The Hoosier State may have a reputation for hosting some of the best sports events in the country, but it’s not a place known for providing paid family leave. That doesn’t mean you’re off the hook as a business owner, though.
If you own a business in Indiana—or employ remote workers there—you still need to follow federal laws when it comes to employee leaves of absence.
Below, we explain how to comply with federal leave requirements, the benefits of offering paid leave in your workplace, and tips for creating your own leave policy.
Does Indiana offer paid family leave?
Indiana doesn’t give paid family leave to private-sector workers, nor does it require employers to create their own paid leave policies. However, along with states like Arizona and Florida, Indiana gives eligible state personnel paid parental leave.
In 2025, Governor Mike Braun signed an executive order expanding the state’s program for state employees. Now, state employees can take the following:
New parent leave: Up to 150 hours of paid leave for full-time employees and 75 hours of paid leave for part-time employees to care for a new child (applies to newborn and adopted children).
Childbirth recovery leave: Up to six weeks for employees who give birth vaginally and eight weeks for employees who deliver via C-section. Pregnant employees who experience a fetal death past 20 weeks of gestation can also take childbirth recovery leave.
All state employees are eligible for leave, regardless of how long they’ve been employed with the state. However, in order to take leave, people who’ve been employed for fewer than six months prior to leave have to stick around for at least one consecutive year of employment when they’re back from leave.
Does Indiana provide paid disability leave?
Indiana doesn’t have state-mandated paid disability leave (though eligible state personnel employees do get short and long-term disability leave). Employees who need time off work to manage or recover from a non-work-related health condition or injury have two options:
Apply for unpaid federal leave (if they qualify) or
Use accrued sick days and PTO from their employer.
Do Indiana employers have to offer federal leave?
If you have 50 or more employees working within a 75-mile radius of your business, you’re considered a covered employer under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Under FMLA, you’re obligated to give eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in qualifying situations. There are four types of leave:
Bonding leave: To care for and bond with a new child, including newborn, adopted, and fostered children
Caregiving leave: To care for a family member with a serious health condition, including spouses, children, and parents
Medical leave: To manage a serious personal health condition
Military exigency leave: To manage affairs when a family member, including a spouse, child, or parent, is on or called to active duty
FMLA leave eligibility
To qualify for FMLA leave, your employees have to:
Meet one of the qualifying reasons above
Have worked for you for at least one year (consecutively or non-consecutively)
Have over 1,250 hours of service (roughly 25 hours a week) in the 12 months immediately before leave begins
What are my employer responsibilities under FMLA?
If you’re a covered employer under FMLA, you have several responsibilities:
1. Tell employees they have a right to take leave
You’re legally obligated to inform employees of their right to take federal leave. It’s against the law to forbid an employee from taking leave or discriminate against them for requesting or taking leave.
Here’s what you need to do:
Post the FMLA rights poster in a visible area of your workplace. The poster explains which situations qualify for FMLA leave, who’s eligible to take leave, the protections employees receive during leave, and how employees can file a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division.
Give written notice to employees eligible for FMLA. Anyone who meets the hours and employment requirements needs to receive official notice of their FMLA eligibility, as well as instructions for how to request a leave. You can give notice via email, a physical handout, or a write-up in your workplace handbook.
2. Distribute FMLA notices
Once an employee requests a leave, you have two additional notices to give:
The Rights and Responsibilities Notice is due within five days of your employee’s request for leave. This notice explains:
The 12 months during which your employee’s leave can take place
Your employee’s tentative leave start and end dates
Your employee’s right to job protection
Your employee’s right to substitute PTO for FMLA leave (and if you’ll require it)
Your employee’s right to receive continued health insurance
Whether or not your employee needs to provide certification for the leave
The Designation Notice is due before your employee takes leave. This form officially approves your employee’s requested leave.
3. Continue providing health insurance and protect your employee’s job
While your employees are on leave, you’re responsible for:
Paying your portion of employees’ health insurance premiums (if you currently offer them)
Reinstating employees to their jobs as soon as they’re back from leave
4. Keep critical records
Make sure you hold onto the following documentation for at least three years:
Payroll receipts
Paystubs
Official employee requests for leave
Documentation of leave start and end dates
Copies of FMLA notices
How paid family leave can support Indiana workers and businesses
Paid family leave benefits everyone. Employees tend to be healthier and happier at work when they’re able to take time off for major life changes without having to sacrifice vital paychecks. When employees are happier at work, they’re not just more engaged and productive; they’re also more committed to their roles long-term.
That investment in work translates to higher business sales, stronger employee retention rates, and a healthier bottom line.
The Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute created three different paid family leave models for the state, in which employers and employees split the cost of paid family leave insurance premiums.
Eight weeks of bonding leave would cost employers roughly $67 a year per employee and save the state more than $140 million each year in infant hospitalizations, treatment costs for postpartum depression, and nursing home funding.
How can I offer paid leave without the state’s help?
Indiana’s lack of paid family leave is a double-edged sword: you don’t have a program to look to for structure, but you also don’t have any hard and fast rules you’re obligated to follow.
You can design your ideal paid family and medical leave policy, one that supports your specific workforce but doesn’t stretch your budget. Depending on your industry, employee demographic, and revenue, you might be able to offer 12 weeks or more of paid leave, or just four.
You can either pay for leave entirely out of pocket or purchase paid family leave insurance, then split the premiums with your employees (the more popular option, especially for smaller businesses).
Here are the details you need to work out with your leadership team and benefits broker:
Qualifying leave situations, such as having a child, taking care of a family member, or managing a personal health condition
How many weeks employees can take paid leave, and whether or not they can take unpaid leave afterward (eight weeks is a good minimum to aim for)
How much wage replacement you’ll provide (most state programs do 50-90% of an employee’s average weekly wage)
The eligibility requirements for leave, like length of work service or hours (hot tip: aim for inclusivity with your policy, making it applicable to everyone regardless of their seniority at your business, gender, or family structure)
How and when employees can request a leave
Whether or not employees need to provide certification for their leave
What protections employees will be afforded during leave (e.g., job protection through FMLA or continued health insurance)
What reasonable accommodations you’ll provide when employees return from leave
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