Does Alabama offer paid family leave? Technically, the answer is yes—but only one type of leave and only to a teeny portion of the state’s working population.
If you employ people in Alabama, it’s important to understand who’s eligible for state and federal leave. Keep reading to learn what other states offer for paid family leave, how federal leave works, and why you should update your company's leave policy.
What is paid family leave, and which states provide it?
Paid family leave (PFL) gives employees paid time off work to bond with a new child or care for an ill loved one. Most PFL programs provide eligible employees with anywhere from six weeks to five months of leave, with weekly benefit payments ranging from 50% to 90% of their usual wages.
As of May 2026, 14 states (plus the District of Columbia) have enacted state-mandated PFL programs, though not all of them have taken effect yet: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Virginia.
Here’s an idea of what some of the states offer:
California provides eligible employees up to eight weeks of PFL, with weekly benefit payments ranging from 70% to 90% of an employee’s usual wages.
New York gives eligible employees up to 12 weeks of PFL, with weekly benefit payments equal to 67% of an employee’s usual wages.
Oregon offers eligible employees up to 12 weeks of PFL (with birthing parents getting up to 26 weeks) with weekly payments that cover 89% of an employee’s average weekly wages.
Colorado offers up to 12 weeks of paid Neonatal Care Leave to employees whose children have to spend time in the NICU after birth, on top of the 12 paid weeks they receive for bonding leave.
Alabama has paid family leave for eligible public employees
Alabama doesn’t have a PFL program for all employees. However, the state does have a paid parental leave program for eligible public employees, including teachers and state workers. Under Law SB199, the Alabama Public Employee Paid Parental Leave Act of 2025:
Female employees can receive up to eight weeks of paid parental leave after a birth, stillbirth, or miscarriage.
Male employees can receive up to two weeks of paid parental leave after a birth, stillbirth, or miscarriage.
Adoptive parents (with children aged three and under) can take up to eight weeks of paid parental leave.
To qualify, employees need to have been employed for at least 12 consecutive months immediately before taking leave. The following types of employees are eligible for state-paid parental leave:
Certified or uncertified employees of a local education agency (including the Board of Trustees of the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind)
Legislative personnel, officers, and employees
Court officials and employees of the Unified Judicial System
Employees of the Alabama Community College System or any of the educational institutions under its authority and control
While historic for Alabama, the state’s paid parental leave law is minimal. Not only does it apply to a fraction of Alabama’s working population, but it leaves out foster parents entirely. The law also doesn’t cover other crucial types of family leave, like caregiving leave.
Without a comprehensive state-run PFL program, the majority of working people in Alabama are left without great options. In fact, the National Partnership for Women and Families reports that 76% of Alabama’s working population doesn’t have access to paid leave from their employers.
Alabama’s voluntary paid family leave option
Alabama passed a law in 2023 allowing private insurance carriers to sell Alabama employers a PFL insurance product. If you purchase PFL insurance through a private insurer, you’ll either charge your employees an insurance premium or split the premium cost with them. Then they’ll receive benefit payments to take parental or caregiving leaves.
Does Alabama have paid disability leave?
Alabama doesn’t have a state-mandated paid disability program, nor does it require employers to offer one to employees. Employees need disability leave to deal with non-work-related illnesses, injuries, or other medical conditions, including pregnancy and surgery.
Without disability insurance, Alabama employees are left with just a few options if they need time off from work to manage their personal health:
Take unpaid federal leave if they qualify
Rely on their employer’s disability insurance policy if they have one
Use accrued paid time off (PTO) or sick days
How does federal leave work?
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law that requires employers with at least 50 employees to give eligible workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for:
Bonding: To care for and bond with a new child (this applies to newly born, adopted, and fostered children)
Caregiving: To care for a family member who has a serious health condition (this applies to spouses, children, and parents)
Personal medical reasons: To manage a serious personal health condition
Military exigency: To manage affairs when a family member is on or called to active duty (this applies to spouses, children, and parents)
FMLA leave guarantees job protection, which means you have to restore employees to their same roles when they return from leave. You’re also obligated to continue providing health insurance to employees on FMLA leave. However, you do have the right to require employees to use their PTO or sick days during FMLA leave.
FMLA leave eligibility
Any Alabama employee who meets the requirements below is eligible to take FMLA leave. They have to:
Work for an employer that has at least 50 employees who work within a 75-mile radius
Need time off from work for bonding, caregiving, personal medical reasons, or military exigency
Have worked for their employer for at least one year (doesn’t need to be consecutive)
Have over 1,250 hours of service in the 12 months immediately before leave begins
Unfortunately, lots of Alabama workers won’t qualify for FMLA leave, either because they don’t work for a covered employer, they haven’t worked for their employer for long enough, or they don’t work enough hours. For some people, taking FMLA leave isn’t an option financially—even if they do qualify.
