Paid family and medical leave (PFML) is exactly what it sounds like: time off from work—with pay—to address family or medical needs, like welcoming a new child or recovering from a major surgery.
As of 2026, 14 states (plus the District of Columbia) have enacted PFML or paid family leave (PFL) laws, but the majority of states, including Louisiana, don’t have their own leave laws. If you have a business in Louisiana or remote workers in the Bayou State, you’re still subject to federal leave laws.
Find out exactly what’s required of you, how to avoid noncompliance penalties, and what to do if you want to provide paid leave on your own.
Louisiana doesn’t have a statewide PFL or PFML
Louisiana doesn’t require employers to provide workers with paid leave of any kind. The state only offers paid leave to a small fraction of people: those who work for state institutions, public universities, and state agencies.
Since 2024, eligible state employees have been able to take up to six weeks of paid parental leave in the 12-week period immediately following the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child. They can receive 100% of their pay while on leave.
To qualify, state workers need to:
Have worked for Louisiana for at least one year
Have 1,250 hours of service in the prior 12 months before leave
Do Louisiana employers have to provide paid disability leave?
Louisiana doesn’t require you to give employees paid short-term or long-term disability leave, either. As a reminder, employees may be eligible to take disability leave when they need time off as a result of pregnancy (if the business has more than 25 employees), a non-work-related injury, or illness. And disability insurance—which you can purchase for your employees—gives workers partial wage replacement when they’re on leave.
Do Louisiana employers have to provide federal leave?
Some Louisiana employers are responsible for adhering to The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which affords eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected family and medical leave. If you have 50 or more employees working within a 75-mile radius of your business, you’re considered a covered employer under FMLA.
That means your eligible employees are entitled to:
Bonding leave to bond with a newborn, adopted, or fostered child
Caregiving leave to care for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition
Medical leave to manage a serious personal health condition
Military exigency leave to manage affairs when a spouse, child, or parent is on or called to active duty
What are the FMLA eligibility requirements?
Qualifying for FMLA depends on length of employment and hours worked. Employees need to:
Have worked for you for at least one year (consecutively or non-consecutively)
Have worked at least 1,250 hours (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’re required to comply with the law. At the most basic level, you’re not legally allowed to prohibit anyone from taking leave or discriminate against anyone for taking leave.
But you’re also responsible for following the FMLA posting and employee notification requirements; if you don’t, you could be assessed for a civil money penalty or face expensive lawsuits from employees.
Here are your obligations:
1. Teach employees about their FMLA rights
First, post this general notice from the US Department of Labor (DOL) explaining what FMLA leave is, which employees are eligible, and how to file a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division. Put it in a visible spot in your workplace, and hang copies in any other languages your employees speak in the workplace.
Next, send a written notice to all your FMLA-eligible employees explaining how and when to request a leave (they need to give 30 days of notice whenever possible). You can print a separate form for employees or include a general FMLA write-up in your employee handbook.
2. Give employees an FMLA Rights and Responsibilities Notice and a Designation Notice
If your employees request FMLA leave, you have five business days to give them a Rights and Responsibilities Notice, which outlines:
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 use PTO during 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
You also have to give your employees a Designation Notice before leave starts to let them know that their requested leave qualifies as FMLA leave.
3. Keep paying health insurance premiums and return employees to the same role following FMLA leave
Covered FMLA employers have two major responsibilities when their employees are out on leave:
Keep paying employees’ health insurance premiums. They’re entitled to continued health insurance for the entirety of leave.
Maintain employees’ positions during FMLA leave and reinstate them when they’re back. If you can’t offer the exact same position for some reason, you need to create one comparable in pay, benefits, title, work times, and general work duties.
Related: Here’s what you need to know before terminating an employee.
4. Keep all leave-related records
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires you to keep all payroll and personnel records for the most recent three years. That includes:
Employee contact information
Employee job classification
Employment contracts
Employee timesheets
Job start date
Payroll receipts and paystubs
Official employee requests for leave
Documentation of leave start and end dates
Copies of FMLA notices
Leave certification documents
Why does paid family leave matter?
Giving workers the option to take PFL or PFML is nothing short of life-changing. Supporting people during stressful seasons sets them up for greater success in every way: physically, mentally, financially, and professionally.
When employees have space to take care of themselves and their families without fear of losing their paychecks, it creates an incredible ripple effect. Employees with work-life balance tend to perform better on the job and stay longer in their roles.
As an employer, incorporating paid leave into your employee benefits package can raise your retention rates and facilitate recruitment. If you want to offer paid leave, however minimal, it’ll pay dividends long-term.
How to create a PFL or PFML policy in your workplace
1. Pick an insurance product
You can pay for leave entirely from your company’s pocket, but most business owners purchase leave insurance with a private insurance carrier. That way, you can split the insurance premiums with your employees.
Talk with your health insurance provider to see what your options are (whether you can pick a specific PFL product or need to use a combination of disability insurance and PTO), then crunch the numbers to see what your annual investment would be.
2. Determine the details
When deciding the details of your leave policy, remember these adjectives:
Realistic: Think about what’s reasonable, not just for your business’s budget, but for your employees taking leave. Two weeks of leave, for example, isn’t enough for most people; you’d want to aim for eight or 12 weeks at minimum.
Inclusive: Consider all your employees when drafting your leave policy, no matter what their work tenure, gender, age, or family structure looks like.
Competitive: Strive for a policy that meets or raises your industry standards.
You need to determine:
Qualifying leave situations (like having a child, caring for a family member, etc.)
Leave duration
Wage replacement amount
Leave eligibility requirements
Protections guaranteed during leave (like continued health insurance or job protection)
For more guidance, read up on how to create a paid parental leave policy, or find out what other states do for PFL and PFML (like Colorado and New York).
3. Update your team
Once you have a new leave policy in writing and your business attorney signs off on it, it’s time to share it. Start with managers. Make sure they understand the leave policy and know what step to take when one of their direct reports requests a leave.
From there, add the policy to your HR portal and employee handbook, send a company-wide email announcement to let employees know when the new policy takes effect, and hold HR office hours to address any immediate questions.
Louisiana business and employer resources
Running a business requires you to stay on top of your state’s laws and processes at all times. If you’re building a business for the first time, or just need a refresher on key policies, we can help. Check out these Louisiana business resources:
