Paid family leave (PFL) programs, sometimes called paid family and medical leave (PFML), give employees paid time off work to bond with a new child, care for an ill family member, or manage a personal health condition.
As of the first half of 2026, 13 states and the District of Columbia have state-mandated PFL programs (and Virginia’s is forthcoming), giving employees anywhere from six weeks to six months off with weekly benefit payments equal to 50 to 90% of their usual wages.
Ohio doesn’t have a state-run PFL program, but that doesn’t mean employers are off the hook. If you have employees in Ohio, you’re still responsible for complying with federal leave laws—and for creating a company leave policy of your own. Keep reading for more advice and guidance.
Does Ohio have any paid leave programs?
Ohio doesn’t currently offer paid family or medical leave to employees who work for private employers. The state does, however, have a paid parental leave program for eligible state employees; it went into effect on October 4, 2023.
Under the law, all permanent exempt state employees who work an average of 30 hours a week can take up to 12 weeks off following the birth or adoption of a child, and receive weekly benefit payments equal to 70% of their usual wages.
Ohio also offers eligible state employees paid disability leave when they have a non-work-related illness, injury, or medical condition that forces them to take off at least two weeks from work.
Ohio still has to follow federal leave laws
The only leave option available to most working Ohioans is federal leave. 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 one of four reasons:
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)
Under FMLA, workers are guaranteed job protection, which means you’re required to restore them to their roles when they’re back from leave. FMLA also requires you to continue providing health insurance to employees on leave.
As an employer, it’s up to you whether or not you allow or require employees to use paid time off (PTO) or sick days during their FMLA leave.
Related: How do I set up a PTO policy?
Who’s eligible for FMLA leave?
As long as an employee meets these requirements, they can take FMLA leave. They need to:
Work for an employer with at least 50 employees working within a 75-mile radius
Require time off from work for bonding, caregiving, personal medical reasons, or military exigency
Have worked for their employer for at least one year (which doesn’t have to be consecutive)
Have over 1,250 hours of service in the 12 months before leave begins
According to data from the National Partnership of Women and Families, FMLA leave isn’t accessible to 60% of workers in Ohio. Those people might work for a small business with fewer than 50 employees, may not have worked for their employer for one year, or might not have enough hours of work to qualify.
Even when people do qualify for unpaid leave, many aren’t able to go 12 weeks without pay.
4 steps Ohio employers should take to comply with FMLA
If you have 50 or more employees who work within 75 miles, FMLA applies to you—and you’re required to offer your employees unpaid, job-protected leave. Here are your responsibilities:
1. Make sure employees understand their rights
Step 1: Post a general notice explaining what FMLA leave is, what the eligibility requirements are, and how to file a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division. It’s a good idea to download notices in a handful of different languages and put them somewhere easily accessible and visible in your workplace.
Step 2: Give a written notice to all your FMLA-eligible employees (aka those who’ve worked with you for at least a year and have 1,250 hours of service in their job in the past 12 months) explaining how to request a leave 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. If you don’t follow the Department of Labor’s posting and notification requirements, you could be assessed for a civil money penalty.
2. Give employees a Rights and Responsibilities Notice and a Designation Notice
When one of your employees requests a leave of absence, you have five business days to give them a Rights and Responsibilities Notice. 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 paid time off (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 (you’re allowed to require certification for medical, caregiving, and military exigency leave, but not for bonding leave)
Then, before leave starts, give your employee a Designation Notice to let them know that their requested leave qualifies as FMLA leave.
3. Return employees to the same role
When your employee comes back from leave, you need to restore them to their same role, or one comparable in work responsibilities, title, pay, work schedule, and benefits.
4. Keep your records
It’s a good idea to hold onto payroll and personnel records related to leave for at least three years. That includes employee contact information, job classification, job start date, payroll receipts, paystubs, official employee requests for leave, documentation of leave start and end dates, and copies of FMLA notices.
The problem with Ohio’s lack of paid family leave
Without a state-mandated PFL program, Ohio is leaving millions of workers financially, physically, and mentally vulnerable during some of the most sensitive seasons of their lives.