What do employers need to do to comply with FMLA leave?
If you employ 50 or more people who work within a 75-mile radius, you’re required to comply with FMLA. Here are the steps you need to take:
1. Notify employees about their rights
Step 1: Post a general notice in your workplace explaining what FMLA leave is, who’s eligible, and how to file a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division. Make sure the poster is in English, as well as any other languages your employees speak.
Step 2: Give written notice to all your FMLA-eligible employees explaining how and when to request a leave (with 30 days of notice). You can print a separate form for employees or include a general FMLA write-up in your employee handbook.
Make sure you follow the Department of Labor’s (DOL) posting and notification requirements, or you could receive a civil money penalty.
2. Give employees a Rights and Responsibilities Notice and a Designation Notice
You have five business days to give your employees a Rights and Responsibilities Notice after they request leave. This form details:
The 12-month period in which your employee’s leave can take place, along with their expected leave start and return dates
Your employee’s right to job protection
Your employee’s right to substitute PTO for FMLA leave, and whether or not you’ll require that
Your employee’s right to receive continued health insurance, and whether or not they need to continue paying health insurance premiums while on leave
Whether or not your employee needs to provide certification for the leave
Then, just before leave begins, give your employees a Designation Notice to let them know their requested leave officially qualifies as FMLA leave.
3. Return employees to the same role
Make sure you maintain an employee’s position during leave and keep it open to them when they’re back. Employees returning from FMLA leave are guaranteed their same role—or one comparable in title, work duties, schedule, and compensation.
4. Maintain records
It’s critical to hold onto payroll and personnel records for at least three years. Make sure you save payroll receipts, paystubs, official employee requests for leave, documentation of leave start and end dates, and copies of FMLA notices.
How to offer paid family leave in your workplace
Paid family leave has far-reaching benefits for everyone, from employees and their families to business owners, local communities, and state economies. Research shows that paid leave improves public health outcomes, stimulates economic activity, and raises employee retention.
If you want to expand your company’s leave policy or create one from scratch, follow these strategies:
1. Do your research
A little reflecting and researching will give you a better idea of what you want to accomplish by offering paid family leave, and how you can best support your workforce. Keep these three factors in mind as you gather information:
Your employee demographic: You never know what your employees might be going through in their personal lives, and different stages of life bring different challenges. It’s a good rule of thumb to aim for inclusivity in your leave policy, covering parental, caregiving, and medical leave.
Your competition: Make sure you can match what your competitors offer for paid family leave. If you’re struggling to attract talent or hold onto employees, you may need to go beyond what your competition offers to stand out.
National leave trends: Pay attention to nationwide changes and shifting cultural attitudes around leave; you don’t want your business to get left behind. According to Cocoon’s 2026 Paid Leave Benchmark Report, paid leave for birthing parents and non-birthing parents alike is up, 23% and 22% respectively, since 2021.
2. Decide whether to purchase insurance or self-fund
In Alabama, you have two options for paying for your employees’ leave:
Purchase PFL insurance through a private insurer, and potentially short-term disability insurance, too
Pay for family and/or medical leave out of your own pocket
Most small businesses end up choosing the insurance route, since it gives you the opportunity to split the cost of premiums with your employees. Talk with your benefits broker about your options and what makes sense financially.
2. Create a written leave policy
Your leave policy should be thorough, clear, equitable, and aligned with federal leave laws. You’ll need to include the following information:
What constitutes a leave
Which types of leave are available
How many weeks employees can take leave
The eligibility requirements for leave
How FMLA interacts with your leave policy
How and when to request a leave
Whether or not employees need to provide certification for their leave
Explanation of how leave review and approval works
What protections employees will be afforded during leave (e.g., job protection through FMLA or continued health insurance)
How much employees will be paid during leave, and when they’ll receive payments
Confidentiality during leave, especially with regard to employee medical information
Expectations and reasonable accommodations upon returning from leave
3. Update managers and employees
Hold a meeting with the managers in your workplace to make sure they understand your new leave policy and can uphold it with their teams. They should be able to answer basic questions about how leave works and take the appropriate next step when one of their direct reports requests a leave.
From there, it’s all about communication. Update your employee handbook, send an email letting employees know when the new leave policy takes effect, and schedule HR office hours to answer any immediate questions.
Helpful resources for Alabama employers
Gusto is here to help with all your state-specific needs. If you’re an Alabama employer, bookmark our guides on starting a new business, small business taxes, hiring, business grants and loans, and tax incentives.
