Alabama: Paid Sick Leave Requirements

What Alabama actually requires

Alabama does not require any private employer to provide paid sick leave, earned
paid leave, or a minimum amount of sick time. There is no accrual rate, annual
entitlement, waiting period, carryover rule, list of qualifying reasons, or
covered-family definition, because there is no statewide sick-leave statute. Whether
you get paid sick days, how many, and what you may use them for are set entirely by
your employer's policy, your employment contract, or a collective bargaining
agreement.

State law also forecloses the local route, and does so more sweepingly than most
states. The Alabama Uniform Minimum Wage and Right-to-Work Act (Ala. Code § 25-7-41)
bars a county, municipality, or any other political subdivision from enacting or
administering any ordinance requiring an employer to provide "paid or unpaid leave,
vacation, wage, or work schedule" not required by state or federal law, and declares
any inconsistent local rule void. The Act goes on to say the Legislature "occupies
and preempts the entire field." So an Alabama city cannot create a local
paid-sick-leave ordinance. The one carve-out (§ 25-7-43) is for public and
educational employers and a subdivision's rules for its own employees; it does not
reach private employers.

Because Alabama also has no general wage-and-hour statute — its Department of Labor
states the state "does not have any state laws governing wage and hour issues" and
defers to federal law — there is no state agency or wage statute standing behind
promised sick pay. If an employer offers paid sick leave, the terms of the policy or
contract control, and a dispute over it is an ordinary contract matter.

What trips people up

The preemption covers unpaid leave too. Section 25-7-41 does not stop at paid
benefits; it bars local mandates of "paid or unpaid leave," so a city cannot even
require unpaid protected sick time. This is broader than a preemption aimed only at
paid-leave ordinances.

There is no state wage law to collect unpaid sick pay. Unlike states whose
wage-payment acts treat promised, accrued sick pay as recoverable wages, Alabama has
no such statute. Whether unused sick time is paid out at separation depends on the
employer's written policy, and enforcement means a contract claim, not a wage-agency
complaint.

Federal law still fills some gaps. The federal FMLA can give eligible employees
of larger employers unpaid, job-protected leave for serious health conditions, and
the ADA may require leave as a reasonable accommodation. Neither is paid sick leave,
and neither is created by Alabama law.

Common questions

Can an Alabama city or county require my employer to give sick days?

No. Section 25-7-41 bars every county, municipality, and other political subdivision
from mandating paid or unpaid leave and voids any inconsistent ordinance, and the
Act preempts the entire field.

If my employer offers paid sick leave, is it guaranteed?

Only by the employer's own policy or contract. No Alabama statute fixes the terms or
requires the benefit, so the employer generally sets and may change the policy,
subject to ordinary contract principles.

Will I be paid for unused sick days when I leave a job?

There is no state law requiring it. Alabama has no general wage-payment statute, so
payout of unused sick time depends entirely on what the employer's policy or contract
provides.

Does any leave protection apply in Alabama at all?

For ordinary illness, only what the employer chooses to offer. Separate federal laws
such as the FMLA and ADA can apply to qualifying medical situations, but they do not
create paid sick leave.

Statutes and sources

• Ala. Code §§ 25-7-40 to 25-7-45 (Alabama Uniform Minimum Wage and
  Right-to-Work Act, Act 2016-18). Preempts local paid- or unpaid-leave mandates and
  occupies the field; § 25-7-43 excepts public and educational employers. Alabama
  Legislature, enrolled
  HB174
  (accessed July 23, 2026).
• Alabama Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Info. Confirms Alabama has no state
  wage-and-hour laws and follows federal guidelines.
  View official text (labor.alabama.gov) (accessed
  July 23, 2026).