There is no law requiring paid sick leave in Texas for private-sector workers. Neither the Texas Labor Code nor federal law forces a private employer to offer paid time off when you’re sick, and every city ordinance that tried to create one has been struck down. If you work for a private company, any sick pay you receive is a voluntary benefit set by your employer’s written policy. State employees and public school staff are the exceptions, with paid sick leave guaranteed by separate statutes.
Your Employer’s Written Policy Is What Matters
Chapter 61 of the Texas Labor Code defines “wages” to include sick leave pay, but only when an employer has committed to providing it in a written agreement or written policy.1State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Chapter 61 – Payment of Wages The Texas Workforce Commission confirms that no Texas or federal law compels a private-sector employer to provide paid or unpaid sick leave in the first place.2Texas Guidebook for Employers. Vacation and Sick Leave
Once an employer does put a sick leave policy in a handbook, offer letter, or employment contract, that policy becomes part of the wage agreement and is enforceable under the Texas Payday Law. The employer has to follow whatever the written terms say: accrual rates, carryover limits, usage rules, and payout provisions.
That rule works in both directions. If the written policy says unused sick leave is forfeited at year’s end, that “use it or lose it” clause is enforceable.2Texas Guidebook for Employers. Vacation and Sick Leave If accrual is capped at a certain number of hours, the cap applies. Employers can change their policies going forward, but the policy in effect while you were accruing leave governs what you earned. Read your handbook closely. The specific wording decides whether your sick leave is a vested benefit or something you could lose.
Payouts When You Leave a Job
Texas does not require employers to pay out accrued but unused sick leave when you quit or are fired.2Texas Guidebook for Employers. Vacation and Sick Leave Under the Texas Administrative Code, sick leave pay is owed at separation only if a written agreement or written policy specifically provides for payment.3Cornell Law School. 40 Texas Admin Code 821.25 – Fringe Benefits
If your policy is silent on what happens to unused sick leave at separation, the balance is not enforceable as wages owed. The same goes for combined PTO plans that bundle sick leave with vacation. Unless the policy explicitly promises a payout, there’s no legal obligation to cut you a check for it. Before you give notice, look for language in your handbook that specifically addresses separation payouts.
Filing a Wage Claim When a Policy Is Ignored
If your employer’s written policy promises sick leave pay and the employer refuses to honor it, you can file a wage claim with the Texas Workforce Commission. The deadline is 180 days from the date the wages should have been paid, and it is a hard jurisdictional cutoff.1State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Chapter 61 – Payment of Wages Miss it and you lose the right to file.
Claims can be submitted online, by mail, by fax, or in person at a TWC office.4Texas Workforce Commission. Texas Payday Law TWC recommends contacting your employer directly first, since many disputes get resolved without a formal filing. When you file, you’ll need to describe the wages owed and provide documentation of the employer’s written sick leave policy. There is no fee.
Federal Job Protection Under the FMLA
Because Texas offers no paid sick leave mandate, federal law provides the main safety net. It protects your job, not your paycheck. The Family and Medical Leave Act entitles eligible employees to up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in any 12-month period for qualifying reasons, including a serious health condition that prevents you from doing your job, caring for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition, or the birth or placement of a child.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2612 – Leave Requirement
To qualify, you must meet all three thresholds:
- Your employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles of your worksite.
- You have worked for the employer for at least 12 months.
- You have logged at least 1,250 hours of service during the 12 months before leave begins.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC Chapter 28 – Family and Medical Leave
Those thresholds leave out many Texas workers, especially people at small businesses and anyone who recently changed jobs. If you do qualify, your employer must keep your group health insurance on the same terms as if you were still working and must restore you to the same or an equivalent position when you return.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2614 – Employment and Benefits Protection For foreseeable leave, like a scheduled surgery or an expected due date, give at least 30 days’ notice when possible.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2612 – Leave Requirement
FMLA leave does not have to be taken all at once. For a serious health condition, your own or a family member’s, you can take it in separate blocks or on a reduced schedule, and the total entitlement doesn’t shrink because you use it that way.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2612 – Leave Requirement
A Note on Pregnancy
The federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, effective in 2023, gives pregnant and postpartum workers at companies with 15 or more employees the right to reasonable workplace accommodations for limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related conditions. Those accommodations can include paid or unpaid leave to recover from childbirth when nothing else would work. An employer cannot force you to take leave as a substitute for an accommodation that would let you keep working.
Public-Sector Workers Are Covered
Two large groups of public employees do have a statutory right to paid sick leave in Texas.
State Agency Employees
Under the Texas Government Code, full-time state employees earn eight hours of paid sick leave for each month of employment. Part-time employees accrue leave on a proportionate basis, and unused leave carries forward month to month with no cap on accumulation. You can use it when illness, injury, or pregnancy keeps you from working, or when you need to care for a sick immediate family member. If you take more than three consecutive workdays, your agency can require a doctor’s note showing the cause of the absence.8State of Texas. Texas Government Code Chapter 661 – Leave
Public School Employees
Texas public school employees receive a separate statutory allotment of paid sick leave under the Education Code. School districts can and often do provide additional sick leave beyond the state minimum through local policy. The specifics on accrual and carryover vary by district, so check with your district’s HR office for the terms that apply to you.
Why Cities Can’t Fill the Gap
Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas each passed ordinances requiring private employers to provide earned sick time. Each was challenged by business groups and the Texas Attorney General’s office.9Office of the Attorney General. AG Paxton Issues Statement After Court Ruling Blocks City of Austins Unlawful Sick Leave Ordinance In Texas Association of Business v. City of Austin, the Third Court of Appeals held that paid sick time is a form of wage and that the Texas Minimum Wage Act preempts any city ordinance governing wages in private employment, making the Austin ordinance unconstitutional.10FindLaw. Texas Association of Business v. City of Austin (2018) The same reasoning sank the San Antonio and Dallas ordinances. No Texas city can currently enforce a paid sick leave requirement on private employers, and any change would have to come from the state legislature.