Two questions, two different laws

Almost every source, and almost every employer, blurs these together. Keep them apart, because they can have different answers for the same person on the same day.

  1. Will I be paid? That is a state wage-replacement program — an insurance benefit, usually funded by payroll contributions, claimed from a state agency or an insurance carrier.
  2. Can I go back to my job? That is job-protection law — the federal FMLA, and in some states a separate state statute. It gives you the right to return and, usually, to keep your health coverage. It gives you no money.

California's own agency states it without hedging: its Paid Family Leave program provides benefit payments but not job protection, and points to the FMLA or the California Family Rights Act for that. Someone can be paid for eight weeks and have no job at the end of them.3

New York is the opposite: one program delivers both. New Jersey pays through one law and protects through another. So the right question is never "does my state have paid family leave" — it is "which of my two problems does each law solve".

Not sure which of these is yours?

Sahvelo answers from what it has verified, and asks when it needs one more fact.

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Sahvelo gives information drawn from statutes, agency guidance and official forms. It is not legal advice for your particular situation. Terms & disclaimer.

What you actually need to determine

  1. Which state's program applies — normally where you work, not where the person you are caring for lives. New York expressly covers caring for family who live outside the state.
  2. Whether the person you are caring for counts as family under that program. This is where the state and federal answers most often differ.
  3. Whether the illness meets the program's definition of a serious health condition, which usually requires a health-care provider's certification rather than your description.
  4. Whether you are on the state plan or a private carrier's plan. New Jersey allows employers to provide the coverage through a private insurance carrier instead, and the claim route differs.
  5. How you intend to take the leave — in one block or a day at a time. In New Jersey that choice changes how much leave you get.
  6. Separately, whether the FMLA or a state job-protection law covers you: the FMLA needs twelve months of employment, 1,250 hours in the last twelve, and fifty employees at your worksite or within seventy-five miles.
  7. What your employer's own paid leave does, and whether it runs alongside the state benefit or instead of it. Employers differ and it is worth asking in writing.

Get the medical certification moving first. Every one of these programs runs on a health-care provider completing a form, and that is reliably the slowest step. It is also the step you do not control.1

The sentence to open with

Employers and colleagues answer the two questions as though they were one, and that single habit causes most of the confusion on this subject. Force them apart in the first sentence you say.

What to say to your employer

  • “I need leave to care for my parent. Can you tell me separately what protects my job, and what, if anything, replaces my wages?” If the answer comes back as one thing, ask again.
  • “Is our state benefit paid through the state plan or through a private carrier?” In some states the employer may use a private insurer, and that changes who you claim from.
  • “Do you require me to use accrued paid time off first, or alongside the benefit?” Employer rules on this vary and they affect how much you actually receive.
  • “Am I giving you proper advance notice as of today?” In at least one state, notice affects the size of the benefit and not merely the paperwork.
  • “Which form does the certifying practitioner complete, and where does it go?” Start that step the same day — it is reliably the slowest one and the one you do not control.

A state benefit can pay you while your job remains legally unprotected, and job-protected leave can protect you while nobody pays you anything. Establish both answers before you agree a start date, not after.

The trade nobody points out

Caring for a parent is rarely a single continuous block — it is appointments, bad weeks, a hospital admission, a discharge. Taking the leave in pieces sounds obviously right, and in New Jersey it costs you a third of the entitlement.2

New Jersey gives twelve weeks of benefits taken as one continuous period, or 56 individual days — eight weeks — taken intermittently. The way you claim determines what you are entitled to. Decide deliberately rather than by default, because the flexible option is four weeks shorter.2

And notice matters in money terms: without proper notice to the employer, New Jersey may reduce the benefit entitlement by fourteen days. Telling them early is worth two weeks.2

What changes where you live

Whether you are paid, how much, who counts as family, and whether the same law keeps your job — four answers that differ by state, and a fifth question underneath them: whether the state is the party to ask at all. In four of these ten it is not.

Does your state pay you?

The answer in 10 states

  • Arizona

    Sahvelo has not verified a state paid-family-leave program in Arizona, and does not assert that none exists. Most states have none, in which case the federal FMLA — unpaid — is the whole of the entitlement. Confirm with the Arizona Department of Economic Security before assuming either way.

