Maximum Paid Leave Duration in Weeks, by State (January 2026)
Table providing durations for paid medical, paid family or combined paid family and medical leave by state.
* Leave purposes in some states include military exigency leave (CA, DE, MA, MD, NY, WA), “safe” leave (NJ, OR), or both (CO, CT, ME, MN).
** The range represents additional weeks, generally for pregnancy-related health issues. Maryland's law permits two 12-week periods of leave if a worker has both a new child and a serious personal health issue. Minnesota's law permits one 12-week period of leave for a family caregiving or personal medical reason reason and allows an additional 8 weeks of leave -‡
up to 20 maximum per year - for a worker who has both needs in one year.
‡D.C.'s law was expanded to include 12 weeks for all types of leave, in addition to 2 weeks of prenatal leave, effective October 1, 2022. It was previously expanded temporarily in October 2021 to include 6 weeks of personal medical leave, an increase from 2 weeks. D.C. also added 2 weeks of pre-natal leave in October 2021.
‡‡ Rhode Island's duration increased to 8 weeks in 2026, up from 7 weeks in 2025, 6 weeks in 2023, 5 weeks in 2022, and 4 weeks from 2013-2021.
‡‡‡ Delaware's law provides 12 weeks of parental leave annually, but only 6 weeks of family or medical leave within a 24-month period. Only businesses with 25 or more employees must provide all types of leave; businesses with 11-24 employees are only obligated to permit parental leave and can limit the duration to less than 12 weeks in the program's first two years. Employers with 10 employees or less are not required to permit employees to take any paid leave.
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** The range represents additional weeks, generally for pregnancy-related health issues. Maryland's law permits two 12-week periods of leave if a worker has both a new child and a serious personal health issue. Minnesota's law permits one 12-week period of leave for a family caregiving or personal medical reason reason and allows an additional 8 weeks of leave -‡
up to 20 maximum per year - for a worker who has both needs in one year.
‡D.C.'s law was expanded to include 12 weeks for all types of leave, in addition to 2 weeks of prenatal leave, effective October 1, 2022. It was previously expanded temporarily in October 2021 to include 6 weeks of personal medical leave, an increase from 2 weeks. D.C. also added 2 weeks of pre-natal leave in October 2021.
‡‡ Rhode Island's duration increased to 8 weeks in 2026, up from 7 weeks in 2025, 6 weeks in 2023, 5 weeks in 2022, and 4 weeks from 2013-2021.
‡‡‡ Delaware's law provides 12 weeks of parental leave annually, but only 6 weeks of family or medical leave within a 24-month period. Only businesses with 25 or more employees must provide all types of leave; businesses with 11-24 employees are only obligated to permit parental leave and can limit the duration to less than 12 weeks in the program's first two years. Employers with 10 employees or less are not required to permit employees to take any paid leave.
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