Does Texas Have Paid Sick Leave? Private, Public, and FMLA Rules

Texas does not have a paid sick leave law for private-sector workers. No state statute requires private employers to provide paid or unpaid sick time, and every local ordinance that tried to create one has been blocked in court. Whether you get sick pay depends almost entirely on your employer’s written policy. Two groups are treated differently: state agency employees and public school staff receive paid sick leave under separate statutes, and federal law offers unpaid, job-protected leave to some workers who qualify.

What Texas Law Says About Private-Sector Sick Leave

Chapter 61 of the Texas Labor Code defines “wages” to include sick leave pay, but only when the employer has committed to it in a written agreement or written policy.¹ Nothing in the statute requires an employer to offer that benefit in the first place. The Texas Workforce Commission states plainly that no Texas or federal law compels private-sector employers to provide paid or unpaid sick leave.²

So any sick leave a private employer offers is a voluntary benefit. Once the employer puts it in writing, it becomes enforceable. Without that written commitment, workers have no state-law basis to demand paid time off for illness, no matter the industry or company size.

Why No City in Texas Can Require It Either

Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas each passed ordinances requiring private employers to provide earned sick time. Business groups and the Texas Attorney General’s office challenged them.³ In Texas Association of Business v. City of Austin, the Third Court of Appeals held that the ordinance established a form of wage and was preempted by the Texas Minimum Wage Act, which supersedes local ordinances governing wages in private employment.⁴ The same reasoning applied to San Antonio and Dallas. No Texas city currently enforces a paid sick leave requirement on private employers.

When Your Employer’s Sick Leave Policy Becomes Enforceable

Because there is no state mandate, the written policy is everything. Once an employer puts sick leave in a handbook, offer letter, or employment contract, that policy becomes part of the wage agreement enforceable under the Texas Payday Law.² The employer must follow what it says: accrual rates, carryover limits, usage rules, and any payout provisions.

The reverse is also true. If the written policy says unused sick leave is forfeited at year’s end, that “use it or lose it” clause is enforceable.² Caps on accrual apply as written. Employers can change policies going forward, but the policy in effect while you were accruing leave governs what you earned. Read the handbook carefully. The wording determines whether your sick leave is a vested benefit or something you could lose.

Unused Sick Leave When You Leave the Job

Texas law does not require a payout of accrued but unused sick leave at separation.² Under the Texas Administrative Code, sick leave pay is owed at separation only if a written agreement or policy specifically provides for it.⁵

If your employer’s policy is silent about what happens to unused sick leave when you leave, the leave is not enforceable as wages owed. The same rule applies to combined PTO plans that bundle sick and vacation time. Before you resign or accept an offer elsewhere, check the handbook for language that specifically addresses separation payouts.

Federal Job Protection Under the FMLA

Federal law provides the main safety net for private workers in Texas, but it protects your job, not your paycheck. The Family and Medical Leave Act entitles eligible employees to up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave during any 12-month period for qualifying reasons, including a serious health condition, caring for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition, or the birth or placement of a child.⁶

You must meet all three of these thresholds to qualify:

Your employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles of your worksite.
You have worked for the employer for at least 12 months.
You have logged at least 1,250 hours of service during the 12 months before your leave begins.⁷

Those thresholds exclude many Texas workers, especially those at small businesses or recent hires. If you do qualify, your employer must maintain your group health insurance on the same terms as if you were still working and must restore you to the same or an equivalent position when you return.⁸ For foreseeable leave, such as a scheduled surgery or a due date, you must give at least 30 days’ notice when possible.⁶

FMLA leave does not have to be taken in one block. When your own serious health condition or a family member’s condition requires it, you can take leave in separate periods or work a reduced schedule, and the total entitlement does not shrink because you use it intermittently.⁶ Bonding leave for the birth or placement of a child is different: you cannot take it intermittently unless your employer agrees.

Pregnancy and Postpartum Accommodations

The federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, effective in 2023, gives pregnant and postpartum workers at companies with 15 or more employees the right to reasonable accommodations for limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Those accommodations can include paid or unpaid leave to recover from childbirth when no other adjustment would work. An employer cannot force you to take leave as a substitute for an accommodation that would let you keep working.

Paid Sick Leave for Texas Public Employees

Two groups of public workers do have a statutory entitlement.

State Agency Employees

Under the Texas Government Code, full-time state employees earn eight hours of paid sick leave for each month of employment. Part-time employees accrue on a proportionate basis. Unused sick leave carries forward month to month with no cap. Employees can use the leave when illness, injury, or pregnancy prevents them from working, or when they need to care for a sick immediate family member. If a state employee takes more than three consecutive workdays of sick leave, the agency can require a doctor’s note.⁹

Public School Employees

Texas public school employees receive a separate statutory allotment of paid sick leave under the Education Code. Many school districts add to the state minimum through local policy, and details of accrual and carryover vary by district. Check with your district’s HR office for the specific terms.

Filing a Wage Claim if Promised Sick Pay Is Denied

If your employer’s written policy promises sick leave pay and the employer refuses to honor it, you can file a wage claim with the Texas Workforce Commission. The claim must be filed within 180 days of the date the wages were supposed to be paid. That deadline is jurisdictional, not a guideline.¹

You can file online, by mail, by fax, or in person at a TWC office.¹⁰ The TWC recommends contacting the employer first, since many disputes are resolved without a formal claim. When you file, describe the wages owed and provide documentation of the written sick leave policy. There is no fee.

1
State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Chapter 61 – Payment of Wages
2
Texas Guidebook for Employers. Vacation and Sick Leave
3
Office of the Attorney General. AG Paxton Issues Statement After Court Ruling Blocks City of Austins Unlawful Sick Leave Ordinance
4
FindLaw. Texas Association of Business v. City of Austin (2018)
5
Cornell Law School. 40 Texas Admin Code 821.25 – Fringe Benefits
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2612 – Leave Requirement
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC Chapter 28 – Family and Medical Leave
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2614 – Employment and Benefits Protection
9
State of Texas. Texas Government Code Chapter 661 – Leave
10
Texas Workforce Commission. Texas Payday Law