  • California

    Yes. Paid Family Leave provides short-term wage replacement to someone taking time off to care for a seriously ill family member, administered by the Employment Development Department.3

  • Florida

    Sahvelo has not verified a state paid-family-leave program in Florida, and does not assert that none exists. Confirm with the Florida Department of Commerce before assuming either way.

  • Illinois

    No insurance program, but every employee who works in Illinois earns paid leave that may be used for any purpose at all — so caring for a parent qualifies without your having to say that is what it is for.14

  • Michigan

    No insurance program, but a real entitlement: Michigan mandates paid earned sick time on the employer, and caring for a family member is a named permitted use rather than something you have to argue for.1113

  • New Jersey

    Yes. Family Leave Insurance pays cash benefits to care for a seriously ill or injured loved one. Note that some employers provide it through a private insurance carrier instead of the state plan. Eligibility for the payment is an earnings test, not a service test: for claims starting in 2026, 20 weeks earning at least $310 weekly, or $15,500 combined in the base year.16

  • New York

    Yes. Paid Family Leave covers caring for a close family member with a serious health condition, including family members living outside New York State. Claims go through the employer's insurance carrier rather than a state agency.4

  • North Carolina

    No state program Sahvelo has verified — and, unusually, no city can create one either. North Carolina's Wage and Hour Act preempts any local ordinance, regulation or policy imposing a requirement on an employer as to benefits or leave, so there is no Charlotte or Durham rule to go looking for. That is worth saying out loud, because in Pennsylvania the opposite is true and the search is worth making.16

  • Virginia

    No state program Sahvelo has verified — and what Virginia did instead is worth knowing. Rather than run one, it defines private family leave insurance as a class of insurance an employer may buy, and names caring for a family member with a serious health condition as one of the things such a policy pays for. So this is a question for your employer, not for the Commonwealth.15

  • Washington

    Yes. Paid Family and Medical Leave is a state program covering time off to care for a family member with a serious health condition, and Washington's definition of who counts is the widest in this comparison.8

How much, and for how long?

The answer in 10 states

  • Arizona

    Not established. Sahvelo has not identified an Arizona paid family leave program; the entitlement it can verify for an Arizona worker is the federal FMLA, and the FMLA is unpaid.

  • California

    Up to 8 weeks in a 12-month period. The minimum weekly benefit is $50 and the maximum is $1,765.3

  • Florida

    Not established. Sahvelo has not identified a Florida paid family leave program; the entitlement it can verify for a Florida worker is the federal FMLA, and the FMLA is unpaid.

  • Illinois

    At least 40 hours in a 12-month period, accruing at one hour for every 40 worked. Smaller than Michigan's, and paid by the employer rather than replaced by the state.14

  • Michigan

    One hour for every 30 hours worked, usable up to 72 hours in a year — 40 at a small business — or the employer may front-load the whole amount at the start of the year. It is paid by the employer rather than replaced by the state, so there is no cap and no benefit calculation.11

  • New Jersey

    85% of your average weekly wage, capped at $1,119 in 2026. Twelve weeks if taken continuously; 56 individual days if taken intermittently.12

  • New York

    Up to 12 weeks at 67 percent of your pay, subject to a cap.4

  • North Carolina

    Not established. The federal FMLA is the entitlement Sahvelo can verify for a North Carolina worker, and it is unpaid.16

  • Virginia

    Whatever the policy your employer bought says. The statute defines the product as paying a percentage or portion of the employee's income loss and sets no rate, no cap and no duration. Ask for the policy rather than for a rule.15

  • Washington

    Up to 12 weeks of family leave in a rolling 52 weeks, capped at 16 weeks combined with medical leave, and extendable by two more where a serious health condition with a pregnancy causes incapacity. There is a seven-day waiting period, waived for a new child, and it may be served while being paid. The smallest payable claim is four consecutive hours, which makes intermittent care genuinely usable.9

Who counts as family?

