Paid Sick Leave Requirements in Massachusetts

At a glance

Requirements one by one

One hour per 30 hours — paid or unpaid depends on size

Massachusetts voters created the Earned Sick Time Law by ballot Question 4 in 2014; it lives at M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C. Every employer is covered, and any person who performs services for wages while working in the Commonwealth is an employee. Time accrues at one hour for every 30 hours worked, starting on the date of hire, and an overtime-exempt employee is assumed to work a 40-hour week.

Employer size does not decide whether an employee earns sick time — it decides whether the time is paid. An employer with 11 or more employees must provide up to 40 hours of paid earned sick time each year. An employer with 10 or fewer must provide the same up to 40 hours, but may make it unpaid. Either way, the annual ceiling is 40 hours, and use begins on the 90th calendar day of employment.

Carryover caps at 40 hours; no cash-out

An employee may carry over up to 40 hours of unused earned sick time into the next calendar year, but may never use more than 40 hours in a single year. Unused time is not paid out at separation. An employer that already offers enough paid time off, vacation, or other paid leave — usable for the same purposes and under the same conditions — does not have to layer on additional earned sick time (§ 148C(k)). The statute does not require frontloading, though an employer may accrue or permit use faster than the minimum.

What the time covers, and who is family

Earned sick time may be used to care for the employee's child, spouse, parent, or parent of a spouse with an illness, injury, or condition needing home, professional, or preventive care; for the employee's own such condition; for a routine medical appointment for the employee or one of those family members; to address the effects of domestic violence; and for the employee's or spouse's health needs after a pregnancy loss or a failed assisted reproduction, adoption, or surrogacy.

The covered-family list is deliberately narrow. Unlike many states, Massachusetts does not include siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, or domestic partners — the statute reaches a child, spouse, parent, and parent of a spouse only.

Notice, make-up, increments, and certification

For foreseeable leave, the employee must make a good-faith effort to give advance notice. The employer may not require the employee to find a replacement worker or to work make-up hours — although the two may mutually agree that the employee works equivalent hours instead of drawing down sick time. Time is used in the smaller of hourly increments or the employer's smallest payroll increment.

Certification may be required only when an absence covers more than 24 consecutively scheduled work hours, and the documentation need not disclose the nature of the illness or the details of the domestic violence. A covered paid-time employer may not delay the leave or the pay while waiting for certification.

Posting, retaliation, and remedies

The Attorney General prepares a notice that employers must post conspicuously and give to employees. It is unlawful to interfere with these rights, to retaliate, or to treat the use of earned sick time as a negative factor in evaluation, promotion, discipline, or termination (§ 148C(h)-(i)). The Attorney General enforces the section. An aggrieved employee may also sue: after filing a complaint with the Attorney General and waiting 90 days (or sooner with the Attorney General's written assent), and within three years, the employee may bring a private civil action under § 150. A prevailing employee is awarded treble damages as liquidated damages for lost wages and benefits, plus costs and attorney fees.

What trips people up

Small employers still owe the time — just unpaid. An employer with 10 or fewer employees is not off the hook. It must let employees earn and use up to 40 hours of job-protected sick time; the only difference is that those hours may be unpaid.

The family list is short. Because the statute covers only a child, spouse, parent, and parent of a spouse, an absence to care for a sibling or grandparent is not covered earned sick time, even though other states include them.

A doctor's note is not required for short absences. Certification may be demanded only when an absence runs more than 24 consecutively scheduled work hours. For anything shorter, the employer cannot condition the leave on documentation.

The remedy has real teeth. A violation feeds into the Wage Act's private-action machinery under § 150, which awards mandatory treble damages plus attorney fees to a prevailing employee — a much stronger remedy than a simple make-whole payment.

Common questions

Does my small Massachusetts employer have to give paid sick days?

Only if it has 11 or more employees. An employer with 10 or fewer must provide the same 40 hours of earned sick time, but it can be unpaid. Both sizes must let you earn and use the time and cannot retaliate against you for it.

When can I start using the time?

On the 90th calendar day after you start the job. You accrue from your first day, but the statute lets the employer hold use until day 90.

Can I use sick time to care for my grandmother or sibling?

Not as statutory earned sick time. The law covers a child, spouse, parent, or parent of a spouse. An employer's own policy may be more generous, but the statute does not require it.

What can I recover if my employer breaks this law?

After filing a complaint with the Attorney General and waiting 90 days (or getting earlier assent), you can sue within three years. If you win, you receive treble damages as liquidated damages for lost wages and benefits, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees.

Statutes and sources

• M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C (Earned Sick Time Law; 2014 ballot Question 4). Coverage, accrual, paid-versus-unpaid by size, uses, carryover, certification, notice, retaliation, posting, and enforcement. Massachusetts General Laws (accessed July 22, 2026).
• M.G.L. c. 149, § 150. Private right of action, three-year limitations, and mandatory treble damages plus costs and attorney fees. Massachusetts General Laws (accessed July 22, 2026).