West Virginia doesn’t have a statewide law that gives workers paid family or medical leave (PFML). Instead, the state relies on federal leave—which is unpaid—for people who qualify. Whether your business is located in West Virginia or you have remote employees in the state, you’ll need to understand how federal leave works and who’s eligible.
Keep reading for compliance guidance and tips for creating a paid leave policy in your own workplace.
West Virginia doesn’t offer paid leave
As of 2026, 15 states have implemented laws that require employers to provide employees with some form of paid medical leave or family leave to deal with major life changes. Think: undergoing cancer treatment or caring for a sick parent.
In West Virginia, though, the state puts all leave-of-absence decisions in the hands of individual employers. Employers can provide paid leave if they want to, or just offer their workforce a certain amount of paid time off (PTO) to use for leave. Either way, the choice is theirs.
West Virginia has paid parental leave for state government workers
There’s one exception to West Virginia’s no paid leave rule: state government workers. The state is in the middle of a paid parental leave pilot program, which started in 2024 and ends in 2028.
Under the program, state government employees can take 12 weeks of paid leave in the first 12 months after welcoming a child through birth or adoption. Employees receive up to 90% of their usual pay while on leave, capped at $1,000 a week. To be eligible, employees have to have worked for the government for at least 12 consecutive weeks.
The pilot program shouldn’t be confused with the West Virginia Parental Leave Act (PLA), a law that guarantees state government personnel and county board of education workers 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave after they’ve exhausted all available personal leave. Any employees hired for at least 12 consecutive weeks can take unpaid leave to:
Bond with a newborn or adopted child
Care for a child, spouse, parent, or dependent with a serious health condition
Remember: PLA doesn’t apply to private-sector employers and employees.
How does the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) work in West Virginia?
Workers in West Virginia are entitled to federal leave if they work for a covered employer. Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), all employers in the United States with at least 50 employees are required to give them 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave.
Who’s considered a covered FMLA employer?
If your business is based in West Virginia and you have 50 or more employees working at the same job location, you’re a covered FMLA employer. If your business isn’t headquartered in West Virginia, but you have West Virginia-based employees working at a job site with at least 50 workers, you’re also a covered employer.
Qualifying leave types
Eligible employees can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid FMLA leave for one of four reasons:
To bond with a newborn, adopted, or fostered child
To care for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition
To manage a serious personal health condition
To manage affairs when a spouse, child, or parent is on or called to active duty
Eligibility requirements
To qualify for FMLA leave, employees have 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
What are the employer responsibilities under FMLA?
When employees apply for FMLA leave, they don’t go through the Department of Labor (DOL)—they come straight to you. If you’re a covered employer under FMLA, you’re responsible for educating employees about their leave rights, approving their leave requests, and upholding their leave protections.
You’re the one who has to issue notices and request leave certification paperwork. If you don’t follow the DOL’s requirements, or if you discriminate against anyone for requesting or taking leave, you could be facing hefty penalties and lawsuits.
Here are your four main duties:
1. Inform employees of their leave rights
Your employees are legally entitled to know what FMLA leave is, and whether or not they qualify. So, you have to:
Hang an official DOL poster in your workplace that explains what FMLA is and how employees become eligible.
Give written notice to new hires explaining their rights under FMLA.
Give written notice anytime an employee becomes eligible for FMLA (in other words, once they hit the 12 months and 1,250 hours thresholds working for you).
2. Distribute official FMLA notices
When one of your employees requests leave, you have to follow up with paperwork. There are two forms you need to fill out and pass along:
The Rights and Responsibilities Notice
This form is due to your employee within five business days of their leave request. You’ll fill out the top portion, then hand it over to them. The form reviews:
The employee’s leave eligibility
The 12-month period in which the leave can take place
The tentative start and end dates of the leave
The employee’s right to job protection and continued health insurance
The employee’s right to use sick/vacation time during FMLA leave
Any leave certification documents required
The Designation Notice
After your employees turn in any leave certification papers, you have five business days to fill out and return the Designation Notice. This form:
Says whether or not an employee’s requested leave counts as FMLA leave
Confirms the leave dates
Reiterates the employee’s right to job restoration and ongoing health insurance
3. Maintain employee leave protections
Once your employee actually takes their leave, you have two main jobs:
Continue paying the employer portion of their health insurance premium (if you already offer one) and
Keep their position open, and reinstate them when they’re back.
4. Save any leave-related records
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recommends keeping all payroll and personnel records for at least four years, including:
Employment contracts
Employee contact information
Employee job classification
Job start date
Timesheets
Payroll receipts
Documentation of employees requesting leave
Copies of all FMLA notices
Copies of leave certification paperwork
How to create a paid leave policy that works for your business
There are endless benefits to providing paid leave in the workplace. Your employees are your business’s most essential resource; investing in their health and happiness creates meaningful return for your business.
Offering paid leave can:
Improve your employees’ mental and physical health
Give your employees more financial stability during hard times
Give you a competitive edge over other businesses, making recruitment and hiring easier
Raise your employee retention rates, so you don’t have to deal with high turnover or constant training
If you want to bring paid leave into your rotation of benefits, here’s what you should do:
1. Decide which types of leave to offer, and to whom
Think about your workplace demographic—their ages and particular needs—then try to cover as many bases as possible. Most state programs offer paid parental leave, caregiving leave, personal medical leave, and military exigency leave. However, you could also offer bereavement leave, safety leave, and emergency leave.
As for eligibility, make sure you offer leave to all workers, regardless of their seniority, gender, sexual orientation, or family structure. Most state programs give leave to anyone who meets a specific service or earnings threshold, like working for 90 consecutive days or earning at least $800 in the year before leave.
2. Pick a financing method
When you provide paid leave, there are two ways to do it. You can either pay 100% out of pocket, or purchase a paid leave insurance product with a private insurer.
Similar to buying a health insurance plan for your employees, your employees would choose whether or not to opt into the plan. If they do, you’ll either ask them to split the premium with you or pay the full cost themselves.
Most states with PFML programs do an employer-employee split, though it’s not always 50/50. Some states ask employees to pay 70% of the premium rate, for example, while employers cover the remaining 30%.
If you go the insurance route, talk with your benefits broker to start budgeting and estimating premiums.
3. Create your written paid leave policy
Finally, once you’ve spoken with an insurance provider (or crunched the numbers on financing leave yourself), you can set the parameters of your policy. When you write an employee leave policy, it’s important to cover:
Qualifying leave situations
Leave duration
Employee eligibility requirements if any
Wage replacement amount
Premium payments
Employee protections during leave
Intersection with FMLA leave
Coordination with other employee benefits, like short-term disability
How and when to request leave
4. Communicate the new policy to employees
Give everyone a heads up about the exciting change. Along with sending an official company-wide announcement to everyone, take the time to update your employee handbook and train HR to handle questions and new workflows.
Employees should know when the new policy takes effect, when they need to start contributing premiums, and when they need to decide whether to opt out.
Extra West Virginia employer guides
For more state-specific support, check these out:
