Companies are not required to pay for FMLA leave. The Family and Medical Leave Act gives eligible workers up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year, and the statute treats those weeks as leave without pay.1U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Frequently Asked Questions Most people who take FMLA leave still receive some income during their absence, but it comes from three other sources layered on top of the federal law: accrued paid time off, short-term disability or workers’ compensation benefits, and, in a growing number of states, a mandatory state paid leave program. Which of those apply to you decides whether your twelve weeks are financially painful or manageable.
Using Paid Time Off to Get Paid During FMLA
The most common way employees draw a paycheck during FMLA leave is by substituting accrued paid time off. Federal regulations allow you to use accrued vacation, sick leave, or personal leave in place of unpaid FMLA leave. When you do, the paid leave and the FMLA leave run at the same time. Two weeks of vacation used this way does not extend your total FMLA entitlement by two weeks; it just means those two weeks are paid instead of unpaid.2eCFR. 29 CFR 825.207 – Substitution of Paid Leave
Your employer can also require this. Many companies have policies stating that any employee out on leave must first exhaust available vacation or sick time, and those policies apply to FMLA leave as well. You would drain your PTO bank first, and any remaining FMLA weeks would be unpaid. To have the paid leave count, you still need to follow the employer’s normal request procedures, such as filling out a PTO request or giving the required notice.2eCFR. 29 CFR 825.207 – Substitution of Paid Leave Skipping those steps does not cost you the FMLA protection, but it can cost you the paycheck for that stretch.
The type of paid leave has to fit the reason for the FMLA absence. If you are out for your own serious health condition, an employer can require substitution of sick leave. If you are out to bond with a new child and the company’s sick leave policy does not cover parental bonding, the employer can only require vacation or personal leave for those weeks. Intermittent FMLA leave works the same way on pay: only the actual hours missed are unpaid, and you can substitute paid time in the same increments the employer uses for other leave.3eCFR. 29 CFR 825.205 – Increments of FMLA Leave for Intermittent or Reduced Schedule Leave
When You’re Already Receiving Pay: Disability and Workers’ Comp
Short-term disability insurance and workers’ compensation change the math. If either is paying you during FMLA leave, the leave is not “unpaid” for purposes of the substitution rule. Neither you nor your employer can unilaterally add accrued vacation or sick leave on top of those benefits.4eCFR. 29 CFR 825.207 – Substitution of Paid Leave
You and your employer can agree to supplement the disability or workers’ comp payment with PTO if state law permits it. This matters because many short-term disability plans replace only about two-thirds of your regular pay, and using a few hours of vacation each week can close that gap. Once the disability or workers’ comp benefit ends, the normal substitution rules resume for whatever FMLA weeks remain.4eCFR. 29 CFR 825.207 – Substitution of Paid Leave
State Paid Family and Medical Leave Programs
Thirteen states and the District of Columbia now run mandatory paid family and medical leave programs that replace part of your wages during qualifying absences, with several launching or expanding in 2026. These programs are funded through payroll contributions from employees, employers, or both, and they operate on a separate track from FMLA. Wage replacement rates run from roughly 60 to 90 percent of weekly pay, with lower-income workers usually receiving a higher percentage, and each state sets its own weekly benefit cap.
Qualifying reasons under state programs generally track FMLA’s list, including bonding with a new child, caring for a seriously ill family member, and recovering from your own serious health condition. Some states also cover reasons FMLA does not, such as leave related to domestic violence. When a leave qualifies under both, the state benefit and your federal FMLA leave run at the same time. You do not get more weeks of job protection, but weeks that would have been unpaid under FMLA alone come with a state check.
A 2025 Department of Labor opinion letter clarified how these state benefits interact with PTO. When you are receiving payments from a state or local paid family or medical leave program during FMLA leave, the substitution provision does not apply. Your employer cannot force you to burn accrued vacation or sick leave on top of the state benefit, and you cannot demand to do so either. The reasoning is the same as for disability benefits: because the state program is already providing compensation, the leave is not “unpaid,” and substitution only operates on unpaid weeks. If the state benefit runs out before your FMLA leave ends, the remaining weeks are unpaid, and the normal PTO substitution rules apply to that remainder.5U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA2025-01-A Opinion Letter
Bonuses and Other Pay While on Leave
Whether you receive a bonus during or after FMLA leave depends on what the bonus rewards and how the company treats other kinds of leave. If a bonus is tied to a specific achievement like hours worked, sales targets, or perfect attendance, and you missed the goal because of FMLA leave, the employer can withhold it. There is an equal-treatment catch, though: if employees on vacation, jury duty, or other non-FMLA leave still receive the bonus, employees on FMLA leave must receive it too.6U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Advisor – Equivalent Position and Benefits
For discretionary bonuses and profit-sharing that are not tied to specific performance metrics, you must have the same opportunity as your coworkers. A company-wide holiday bonus, for example, cannot be denied to you simply because you were on FMLA leave earlier in the year. That equal-treatment principle applies across the board: whatever the employer does on pay and benefits for people on other types of leave, it has to do for people on FMLA leave.6U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Advisor – Equivalent Position and Benefits
What You Still Owe: Health Insurance Premiums
Unpaid does not mean cost-free. During FMLA leave your employer must keep your group health coverage active on the same terms as if you were still working, so it continues paying its share of the premium. Your share still comes out of your pocket. When no paycheck is coming in, there is no payroll deduction to cover it, and most employers set up a direct billing arrangement or collect the balance when you come back.7eCFR. 29 CFR 825.212 – Employee Failure To Pay Health Plan Premium Payments
If your premium payment is more than 30 days late, the employer can drop your coverage, but only after giving you at least 15 days’ written notice specifying the date coverage will end. If coverage does lapse, it must be restored when you return. You cannot be made to satisfy a new waiting period, pass a medical exam, or wait for open enrollment to get it back.7eCFR. 29 CFR 825.212 – Employee Failure To Pay Health Plan Premium Payments Restoration is a real safety net, but staying current on premiums is the cleaner path, especially if you have ongoing medical needs during leave.
Military Caregiver Leave Is Also Unpaid
FMLA has a separate 26-workweek entitlement in a single 12-month period for employees caring for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness.8eCFR. 29 CFR 825.127 – Leave To Care for a Covered Servicemember With a Serious Injury or Illness The longer duration does not change the pay rule. Military caregiver leave is unpaid on the same terms as ordinary FMLA leave, and the same substitution mechanics apply: you can use accrued paid leave concurrently, and your employer can require it.