Ohioans have just a few options when they need to take a leave of absence:
Take employer-provided paid leave if they have it (unfortunately, only about 23% of workers in Ohio have paid leave from their employers)
Take unpaid FMLA leave if they qualify (60% don’t)
Use their PTO or sick days for leave
When people can’t take paid leave, they’re forced to either step away from work, losing wages and possibly career momentum, or return before they’re physically and emotionally ready, potentially putting themselves and their families in a stressful or even unsafe situation.
The National Partnership for Women and Families reports that women, especially women of color, are disproportionately disadvantaged by Ohio’s lack of leave. Women make up nearly half (48%) of Ohio’s labor force, and their wages are critical to the financial stability of their households. In Ohio, 84% of Black mothers, 57% of Latina mothers, 51% of white mothers, and 34% of AAPI mothers are their households’ primary earners.
When working women take leave without pay, it’s not just individual families who suffer the financial consequences—it’s local and state economies, too. Employers lose valuable workers and the state loses a whopping $3.9 million in extra wage earnings.
Related: Women-owned businesses are on the rise, with women starting half of all small operations.
How to update or develop a paid leave policy in your workplace
If you have employees in Ohio, you have a unique opportunity to support them with your own paid leave offering. Giving your employees the freedom and financial cushion to step away from work during significant life changes and challenges pays dividends.
Paid leave directly contributes to employees’ overall health and well-being as people and professionals. From there, it’s a positive trickle-down effect: when employees are happy at work, they’re more likely to engage in their roles, invest in the company’s success, and stick around.
Pro tip: Check out these 10 employee retention strategies to make sure you’re coming at it from all angles.
Whether you want to update your existing employee leave policy or create one from scratch, here are some steps to take:
1. Figure out what you want to achieve
Reflecting on your goals for paid leave can help clarify your intentions and inform your policies.
Do you want to bring your leave policy up to industry standard? Strand out from the competition to attract job candidates? Reduce employee turnover? Get ahead of a potential increase in employee leaves in your workforce?
Once you figure out your goals, start reviewing your current leave policy (if you have one) or brainstorming ideas. The ideal employee leave policy is inclusive, equitable, and generous. Consider these questions to get started:
What do top companies in your industry offer for employee leave, regardless of where they’re located?
What types of paid leave should the company offer? (parental leave, caregiving, bereavement, mental health, military exigency etc.)
Do these leave options meet our employees’ diverse needs and account for all different types of families?
How many weeks can the company offer for each type of leave?
Can the company provide 100% of employees’ usual wages on leave? If not, what portion can you offer?
Who is eligible to take leave? Do they have to reach a certain number of hours or months of employment to be eligible for leave, or does eligibility kick in right away?
2. Gather ideas from other states and companies
There’s no rule that says your company’s employee leave policy has to be original. Take a cue from other state-mandated PFL programs and industry leaders to see what’s possible and what carries the biggest impact. Here are some inspiring programs:
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.
theSkimm offers 18 weeks of paid parental leave (adoption, fostering, and surrogacy included), bereavement leave for pregnancy loss, and a phased return-to-work schedule.
Adobe offers up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave for primary caregivers and 16 weeks for secondary caregivers.
The National Partnership for Women and Families also publishes an annual Leaders on Leave report highlighting large companies, as well as small and mid-size enterprises that offer comprehensive, thoughtful leave programs.
3. Create a written leave policy
Collaborate with your benefits broker, HR specialist, and business attorney to create a clear, legal employee leave policy. Include information on:
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 on how leave review and approval works
What protections employees will be afforded during leave (e.g. job protection through FMLA)
How much employees will be paid during leave and when
Confidentiality during leave, especially with regard to employee medical information
Expectations and reasonable accommodations upon returning from leave
4. Make sure everyone is on the same page
Once you have a new leave policy in writing, it’s time to share it. Start with managers and leadership. Make sure they understand the leave policy and know what step to take when one of their direct reports requests a leave.
From there, update your employee handbook, send a company-wide email announcement, and make sure HR can hold office hours to address any immediate questions or concerns employees have.
Offering Ohioans leave support
Even though Ohio doesn’t have a state-run PFL program, you can still offer your Ohio employees paid leave as part of their benefits package. Just make sure you’re complying with FMLA laws along the way.
Need more Ohio-specific resources? Here are a handful of guides:
