South Carolina doesn’t have a state-mandated paid family leave program employers have to participate in, but South Carolina employees can still qualify for federal leave. Whether your business is located in South Carolina or you have remote employees in The Palmetto State, you should have a strong grasp of what your employees are entitled to leave-wise.
Below, we’ll explain how federal leave works, what other states do for paid family leave, and how you can support your workers.
South Carolina only has paid leave for public-sector employees
In South Carolina, state government employees and employees at public K-12 schools and universities can take paid parental leave to bond with newborn, adopted, and fostered children (or to process and recover from a stillbirth).
Primary caregivers and/or birthing parents get six weeks of paid leave
Secondary caregivers and/or non-birthing parents can take four weeks of paid leave
Beyond that offering, South Carolina doesn’t guarantee workers anything else. There are no laws that require private-sector employers to give employees a minimum amount of earned sick time, access to short-term disability insurance, or paid vacation. As a private-sector employee, what you offer your workforce is entirely up to you.
South Carolina employees can take federal leave if they qualify
Certain employees in South Carolina will qualify for federal leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). FMLA requires employers with at least 50 employees to give them 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for qualifying life events.
FMLA leave qualifying situations
Bonding with a newborn, adopted, and fostered child
Caring for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition
Managing a serious personal health condition
Managing affairs when a spouse, child, or parent is on or called to active duty
FMLA leave eligibility requirements
Work for an employer for at least 12 months, consecutively or non-consecutively
Work at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before leave begins
Work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles
Employer responsibilities under FMLA
If you have 50 or more employees working within 75 miles, you’re a covered employer under FMLA, which means you have to take care of the following tasks on an ongoing basis.
1. Notify employees about their leave rights
Step 1: Hang a poster in your workplace. This general notice from the US Department of Labor (DOL) explains what FMLA leave is, which employees are 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 (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 who’s eligible for FMLA leave, 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 DOL’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 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
Keep in mind that you’re allowed to require certification if an employee requests leave for personal medical reasons, caregiving duties, or military exigency—but not if an employee requests a leave for bonding purposes.
Before leave begins, make sure you give your employee a Designation Notice to let them know that their requested leave qualifies as FMLA leave, and to set their expectations about the benefits and protections they’ll receive.
3. Return employees to the same role
Employees returning from FMLA leave are guaranteed their same role or a comparable one—in pay, benefits, title, work times, and responsibilities. Make sure you maintain an employee’s position during leave and keep it open to them when they’re back.
4. Maintain records
You need to keep all your payroll and personnel records related to leave for at least three years. Hold onto payroll receipts, pay stubs, official employee requests for leave, documentation of leave start and end dates, and copies of FMLA notices.
What do other states do for paid family and medical leave?
The United States doesn’t have any federally mandated paid leave, but lots of states have implemented their own paid family and medical leave (PFML) programs. As of 2026, 15 states and regions have passed PFML laws: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington.
Every state program has different funding methods, qualifying events, and eligibility requirements, but they all have one goal in common: support workers during critical life changes and ease the financial burden on employers to provide paid leave themselves.
Here’s what the programs look like:
Qualifying leave situations | Length of leave | Wage replacement amount | Eligibility requirements | Program funding |
Most common: Bonding with a child, caring for a sick loved one, taking personal medical leave. Less common: Seeking safety services from abuse or assault, managing affairs for a military loved one, taking care of your baby in the NICU. | Most common: 12 weeks Less common: 6-8 weeks or up to 26 weeks | 50-95% of usual wages | Varies by state: employee status, hours of work, or earnings threshold | Employer and employee contributions, between 0.5-1.2% of employees’ gross wages |
Paid leave powers your business
Paid leave isn’t just a gift you can give your workers. It’s also a vehicle for investing in your business’s long-term growth and success. When people have the financial resources and encouragement they need to take care of themselves and their families, they’re more likely to thrive personally and professionally.
And when people feel cared for in the workplace, job satisfaction rates tend to go up, along with productivity and employee retention rates. Improving workplace satisfaction and reducing turnover can save your business potentially tens of thousands of dollars in recruiting, hiring, and training efforts down the line.
If you want to implement your own paid leave policy, start by talking with your accountant and insurance broker to see what’s possible. One option is to purchase paid family leave insurance, since South Carolina allows private insurance carriers to sell employers paid leave insurance products. You’ll either charge your employees an insurance premium or split the premium cost with them.
From there, consider your workforce demographic and their unique needs. You might want to:
Copy the state’s policy for employees in public education and government, giving your employees 4-6 weeks of parental leave at 100% of their usual pay
Take inspiration from other state PFML programs and offer 12 weeks of leave at 70-80% pay
Match what your competitors offer
Resources for South Carolina employers
