Does South Dakota Require Paid Family Leave? The Employer’s Guide

More and more states are passing their own paid family and medical leave (PFML) laws, but South Dakota hasn’t jumped on the bandwagon yet. The Mount Rushmore State still leaves paid leave policies up to individual employers—though certain employers do have to follow federal leave guidelines. 

Keep reading for a refresher on how employee leave works in South Dakota, and what employers have to do to comply with federal law. 

South Dakota has no state-mandated paid leave of any kind

In South Dakota, there’s no state-mandated PFML, disability leave, or even sick leave. If employees need to take extended time off work to bond with a child, for example, recover from surgery, or care for a sick spouse, they only have two options: 

1. Use paid time off (PTO) from their employer

2. Apply for federal leave if they’re eligible (more on that further below)

Like many other states, including Alabama and Louisiana, South Dakota doesn’t require employers to provide leave of any kind. If you want to offer earned sick time, PTO, or paid disability, you have to create your own leave policy and purchase insurance.

There’s just one exception: state government employers.  

State employees in South Dakota get paid leave

Employees who work for the state of South Dakota can take up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave to bond with a child after their birth or adoption. To qualify, employees have to meet all three eligibility requirements: 

1. Work for the state for at least six months

2. Have worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before leave begins

3. Have 80 or fewer hours of sick leave

How does federal leave work in South Dakota?

Whether or not your business is located in South Dakota, your South Dakota-based employees might qualify for federal leave—it depends on the size of your workforce. 

In the United States, all employers with 50 or more employees working within a 75-mile radius have to comply with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). FMLA requires employers to give eligible workers 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for qualifying life events.

Those qualifying events include:  

1. Bonding with a newborn, adopted, or fostered child

2. Caring for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition

3. Managing a serious personal health condition

4. Managing affairs when a spouse, child, or parent is on or called to active duty

To be eligible for leave, an employee has to:

• Work for their 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

How the employee leave process works under FMLA

If you’re a covered FMLA employer, here’s what to expect when your employees request a leave: 

Step 1: You tell employees about their leave rights

The US Department of Labor (DOL) doesn’t administer FMLA leave—individual employers do. So it’s up to you to incorporate FMLA leave into your official company leave policy and employee handbook, and tell your employees what to expect. 

Under the law, you have three key obligations: 

1. Hang a poster in your workplace that explains what FMLA is and how to qualify. 

2. Give written notice to new hires of their leave rights under FMLA.

3. Give written notice to any employee who becomes eligible for FMLA (aka once they’ve hit one year and 1,250 hours of work). 

It’s also important to make yourself available to answer questions. Employees might be curious about the FMLA process, or want to know how FMLA intersects with your particular workplace PTO offerings. HR should be up to date on how things work and ready to give employees the information they need to make plans. 

Step 2: An employee requests leave

When your employees request leave, they might do it verbally or via a form on your self-service employee portal. FMLA requires employees to give 30 days of notice before taking leave. For emergency leave situations, they have to notify employers within 24 hours, then follow up with written notification within three days of taking leave. 

Once your employees request leave, the paperwork begins. 

Step 3: You fill out the Rights and Responsibilities Notice

After a leave request, you have five business days to download, fill out, and distribute the Rights and Responsibilities Notice to your employee. In the form, you’ll indicate:

• Whether or not your employee meets FMLA eligibility requirements

• 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

• Whether or not you’ll require employees to substitute PTO for FMLA leave

• 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 only 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. 

Step 4: Your employee collects any additional leave paperwork

After you give your employee the Rights and Responsibilities Notice, they’ll gather any extra paperwork they need, like medical certification documents, fill out the rest of the form, then return it to you to review. 

Step 5: You fill out the Designation Notice

After you receive all the paperwork from your employee, it’s your job to officially approve or deny your employee’s leave request. Keep in mind that you’re not allowed to legally deny anyone their rightful leave if they qualify for it (nor can you discriminate against anyone for requesting leave). 

You have five business days to fill out the Designation Notice to let your employee know that their requested leave qualifies as FMLA leave. The notice also reminds employees about the benefits and protections they’ll receive during leave. 

Step 6: You file away copies of leave documents

Keep and file all your leave-related records, including payroll receipts, employee timesheets, employee contracts, official employee requests for leave, documentation of leave start and end dates, and copies of FMLA notices. 

Step 7: You maintain your employee’s health insurance during leave

Employees on FMLA leave are entitled to continued health insurance while they’re away, so keep paying your portion of employer premiums as usual. 

Step 8: You reinstate your employee to their same role

Employees returning from FMLA leave are guaranteed their same role (or a comparable one) when they’re back, so make sure you follow through and reinstate them.  

How does PFML work in other states?

As of 2026, 16 states and regions have passed PFML laws to support people during life’s biggest challenges: 

1. California

2. Colorado

3. Connecticut

4. Delaware

5. District of Columbia

6. Maine

7. Maryland

8. Massachusetts

9. Minnesota

10. New Jersey

11. New York

12. Oregon

13. Rhode Island

14. Vermont

15. Virginia

16. Washington 

Here’s an overview of the state programs: 

How to improve leave access in your workplace

Any paid leave is better than no paid leave. Even offering half of what South Dakota state employees receive, six weeks of paid parental leave, can go a long way toward strengthening your workforce. If you can’t afford to overhaul your entire employee benefits package, that’s OK—you can still upgrade your leave offerings. 

There are plenty of creative ways to better support the people who keep your business operational every day. You could: 

• Purchase disability insurance and split insurance premiums with your employees

• Increase your sick days

• Bump up your PTO

• Lower the barriers for taking time off (offer sick time and PTO upfront instead of having employees earn it after a certain amount of work)

• Introduce part-time work options or reduced hours

• Give your employees more scheduling flexibility or control over their shifts

• Offer unpaid, job-protected leave even if you’re not a covered FMLA employer

For inspiration and actionable advice, check out Gusto’s guide to implementing your own paid leave policy. 

More information for South Dakota employers

Save these guides for compliance information and general business resources:

• Hiring in South Dakota

• Business tax incentives in South Dakota

• Small business taxes in South Dakota

• Business grants and loans in South Dakota