The answer in 10 states

  • Arizona

    Not established. Under the federal FMLA: your own parent or someone who raised you, a spouse, or a child — expressly not a parent-in-law.•

  • California

    A seriously ill family member. Sahvelo has not captured California's full relationship list from the agency and does not state it here — ask EDD or check the claim form before assuming a relative is covered.3

  • Florida

    Not established. Under the federal FMLA: your own parent or someone who raised you, a spouse, or a child — expressly not a parent-in-law.•

  • Illinois

    Not applicable, and that is the point of it. The leave is for any purpose, so no relationship has to be established and no relative has to qualify. Where the caring runs beyond 40 hours a year, the federal FMLA's narrower definitions become the question again.14

  • Michigan

    The widest definition anywhere in this comparison. Child, parent, spouse or domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, anyone related by blood — and then it stops listing: anyone whose close association with you is the equivalent of a family relationship. A domestic partner is named throughout rather than left to be argued.12

  • New Jersey

    Now answered, and it is one of the three widest anywhere in this comparison. The Family Leave Act names a child, parent, parent-in-law, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, spouse, domestic partner or civil union partner, anyone related to you by blood — and then stops listing: any other individual you can show has a close association with you equivalent to a family relationship. The parent-in-law is the one to notice, because that is the exact relative the federal FMLA refuses. Note which law this is: it is the definition for the job-protected leave, and the Family Leave Insurance benefit is a separate statute.17•

  • New York

    The widest of the three: spouse, domestic partner without any registration requirement, child or stepchild and anyone you have legal custody of, parent or stepparent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, and sibling — plus anyone you stand in loco parentis to. Family living outside New York is covered.4

  • North Carolina

    Not established for any state entitlement. Under the federal FMLA: your own parent or someone who raised you, a spouse, or a child — expressly not a parent-in-law.•

  • Virginia

    The statute says a family member of the employee who has a serious health condition, and leaves the term to the policy. Under the federal FMLA, which is the floor beneath it: your own parent or someone who raised you, a spouse, or a child — expressly not a parent-in-law.15•

  • Washington

    The widest of them all, and not a list of relatives. Child, grandchild, grandparent, parent, sibling or spouse — plus anyone who regularly lives in your home, or where the relationship creates an expectation that you care for them and they depend on you for that care. A lodger with no such expectation is excluded; an unmarried partner or a friend being cared for at home may be included. Child covers a stepchild, a child's spouse and a child you stand in loco parentis to, regardless of age.8

Does the same law protect your job?

The answer in 10 states

  • Arizona

    Not established for any state program. Federal FMLA job protection applies if you meet its three tests.•

  • California

    Not from the paid program, which says so itself. But the California Family Rights Act protects the job for an employee with a year of service, 1,250 hours, and an employer of five or more — where the federal FMLA needs fifty within seventy-five miles. Where both apply, the employee gets the benefit of the more protective law.37

  • Florida

    Not established for any state program. Federal FMLA job protection applies if you meet its three tests.•

  • Illinois

    Not established as a separate question under this Act, which creates an entitlement to paid leave rather than a restoration right. Federal FMLA job protection applies if you meet its three tests.14

  • Michigan

    Not established as a separate question. The entitlement is to take the time as paid leave rather than to be restored afterwards, which is a different mechanism from a wage-replacement program with its own restoration rule. Federal FMLA job protection applies if you meet its three tests.11

  • New Jersey

    Yes, by two different routes, and one of them changed on 17 July 2026. Job protection now attaches to the benefit itself: a worker receiving New Jersey's Temporary Disability Insurance or Family Leave Insurance benefits — TDI and FLI, the two state-run wage replacement programs — has the right to return to the same job or one with the same pay, benefits and seniority, with no minimum employer size and no work-history test. Separately, the Family Leave Act gives twelve weeks of protected leave in any 24-month period — twelve in twenty-four, not twelve in twelve, which is less than the federal FMLA over the same span — to an employee with three months of service and 250 base hours in the preceding year, at an employer of fifteen or more. The Act itself does not pay: it says in terms that the leave may be paid, unpaid, or a mixture.561817

  • New York

    Yes — New York Paid Family Leave is a single program delivering both wage replacement and job protection, which is what distinguishes it from the California and New Jersey structures.4

  • North Carolina

    Not by any state program Sahvelo has verified. Federal FMLA job protection applies if you meet its three tests.•

