COVID-19

COVID-19 and Your Workplace Rights: Caring for Yourself and Your Family

If you or a loved one is sick with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) or under an isolation or quarantine order, what are your legal rights? If your child’s school is closed, can you stay home? We’re updating this page with all the information you need to know about your legal rights as your care for yourself and your loved ones amid COVID-19. 

NOTE: Some of the policies discussed on this page may no longer be in effect. For the most up-to-date list of work-family protections in effect right now, visit our Workplace Rights Hub or call our free and confidential legal helpline.

If you or a loved one is sick with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) or under an isolation or quarantine order, what are your legal rights? If your child’s school is closed, can you stay home? We’re updating this page with all the information you need to know about your legal rights as your care for yourself and your loved ones amid COVID-19. 

15 states, Washington D.C., and dozens of localities guarantee workers a right to paid sick time. ‘Closure provisions‘ in the laws in many jurisdictions also enable workers to stay home to protect their health and their families during times of public health emergencies.

For the full list of permanent paid sick time laws and an FAQ on each law, see below.

States:

*laws have ‘closure provisions’ that enable you to use paid sick time when your workplace or child’s school is closed

Counties & Cities:

*laws have ‘closure provisions’ that enable you to use paid sick time when your workplace or child’s school is closed

To compare the statewide and local paid sick time laws above, please see A Better Balance’s interactive and customizable comparison chart.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020, states, cities, and counties throughout the U.S. acted to protect workers affected by the virus by enacting emergency paid sick leave policies. A Better Balance was proud to support many of these efforts, including on-the-ground work that we helped to lead in New York and Colorado. A chart of emergency paid sick leave orders, measures, and orders (the majority of which have now expired) is still available here.

13 states and Washington, D.C. have enacted paid family and medical leave laws. These laws may enable you to take longer-term, job-protected paid leave to care for a seriously ill loved one or your own medical condition when affected by COVID-19. 

To learn more about these rights, visit our Comparative Chart of Paid Family and Medical Leave Laws in the United States.

We are working with states and local governments across the country as they seek to enact emergency paid sick time and other workplace health and safety measures to address this crisis. We will update this page with information about those laws are they are enacted.

We have also developed key principles and model emergency sick time laws that could help address access to sick time in your jurisdiction:

We have also developed a blueprint for state and local governments in the South to protect the health and economic security of workers and families:

On  January 6, 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department released its final rule on the state and local American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds and confirmed that creating, expanding, or financially supporting paid sick time, paid family leave, and paid medical leave are permissible uses of these funds. Learn more in our fact sheet: 

We have also developed with the National Employment Law Project (NELP) and Economic Policy Institute (EPI) model policies to guarantee premium pay, paid sick days, COVID-19 worker health and safety, and protection against retaliation:

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