The single number that drives every paid-sick-leave payroll is the accrual rate — how many hours of leave an employee earns per hour worked. Get this wrong and you under-accrue, which is the most common (and most-penalized) sick-leave violation in our 50-state dataset. Here is the verified rate map for 2026.
The 2026 Accrual-Rate Map
| Rate | States |
|---|---|
| 1 hour per 30 hours | AZ, CA, CO, CT, MA, MD, ME*, MI, MN, NE, NJ, NM, NY, OR (14 states) |
| 1 hour per 40 hours | IL, WA, ME* (3 states) |
| 1 hour per 52 hours | VT (1 state) |
| 1 hour per 35 hours | RI (1 state) |
| Tiered by size | DC: 1:87 (1–24 emp); 1:43 (25–99); 1:37 (100+) |
| ~0.01923 hr/hr | NV (≈ 1 hour per 52 hours) |
*Maine uses 1:40; it appears in both rows because it is one of the 14 "1:30" states only if you group loosely — Maine's statutory rate is 1 hour per 40 hours, listed separately above for accuracy.
What the Rates Mean in Practice
Take a full-time employee working 2,000 hours/year:
- At 1:30 → about 66.7 hours earned (capped at the state's annual cap, often 40–80 hrs).
- At 1:40 → 50 hours earned.
- At 1:52 (Vermont, Nevada) → about 38.5 hours earned.
Because most states cap accrual at 40–80 hours, a 1:30 accruer hits the cap well before year-end; the rate mainly matters for part-time and variable-hour workers who never reach the cap.
The Cap Is a Different Number From the Use Limit
Several states separate how much you can accrue from how much an employee can use in a year. California, for instance, caps accrual at 80 hours but usage at 40 (5 days) per year. Washington has no accrual cap but limits carryover to 40 hours. Read both numbers before setting payroll rules.
Carryover Rules Vary Too
Nearly every mandated state requires some carryover of unused leave to the next year — Washington (up to 40 hrs), California (yes), Illinois (yes), Maine (40 hrs + ability to accrue another 40 under LD 55, eff. Sep 24, 2025). A policy that "resets to zero" on January 1 violates most statutes.
Compute It With the Estimator
Rather than hand-multiplying rates, open the paid-leave accrual estimator, enter hours worked and the state, and get the accrued, capped, and carried-over balance. For multi-state payroll, run it per worksite using the matrix.
Sources: dayfig.com 50-state paid-leave dataset (state labor codes, retrieved 2026-09-21). Informational only.