  • Virginia

    Not by this. Family leave insurance replaces income; it is not a restoration right, and buying it does not oblige an employer to hold the job. Federal FMLA job protection applies if you meet its three tests.15•

  • Washington

    Separately, and conditionally. Restoration needs 180 calendar days with the current employer and an employer above a size threshold that is stepping down: 25 or more employees through 2026, 15 or more in 2027, and eight or more from 2028. Benefits already accrued cannot be lost by taking the leave. A narrow exception exists for a salaried employee in the highest-paid 10 percent within 75 miles, and only to prevent substantial and grievous economic injury.10

Who do you claim from?

The answer in 10 states

  • Arizona

    Not established. With no Arizona program identified there is no state office to claim from — federal FMLA leave is arranged with your employer, not claimed from a government agency.

  • California

    The Employment Development Department, which publishes a benefit calculator.3

  • Florida

    Not established. With no Florida program identified there is no state office to claim from — federal FMLA leave is arranged with your employer, not claimed from a government agency.

  • Illinois

    Nothing to claim from the State. The leave sits with the employer, and an employer may front-load the full entitlement on your first day instead of accruing it — in which case unused leave need not carry over.14

  • Michigan

    There is nothing to claim. The time is accrued with the employer and taken from the employer, so this is a conversation with payroll rather than an application to a state agency.11

  • New Jersey

    The Department of Labor, online, by mail or by fax — and the online application can be started up to 60 days in advance. Payment arrives on a debit card, not by bank transfer. If your employer uses a private carrier, you claim from the carrier instead.1

  • New York

    Your employer's insurance carrier, which receives the request and makes the payments. There is no state office processing the claim.4

  • North Carolina

    Nothing to claim from the State. What is left is your employer's own policy, and the question worth asking payroll is whether accrued paid time off may be used for a family member's illness — in North Carolina that is a contractual question rather than a statutory one, and the answer is whatever the handbook says.16

  • Virginia

    From the insurer, through the employer — and ask for it by description rather than by name. The cover may be written as a rider on a group disability income policy, or folded into one, rather than as anything labeled family leave, so a benefits statement that does not use the words has not answered the question.15

  • Washington

    The Employment Security Department. Washington puts administration and payment in the same body — the department establishes and administers the program, pays the benefit, and sets the procedures and forms an application is filed on, so the office you are looking for is the department and the forms are its own. One qualification: employer voluntary plans exist in this scheme, and an employee covered by one is not claiming from the state. What that route requires is not read here.••

How small can your employer be?

The answer in 10 states

  • Arizona

    Federal FMLA only, so 50 employees at the worksite or within 75 miles. Below that there is no job-protection entitlement Sahvelo has verified.•

  • California

    Five. CFRA reaches employers with 5+ employees, which is the single biggest practical difference from the federal law.7

  • Florida

    Federal FMLA only, so 50 employees at the worksite or within 75 miles.•

  • Illinois

    No threshold. The entitlement runs to an employee who works in Illinois rather than to employees of employers above a size, which is what makes it reach people the federal FMLA never touches.14

  • Michigan

    Every employer, with a smaller ceiling for small businesses — 40 usable hours a year instead of 72. There is no threshold below which the duty disappears entirely, which is the biggest practical difference from the federal FMLA.11

  • New Jersey

    None at all for the protection attached to receiving TDI/FLI benefits. Fifteen for the Family Leave Act route — and that figure is newer than most published summaries: P.L.2025, c.279 brought it down from thirty, which had itself replaced fifty in 2019. A worker at a twenty-person employer who was told in 2024 that the Act did not reach them should ask again.5617

  • New York

    Paid Family Leave covers private employers generally rather than by a size threshold; Sahvelo has not captured New York's coverage rule and does not state a number.

