TL;DR: Delaware paid leave pays 80% of your average weekly wage, up to $900 a week, for as many as 12 weeks a year. Coverage started January 1, 2026, and it's split into two tiers: workers at businesses with 10-24 employees get parental leave only, while workers at businesses with 25+ employees get the full package — parental, medical, family caregiving, and military exigency leave. You'll need 12 months on the job and 1,250 hours worked, the same test FMLA uses. Below, we break down exactly who qualifies, what each tier gets, and how to file.
If you work in Delaware, you've probably heard "paid leave" mentioned at open enrollment without much explanation of what it actually covers. That's a fair complaint — Delaware's program has more moving parts than most state plans, because your benefits depend heavily on how many people your employer has on payroll. This guide walks through exactly what Delaware Paid Leave pays, who's eligible, how the employer-size tiers work, and the steps to file a claim, using the state's own program details as the source.
Quick Stats: Delaware Paid Leave at a Glance
Detail | Delaware Paid Leave |
|---|---|
Program name | Delaware Paid Leave (DE PL) |
Effective date | January 1, 2026 |
Wage replacement | 80% of your average weekly wage |
Maximum weekly benefit | $900 |
Maximum leave | Up to 12 weeks per year (combined across leave types) |
Employer size threshold | 10+ employees, with a second tier at 25+ |
Tenure requirement | 12 months employed + 1,250 hours worked |
Location requirement | Must work primarily in Delaware (60%+ of your time) |
Leave types (10-24 employees) | Parental leave only |
Leave types (25+ employees) | Parental, medical, family caregiving, military exigency |
State agency |
Delaware Paid Leave Benefits & Eligibility
Delaware Paid Leave replaces 80% of your average weekly wage while you're out, capped at $900 per week. If you earn less than the cap, you get 80% of your actual pay. If your wages push you past the cap, $900 a week is the ceiling regardless of how much you make. You can draw benefits for up to 12 weeks in a benefit year — that's the combined maximum, not a per-leave-type allowance, so a worker who takes 6 weeks of parental leave and later needs medical leave in the same year has 6 weeks left, not a fresh 12.
To qualify, you need to clear three hurdles:
12 months employed with your current employer
1,250 hours worked in the past 12 months
Work primarily in Delaware — the state requires that at least 60% of your working time be spent in Delaware
That first pair of requirements is worth pausing on. Delaware uses the exact same tenure-and-hours test as federal FMLA — see our FMLA eligibility guide for how that math works in practice. This makes Delaware's program noticeably stricter than states like Colorado, Oregon, or Washington, which dropped their hours-worked requirements down to a simple days-employed test. In Delaware, a worker who just started a job — even at a company that offers full paid leave benefits — has to wait out the same 12-month clock FMLA requires before they can claim anything.
There's also a threshold most workers don't think about until it affects them directly: your employer's headcount. Delaware Paid Leave doesn't apply uniformly. It scales the benefits you get access to based on how many people your employer has on staff, which brings us to the part of this program that trips people up most.
Coverage Tiers by Employer Size
This is the detail that makes Delaware's program different from most other state paid leave laws: what you're covered for depends on your employer's size, not just whether you personally qualify.
Employers with Fewer Than 10 Employees
If your employer has fewer than 10 employees, Delaware Paid Leave doesn't apply to you at all. There's no parental, medical, or family caregiving benefit available under this program at the smallest Delaware employers.
Employers with 10-24 Employees: Parental Leave Only
Work for a company with 10 to 24 employees, and you get access to one benefit: parental leave, for bonding with a new child through birth, adoption, or foster placement. That's it. If you need leave for your own serious health condition, or to care for a sick family member, this tier doesn't cover it.
Employers with 25+ Employees: Full Coverage
Work for a company with 25 or more employees, and you're covered for the full range of Delaware Paid Leave benefits:
Parental leave — bonding with a new child
Medical leave — your own serious health condition
Family caregiving leave — caring for a family member with a serious health condition
Military exigency leave — needs arising from a family member's military deployment
All four draw from the same 12-week combined annual maximum described above. Two employees at the same job title, doing the same work, in the same industry, can have completely different leave rights in Delaware — the only variable that matters is whether their employer crosses the 25-employee line. If you're not sure which tier applies to you, ask your HR or payroll department directly; company headcount for these purposes isn't always obvious from the outside, especially at businesses with multiple locations or a parent company.
For a side-by-side look at how Delaware's tiered system compares to neighboring states, see our Delaware state leave laws overview and our full paid family leave guide for Delaware.
How to Apply for Delaware Paid Leave
Confirm your eligibility tier. Check your employer's headcount to know whether you qualify for parental leave only, or the full set of benefits.
Give notice to your employer as early as you reasonably can, especially for foreseeable leave like a due date or a planned surgery.
File your claim with the Delaware Department of Labor through its paid leave portal.
Submit documentation — this typically means medical certification for your own condition, proof of birth, adoption, or placement for parental leave, or a family member's medical certification for caregiving leave.
Wait for a determination, then receive payments from the DE DOL once your claim is approved.
One honest caveat here: at the time of writing, Delaware has not published a confirmed, specific deadline for how soon after your leave starts you must file a claim. Some state programs enforce a strict 30-day or 45-day filing window; Delaware's adopted rules on this point aren't clearly confirmed. Don't guess. Contact the Delaware Department of Labor directly before you take leave to confirm the current filing deadline and avoid any risk of a reduced or denied claim over a missed date.