave Act requires unpaid leave only. In 2006 San Francisco voters passed a paid sick leave law that its supporters called the first of its kind. In 2011 Connecticut became the first state to pass one for private employers.
In May 2026 the advocacy group A Better Balance listed 18 states, one of them not yet in effect, and the District of Columbia with paid sick time laws.