  • North Carolina

    Federal FMLA only, so fifty employees at the worksite or within seventy-five miles. Below that there is no job-protection entitlement Sahvelo has verified — and the preemption means that number cannot be lowered by a city either.16•

  • Virginia

    No threshold, because there is no mandate: an employer of any size may buy this cover and an employer of any size may decline to. For job protection, the federal FMLA's fifty employees within seventy-five miles is the only rule Sahvelo has verified for Virginia.15•

  • Washington

    None for the benefit itself — the wage replacement does not turn on employer size. The size threshold applies only to job protection, and it steps down from 25 employees in 2026 to 15 in 2027 and eight from 2028.10

Sahvelo has read seven of these ten states straight through at their own sources. In the other three, at least one answer above is marked not established — that mark is what Sahvelo knows, not a gap it is working around. Another state's rule may differ, and we would rather say that than generalize.

Questions people ask about this

  • I live in New Jersey and need time off to care for my mother. Can I get paid?

    Probably yes. New Jersey Family Leave Insurance pays 85% of your average weekly wage, capped at $1,119 in 2026, to care for a seriously ill or injured loved one. Three things to settle first: whether your employer uses the state plan or a private carrier, whether you will take the leave continuously — twelve weeks — or intermittently, which gives you 56 days instead, and getting your mother's health-care provider to complete the medical certification, which is the slowest step and the one you do not control. Tell your employer early: without proper notice the entitlement can be cut by fourteen days. Your job protection is a separate question answered by separate laws, so do not assume the benefit carries it.12

  • If the state is paying me, doesn't that mean I can't be fired?

    No, and in California the agency says so itself: Paid Family Leave provides benefit payments but not job protection. The two come from different laws. Job protection comes from the federal FMLA — which needs twelve months of employment, 1,250 hours in the previous twelve months, and fifty employees at your worksite or within seventy-five miles — or from a state job-protection statute where one applies. New York is the exception among these states: its program delivers both. Work out your job-protection position separately, and before you start the leave.3•

  • I work for a six-person company in New Jersey and started this year. Am I protected?

    Since 17 July 2026, very likely yes — and this is new. New Jersey now attaches job protection to the benefit rather than to the employer: if you receive TDI/FLI benefits, you have the right to return to the same job or one with the same pay, benefits and seniority, and there is no minimum employer size and no work-history requirement with your current employer. Eligibility for the payment is an earnings test instead — for 2026 claims, 20 weeks earning at least $310 a week, or $15,500 combined in the base year. Before that date you would have needed a 30-person employer and a year of service. If someone told you last year that you were not covered, ask again.56

  • It is my wife's mother I am caring for. Does that count?

    Under the federal FMLA, no — a parent-in-law is outside its definition, which is a frequent mistake families make in this area. Under New York's Paid Family Leave, yes: parent-in-law is expressly on the list, along with grandparent, grandchild and sibling. This is the clearest case of state law giving someone an entitlement they have no federal right to, and it is worth checking your own state's list rather than reasoning from the federal one.4•

  • I only need odd days, not twelve weeks in a row.

    In New Jersey that is allowed and it costs you. Twelve weeks of benefits are available for one continuous period; taken intermittently you get 56 individual days, which is eight weeks. The way you claim determines the entitlement, so decide deliberately. If the care is likely to be episodic over a long period, the intermittent route is still usually right — just go in knowing the ceiling is lower. Federal FMLA job protection can also be taken intermittently where medically necessary, and there only the hours actually used are deducted.2•

  • My state does not have paid family leave. What do I have?

    The federal FMLA, if you qualify: twelve weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a twelve-month period, with your group health coverage maintained, and it can be taken intermittently where medically necessary. Beyond that, ask your employer what it offers — some pay during FMLA leave, some have separate caregiver leave, and some have employee assistance programs that include eldercare navigation. None of that is advertised. Also check short-term disability if you are the one who becomes unwell, which is a different situation with a different answer.

Where this sits in the process

Related

Sources

Each state's administering agency, and the federal FMLA for the job-protection half.

