FMLA in Pennsylvania: Federal Rules, State Leave Laws, and an Eligibility Calculator (2026)

How does FMLA work in Pennsylvania?

The federal FMLA applies in Pennsylvania exactly as it does everywhere: up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for employees with 12 months of service, 1,250 hours worked in the prior 12 months, and 50 or more employees within 75 miles of their worksite, at a private employer with 50 or more employees or any public agency or school. Pennsylvania adds no state family and medical leave statute for private employers, so the FMLA's thresholds are the only ones. No state program pays during the leave, so pay comes only from substituted PTO or employer disability benefits, there is no statewide paid sick leave mandate, and there is no bereavement leave mandate. Checked September 15, 2026.

Does the federal FMLA apply in Pennsylvania?

Yes, and identically to every other state. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act gives an eligible employee up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for a serious health condition, a new child, care for a spouse, parent, or child with a serious health condition, or a military exigency, and up to 26 weeks to care for a seriously injured servicemember. To be eligible you need 12 months of service with the employer, 1,250 hours actually worked in the 12 months before the leave, and a worksite with 50 or more employees within 75 miles. Private employers are covered at 50 or more employees on the payroll in 20 or more workweeks; public agencies and schools are covered at any size.

The three employee tests are measured on the day the leave starts, and the third one is the one that surprises people in Pennsylvania: a covered employer with a small branch has a worksite where nobody is eligible if fewer than 50 employees work at that branch and at other sites within 75 road miles. Hours actually worked in the prior 12 months decide the 1,250-hour test; paid time off and holidays do not count. The calculator on this page runs all three tests and, when one fails, names the date or the hours that would satisfy it.

What Pennsylvania leave laws add to the FMLA

Pennsylvania has no state family and medical leave statute for private employers. The FMLA's thresholds are the thresholds: an employer with fewer than 50 employees owes no job-protected leave under state or federal law, and an employee with 11 months of service or 1,100 hours has no statutory right to leave, however serious the condition. Any leave beyond that is the employer's policy, which is why handbook language matters more in Pennsylvania than in a state with its own act.

What the state does regulate is narrower. No statewide paid sick leave. Philadelphia (Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces, 10 or more employees paid), Pittsburgh (Paid Sick Days Act, 15 or more paid), and Allegheny County have their own ordinances. Pregnancy is protected under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (4 or more employees), read to require the same leave the employer gives other temporary disabilities. None of these change the FMLA arithmetic: the 12 weeks, the 1,250 hours, and the 12-month method are the same in Pennsylvania as anywhere else.

Is FMLA leave paid in Pennsylvania?

The FMLA itself pays nothing. Whether the 12 weeks are paid depends on the state program, any disability insurance, and the employer's own paid leave, which may be substituted for the unpaid leave under 29 CFR 825.207. Pennsylvania has no state paid family leave program and no state disability insurance. FMLA leave in Pennsylvania is therefore paid only to the extent of the employer's own benefits: accrued PTO or sick leave substituted for the unpaid leave (which the employer may require), employer-provided short-term disability for the employee's own condition, or a company parental leave policy.

There is no statewide paid sick leave mandate in Pennsylvania, so sick days during FMLA leave come only from the employer's policy. When short-term disability pays, the leave is no longer unpaid and neither side may insist on PTO substitution, though they may agree to a top-up; the arithmetic is in the supplementing guide linked below.

How the 12-month period and the calculator work in Pennsylvania

The federal entitlement in Pennsylvania is 12 workweeks in the 12-month period the employer has chosen: calendar year, a fixed leave year, 12 months forward from first use, or a rolling 12 months measured backward from each day of leave. The method must be applied to everyone, disclosed in the rights and responsibilities notice, and changed only on 60 days' written notice. Under the rolling method every hour returns 12 months after the day it was taken; under the other three the full entitlement returns on one date. With no general state statute in Pennsylvania, the federal method is the only clock to track.

The calculator on this page is preset to Pennsylvania. Run the eligibility panel as of the leave start date, convert the schedule into hours (480 for a 40-hour week), then enter the leave taken and the employer's method to see the hours available today, the hours available on a future date, and, under the rolling method, the dates on which used hours come back.

Sources and last check

This page was checked on September 15, 2026 against Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry; Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. The federal rules are 29 U.S.C. 2601 ff. and 29 CFR Part 825. State thresholds and programs change, most often on January 1; the paid leave figures on the linked calculator carry their own effective dates.