TL;DR: FMLA does not pay you directly — it provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave. But you can still get paid during FMLA through state paid family leave programs (13 states offer them), short-term disability insurance, employer-provided paid parental leave, or your own accrued PTO. Here's exactly how each option works and which one applies to you.
FMLA pay is the most confusing part of the Family and Medical Leave Act — and getting it wrong can leave you without a paycheck for 12 weeks. The law guarantees your job, not your income. But that doesn't mean you're out of options.
You'll learn the four ways to get paid during FMLA leave, which states pay you directly, how short-term disability fits in, and what to ask your HR department before you file. First, check FMLA eligibility to confirm you actually qualify for the leave in the first place.
Does FMLA Pay You? The Short Answer
No. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act provides zero dollars in wage replacement. It's exclusively a job-protection law — your employer must hold your job (or an equivalent position) while you're on leave, but they don't have to pay you a cent.
Here's what FMLA actually guarantees:
Up to 12 weeks of leave per year
Continuation of your group health insurance on the same terms
Restoration to your same or equivalent job when you return
Protection from retaliation for taking leave
That's it. No paycheck. No partial wage replacement. No government check in the mail.
The bottom line: FMLA protects your job. Other programs pay you. The two work together — you can read more on our FMLA overview page.
How to Get Paid During FMLA Leave: 4 Options
You have four paths to getting paid while on FMLA leave. Most workers combine two or more of these.
1. State Paid Family Leave Programs
Thirteen states now run paid family leave programs that provide partial wage replacement during FMLA-qualifying leave. If you work in one of these states, this is your best option.
State | Program | Weeks | Pay Rate | Max Weekly Benefit |
|---|
California | CA Paid Family Leave | 8 | 90% | $1,765 |
New York | NY Paid Family Leave | 12 | 67% | $1,229 |
New Jersey | NJ Family Leave Insurance | 12 | 85% | $1,119 |
Washington | WA Paid Family and Medical Leave | 12 | 90% | $1,647 |
Massachusetts | MA PFML | 12 | 80% | $1,230 |
Connecticut | CT Paid Leave | 12 | 95% | $1,016 |
Oregon | OR Paid Leave | 12 | 100% | $1,692 |
Colorado | CO FAMLI | 12 | 90% | $1,448 |
Rhode Island | RI TCI | 8 | 60% | $1,150 |
Minnesota | MN Paid Leave | 12 | 90% | $1,423 |
Delaware | DE Paid Leave | 12 | 80% | $900 |
Maine | ME PFML | 12 | 90% | $1,249 |
Maryland | MD FAMLI | 12 | 90% | $1,000 |
How it works: You apply through your state's paid leave program (not through your employer). The state pays you directly, typically via direct deposit or debit card. FMLA runs concurrently — your job is protected by FMLA while the state pays you. California workers file through the EDD's Paid Family Leave program; New York workers file through NY Paid Family Leave directly. Use our paid family leave calculator to estimate your own weekly benefit.
Important: Maryland's program isn't paying benefits yet. Contributions start January 1, 2027, and benefit payments begin no earlier than that date — possibly not until 2028. If you're a Maryland worker in 2026, you're not covered.
2. Short-Term Disability Insurance
Short-term disability (STD) insurance replaces a portion of your income when you can't work due to a medical condition — including pregnancy and childbirth recovery.
If your employer provides STD: This is the most common way workers get paid during FMLA leave for their own serious health condition. Typical STD policies pay 50-70% of your salary for 6-8 weeks (longer for C-sections).
If you live in a state with mandatory STD: Five states require employers to provide short-term disability coverage:
California (SDI)
Hawaii (TDI)
New Jersey (TDI)
New York (DBL)
Rhode Island (TDI)
In these states, STD isn't optional — your employer must provide it, and it's funded through employee payroll contributions.
The FMLA + STD overlap: STD pays you while you're medically unable to work. FMLA protects your job during that same period. They run concurrently. After your STD benefits end (typically 6-8 weeks postpartum), you can continue FMLA leave unpaid or switch to a state PFL program for bonding leave.
3. Employer-Provided Paid Parental Leave
Some employers offer paid parental leave as a benefit separate from (and in addition to) FMLA. This is increasingly common at large companies:
Amazon: 20 weeks paid for birth parents, 6 weeks for partners
Google: 24 weeks paid for birth parents, 12 weeks for partners
Deloitte: 16 weeks fully paid for all parents
Walmart: 16 weeks paid for birth parents, 6 weeks for partners
Starbucks: 18 weeks paid for birth parents, 12 weeks for partners
How it works with FMLA: Employer-paid leave typically runs concurrently with FMLA. Your employer pays you directly through regular payroll. FMLA protects your job during the same period.
Check your employee handbook. This benefit varies dramatically by employer. Some offer full pay, some offer partial pay, and many offer nothing at all.
4. Accrued PTO, Sick Leave, and Vacation Time
Your employer can require you to use accrued paid time off during FMLA leave — and most do. This is called "substitution of paid leave."
How it works:
Your employer notifies you that PTO will run concurrently with FMLA
You're paid your regular rate from your PTO bank
Once PTO runs out, the remainder of FMLA is unpaid
You cannot save your PTO for later — it's used during FMLA
What you need to know:
Employers must notify you in writing if they require PTO substitution
You can also choose to use PTO voluntarily if the employer doesn't require it
Sick leave can only be substituted for your own serious health condition, not for family care
Vacation/PTO can be substituted for any FMLA-qualifying reason
FMLA Pay: State-by-State Breakdown
States Where You Get Paid During FMLA
If you work in California, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon, Colorado, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Delaware, or Maine, you can receive state PFL benefits during FMLA leave. The amount varies by state — see the table above, or browse every state's rules on our paid family leave page.
