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

How does FMLA work in Vermont?

The federal FMLA applies in Vermont 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. Vermont adds Parental and Family Leave Act, which covers employers with 10 or more employees for parental leave, 15 or more for family leave and gives 12 weeks in a 12-month period, plus short-term family leave of 4 hours in any 4-week period (24 hours a year). No state program pays during the leave, so pay comes only from substituted PTO or employer disability benefits, paid sick leave is mandated by the Earned Sick Time Law, and there is no bereavement leave mandate. Where the state statute and the FMLA both apply they run at the same time. Checked September 15, 2026.

Does the federal FMLA apply in Vermont?

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 Vermont: 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 Vermont leave laws add to the FMLA

One state statute sits on top of the FMLA in Vermont. Parental and Family Leave Act (21 V.S.A. 470 to 474) applies to employers with 10 or more employees for parental leave, 15 or more for family leave and gives 12 weeks in a 12-month period, plus short-term family leave of 4 hours in any 4-week period (24 hours a year) for own serious illness, birth or adoption, care for a family member, and short-term leave for school activities and medical appointments. Eligibility: 12 months of employment averaging 30 or more hours a week. It widens the family circle beyond the FMLA's spouse, parent, and minor child to include parent-in-law and civil union partner. Runs concurrently with the FMLA; the short-term family leave is additional.

Is FMLA leave paid in Vermont?

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. Vermont has no state paid family leave program and no state disability insurance, only a law allowing insurers to sell voluntary paid family leave policies that some employers buy. FMLA leave in Vermont 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.

Paid sick leave is mandated statewide by the Earned Sick Time Law, accruing at 1 hour per 52 hours worked up to 40 hours/year. Those hours can be substituted for unpaid FMLA leave. 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.

Bereavement, sick leave, and the smaller Vermont statutes

Bereavement: Vermont has no statewide bereavement leave mandate for private employers, and the federal FMLA does not cover bereavement either, so time off after a death comes from the employer's policy or from paid sick or PTO balances where the policy allows it.

The smaller statutes a multi-state employer has to carry in Vermont, one line each.

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

The federal entitlement in Vermont 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. Parental and Family Leave Act runs on its own clock (12 weeks in a 12-month period, plus short-term family leave of 4 hours in any 4-week period (24 hours a year)), which is not necessarily the employer's federal 12-month method, so Vermont employers keep two balances for an employee who qualifies under both, and the calculator below tracks the federal one.

The calculator on this page is preset to Vermont. 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 Vermont Department of Labor; 21 V.S.A. 470 ff., 481 ff. 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.