  1. New Jersey Department of Labor — Family Leave Insurance, benefit amount and coverage

    New Jersey: what Family Leave Insurance pays, the cap, private-carrier coverage and how the money arrives.

    nj.gov Checked 2026-08-13

  2. New Jersey Department of Labor — continuous versus intermittent Family Leave Insurance

    New Jersey: the continuous-versus-intermittent trade, and the notice penalty.

    nj.gov Checked 2026-08-13

  3. California EDD — Paid Family Leave benefits, duration and the absence of job protection

    California: duration, weekly minimum and maximum, and that the program is not job protection.

    edd.ca.gov Checked 2026-08-13

  4. New York State Paid Family Leave — family care, covered relationships and benefit

    New York: 12 weeks at 67 percent, the relationship list including parent-in-law and sibling, and claiming through the employer's carrier.

    paidfamilyleave.ny.gov Checked 2026-08-13

  5. New Jersey Department of Labor — job protection attached to TDI/FLI benefits from 17 July 2026

    New Jersey: job protection attached to the benefit from 17 July 2026, with no employer-size or work-history test.

    myleavebenefits.nj.gov Checked 2026-08-13

  6. New Jersey Department of Labor — NJFLA thresholds lowered, and the FLI earnings test

    New Jersey: the lowered Family Leave Act thresholds, and the earnings test for the payment.

    myleavebenefits.nj.gov Checked 2026-08-13

  7. California Civil Rights Department — CFRA eligibility, and how it compares with the FMLA

    California: CFRA eligibility, the five-employee threshold, and the more-protective-law rule.

    calcivilrights.ca.gov Checked 2026-08-13

  8. RCW 50A.05.010 (Paid family and medical leave: definitions)

    Washington's definition of family, which reaches beyond relatives.

    app.leg.wa.gov Checked 2026-08-19

  9. RCW 50A.15.020 (Benefits: duration and waiting period)

    Washington's durations, waiting period and minimum claim.

    app.leg.wa.gov Checked 2026-08-19

  10. RCW 50A.35.010 (Employment restoration)

    Washington's job-protection conditions, including the stepping employer-size threshold.

    app.leg.wa.gov Checked 2026-08-19

  11. MCL 408.963 (Earned Sick Time Act: earned sick time to be provided by employer)

    Michigan's earned sick time accrual and ceilings.

    legislature.mi.gov Checked 2026-08-19

  12. MCL 408.962 (Earned Sick Time Act: definitions)

    Michigan's definition of family, the widest here.

    legislature.mi.gov Checked 2026-08-19

  13. MCL 408.964 (Earned Sick Time Act: permissible uses)

    That Michigan earned sick time covers a family member's care, including preventative care.

    legislature.mi.gov Checked 2026-08-19

  14. 820 ILCS 192/15 (Paid Leave for All Workers Act: provision of paid leave)

    Illinois's paid leave entitlement, usable for any purpose.

    ilga.gov Checked 2026-08-19

  15. Va. Code 38.2-107.2 (Private family leave insurance)

    Virginia: family leave insurance as a product an employer may buy, and what it covers.

    law.lis.virginia.gov Checked 2026-08-19

  16. N.C.G.S. 95-25.1(d) (Wage and Hour Act: local governments preempted)

    North Carolina: no state program, and why no city may create one.

    ncleg.gov Checked 2026-08-19

  17. N.J.S.A. 34:11B-3 (Family Leave Act: definitions)

    New Jersey: who the Family Leave Act counts as family, who counts as an employee, and the employer threshold as lowered in 2025.

    lis.njleg.state.nj.us Checked 2026-08-19

  18. N.J.S.A. 34:11B-4 (Family Leave Act: duration, frequency, payment, certification)

    New Jersey: twelve weeks in twenty-four months, and the Act's own statement that it does not pay.

    lis.njleg.state.nj.us Checked 2026-08-19

Sources last reviewed 2026-08-19. Where a source is marked pending re-verification, the page says so wherever the claim appears.

The benefit amounts, durations and relationship lists here are quoted from each state's administering agency, which is the operative statement of how these programs are run. The distinction the page is built around — being paid is not the same as keeping your job — is stated by California's own agency and is why Sahvelo keeps the two separable. New Jersey's job-protection position changed on 17 July 2026 and this page states the current rule; anything written before that date is out of date. Deliberately not covered yet: New York's employer-coverage rule, the full relationship list for California, the payroll-contribution side, and how a state benefit interacts with an employer's own paid leave. Arizona and Florida are marked not established rather than asserted to have no program, and Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas are absent from the table for the same reason — no state-level entitlement a private-sector caregiver can use has been verified, and silence is not a finding.