West Virginia: Paid Sick Leave Requirements

What West Virginia actually requires

West Virginia does not require an ordinary private employer to provide paid
sick leave or earned paid leave. The current Chapter 21 labor index contains
wage, hours, safety, equal-pay, parental-leave, nurse-overtime, and other
articles, but no private-sector sick-leave act.

The state does regulate an employer-created benefit in two important ways.
First, W. Va. Code § 21-5-9 requires every person, firm, and corporation to make
its practices and policies concerning sick leave available to employees in
writing or through an accessible posted notice. Second, § 21-5-1 includes sick
leave in "fringe benefits" and includes an accrued fringe benefit in wages when
it is calculable and payable directly under the employer agreement.

That means the handbook or agreement does the substantive work. It decides
whether sick time exists, who receives it, how it accrues, whether it carries
over, when it may be used, what notice or proof is required, and whether unused
time is payable. West Virginia requires disclosure of those terms but does not
supply a statewide minimum balance.

What trips people up

Policy disclosure is not a paid-leave mandate. Section 21-5-9 makes an
employer tell employees what its sick-leave policy is. It does not require the
policy to provide any paid hours.

Sick leave is not automatically payable at separation. Section 21-5-1 makes
then-accrued fringe benefits wages only when they are capable of calculation
and payable directly under the agreement. The same section says the benefit
need not be calculated contrary to that agreement.

The Parental Leave Act is public-sector only. Section 21-5D-2 limits both
"employee" and "employer" to state-government units and county boards of
education. It is not a private-employer sick-leave statute.

Common questions

Must a West Virginia private employer provide sick days?

No. State law sets no general private-sector minimum number of paid or unpaid
sick days.

Must the employer put its sick-leave policy in writing?

The employer must make its sick-leave practices and policies available either
in writing or through a posted notice maintained in a place accessible to
employees.

Does unused sick leave have to carry over?

Not by a statewide private-sector sick-leave law. The disclosed policy or
agreement controls carryover and any bank or use cap.

Must unused sick leave be paid when employment ends?

Only when the governing agreement makes the accrued benefit calculable and
payable directly. The wage statute does not create a payout contrary to that
agreement.

Statutes and sources

• W. Va. Code Chapter 21. Current labor-title article index; no general
  private-sector paid-sick or earned-paid-leave act. West Virginia
  Legislature (accessed July 23, 2026).
• W. Va. Code § 21-5-1(c), (l). Accrued fringe benefits can be wages when
  calculable and payable under the agreement; sick leave is a listed fringe
  benefit. West Virginia
  Legislature (accessed July 23,
  2026).
• W. Va. Code § 21-5-9(3). Employers must make sick-leave practices and
  policies available in writing or by accessible posting. West Virginia
  Legislature (accessed July 23,
  2026).
• W. Va. Code § 21-5D-2(c)-(d). The Parental Leave Act's employee and
  employer definitions are limited to state government and county boards of
  education. West Virginia
  Legislature (accessed July 23,
  2026).