States Where FMLA Is Entirely Unpaid
In the remaining 37 states, FMLA leave is unpaid unless you have:
Employer-provided short-term disability insurance
Employer-provided paid parental leave
Accrued PTO or sick leave
A private disability insurance policy you purchased yourself
Texas, Florida, Georgia, and most other states have no state paid leave program. Workers in these states rely entirely on federal FMLA (unpaid) plus whatever their employer offers. Check your state's specific leave rules on our state leave laws page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does FMLA pay you for maternity leave?
No. FMLA provides 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for maternity. You can get paid during FMLA maternity leave through state PFL programs, short-term disability, employer paid parental leave, or accrued PTO. In states with mandatory STD (CA, HI, NJ, NY, RI), pregnancy and childbirth recovery is covered by disability insurance.
Does FMLA pay you for paternity leave?
No. FMLA provides unpaid leave for fathers, same as mothers. Fathers can receive pay through state PFL programs (all 13 PFL states cover bonding leave for fathers), employer paid parental leave, or accrued PTO. Short-term disability doesn't apply to fathers since they aren't recovering from childbirth.
How much does FMLA pay per week?
FMLA pays $0 per week. It's unpaid leave. Your actual pay during FMLA depends on which other programs you qualify for — state PFL (60-100% of wages, up to $900-$1,765/week), short-term disability (50-70% of salary), or employer paid leave (varies).
Can you get unemployment during FMLA?
Generally no. Unemployment benefits require you to be able and available to work. If you're on FMLA leave for your own serious health condition, you're not "able to work" and don't qualify for unemployment. If you're on FMLA to care for a family member, you may technically be able to work but are choosing not to — which also disqualifies you in most states.
Does FMLA pay for mental health leave?
No. FMLA protects your job during mental health leave but doesn't pay you. You can use short-term disability (if your policy covers mental health conditions), state PFL (if your state covers your own serious health condition), or accrued sick leave/PTO to get paid during FMLA mental health leave.
What are the requirements to get paid during FMLA leave?
FMLA itself has no pay requirement to meet, because it never pays you — its only requirements are for job protection: 12 months with your employer, 1,250 hours worked in the past year, and an employer with 50 or more employees. Getting an actual paycheck during that leave means separately qualifying for a different program — your state's paid family leave law (each state sets its own earnings and tenure test), an employer or state-mandated short-term disability policy, or your own accrued PTO balance. These requirements don't match FMLA's requirements one-to-one, so check your specific state's PFL eligibility rules before assuming you qualify.
Does FMLA pay differ from state to state?
FMLA itself doesn't vary by state — it's a federal law, and it's unpaid everywhere, whether you're in New Jersey, Texas, or California. What varies by state is whether a separate paid family leave program exists to fill that gap: New Jersey runs Family Leave Insurance, paying 85% of wages up to $1,119 a week for 12 weeks, while California, New York, and ten other states run their own programs with different pay rates and caps. In the remaining 37 states, there's no state program at all, so FMLA-eligible workers get nothing unless their employer voluntarily provides it.
Can my employer require me to use PTO during unpaid FMLA leave?
Yes. Employers are allowed to require you to use accrued vacation, PTO, or sick leave concurrently with unpaid FMLA leave — a practice called "substitution of paid leave" — and most employers do this. They must notify you in writing that the policy applies, and once your PTO bank runs out, the remainder of your FMLA leave reverts to unpaid. Sick leave can typically only be substituted for your own serious health condition, while vacation or general PTO can be used for any FMLA-qualifying reason.
What's the difference between FMLA and short-term disability pay?
FMLA is a job-protection law — it guarantees your position while you're out but pays you nothing. Short-term disability is an insurance product, either provided by your employer or mandated by your state (California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island require it), that replaces a portion of your wages, typically 50-70% under employer plans, while you're medically unable to work. The two aren't competing options — they're designed to run at the same time, with STD providing the paycheck and FMLA providing the job security.
Does state paid leave run at the same time as FMLA, or after it?
At the same time, in almost every case. State PFL and FMLA are two separate legal protections that overlap on the calendar — the state pays your wages while federal FMLA holds your job, both counting down concurrently rather than stacking into extra time off. Some states, like Massachusetts, offer more total weeks of paid benefits than federal FMLA's 12-week cap, so confirm your specific state's rules if you're trying to figure out where the paid weeks end and unpaid job-protected weeks begin.
What if my state has no paid family leave program?
In the 37 states without a PFL program — including Texas, Florida, and Georgia — FMLA-eligible leave is unpaid unless your employer fills the gap. That means checking whether your employer offers short-term disability, paid parental leave, or lets you use accrued PTO, since none of those are guaranteed by federal law. The job protection FMLA provides is still valuable even without pay, since it preserves your health insurance and guarantees your position back, but you'll need another source of income to cover the unpaid weeks.
Key Takeaways
FMLA pays nothing. It protects your job, not your income.
State PFL is your best option if you live in one of the 13 states that offer it.
Short-term disability covers your own medical leave (including pregnancy) in 5 states and through many employer plans.
Your employer can require you to use PTO during FMLA — and most do.
Combine programs. Many workers use STD for the first 6-8 weeks, then state PFL for bonding, all while FMLA protects their job.
Before you file anything, confirm you meet the FMLA eligibility requirements — the hours and tenure rules trip up more workers than the pay question does.
