Delaware employers use the paid leave waiver form to exclude specific workers who fall outside the coverage definition in the Healthy Delaware Families Act, and every waiver is filed electronically through the LaborFirst portal at labor.delaware.gov.1Delaware Department of Labor. Delaware LaborFirst The waiver stops contributions for that individual worker; it is not the same as opting your whole company out with a private plan.
Which Workers You Can Waive
The waiver is meant for employees who don’t meet the statute’s “covered individual” definition. Under 19 Del. C. § 3701, a covered individual must have worked for the same employer for at least 12 months and logged at least 1,250 hours during that period.2Delaware Code Online. Delaware Code 19 Chapter 37 – Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program Workers who fall short of those numbers, or who primarily report to a worksite outside Delaware, can be waived.3Justia. Delaware Code Title 19 – Labor Chapter 37 – Definitions
The common categories:
- Employees who primarily report to a worksite outside Delaware.
- Part-time or short-tenure employees who haven’t reached 12 months of service or 1,250 hours.
- Seasonal employees at operations that shut down for a month or more during the year.4Delaware Department of Labor. Delaware Paid Leave
If your company has fewer than 10 employees, you’re outside the program entirely and don’t need to file a waiver at all.4Delaware Department of Labor. Delaware Paid Leave If you have 10 to 24 employees, you’re subject only to the parental leave provisions, so a waiver for a genuinely non-covered worker in that tier removes them from parental leave contributions but doesn’t let you sidestep parental leave for eligible workers.3Justia. Delaware Code Title 19 – Labor Chapter 37 – Definitions
How To Submit the Waiver Through LaborFirst
Every waiver goes through LaborFirst, the Delaware Department of Labor’s online administrative system.5Delaware Department of Labor. Waiver Forms Before you can file, you need a My.Delaware account at labor.delaware.gov/laborfirst linked to your business.1Delaware Department of Labor. Delaware LaborFirst
Once you’re in:
- Open the Account Division screen.
- Select “File Waiver” from the list of Action Items.5Delaware Department of Labor. Waiver Forms
- Identify each employee being excluded and the basis for the exclusion.
Have your Federal Employer Identification Number ready, along with records showing each worker’s hire date, hours worked, and primary work location. The figures you enter should match what you’ve reported on your quarterly wage and hour submissions to the Division of Paid Leave. If the payroll data on the waiver doesn’t line up with your quarterly filings, expect the Division to flag the mismatch.
After you submit, the system generates a confirmation you can use to track status. Save the confirmation and any documents you uploaded.
What Changes Once a Waiver Is Approved
An approved waiver stops both sides of the contribution for that worker. Neither you nor the employee owes anything on those wages while the waiver is in place.
The total contribution rate for 2025 and 2026 is 0.80% of wages, split into 0.40% for medical leave, 0.32% for parental leave, and 0.08% for family caregiving leave. Employers can require employees to pay up to half the total.2Delaware Code Online. Delaware Code 19 Chapter 37 – Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program Employers in the 10-to-24 range owe only the 0.32% parental piece, so a waiver in that tier only removes contributions from the category you actually participate in.3Justia. Delaware Code Title 19 – Labor Chapter 37 – Definitions For 2027 and beyond, the Department recalculates rates using actuarial data and cannot set them above 125% of the prior year’s paid benefits plus administrative costs.
The waived worker also loses access to state-funded paid leave benefits entirely. That’s why the waiver should only be filed when the employee genuinely falls outside the coverage definition, not as a way to trim payroll costs.
Obligations That Continue After You File
You still have to give employees a Notice of Employee Rights when coverage begins or changes. The DOL posts the notice in English and Spanish on its employer resources page.6Delaware Department of Labor. Employer Information and Resources A worker excluded by waiver should understand why they aren’t participating and what would change if they later cross the 1,250-hour or 12-month threshold.
Review waivers at least once a year. A worker who was correctly excluded last year may have accumulated enough hours or tenure to qualify as a covered individual since then. Continuing to withhold coverage from someone who now meets the definition exposes the business to penalties and back-owed contributions.
If the Division of Paid Leave determines an employer is abusing waivers to exclude workers who should be covered, it can issue penalties and refer serious cases to the Delaware Department of Justice.7Delaware Department of Labor. Employers and Third Party Administrators Guide to Delaware Paid Leave Any penalties owed will appear on your next quarterly invoice.
Timing for the 2026 Filing Year
Contributions began January 1, 2025, and the benefit program went live January 1, 2026, when employees became able to submit claims for the first time.4Delaware Department of Labor. Delaware Paid Leave The Division of Paid Leave has said it will not charge penalties or interest on any 2025 quarterly wage and hour submissions or contribution payments as long as they are submitted by March 31, 2026, which is 60 days past the normal Q4 due date.
File waivers as soon as you identify workers who should be excluded, rather than waiting for a quarterly deadline. Retroactive corrections are harder to process and more likely to draw questions about why contributions were or weren’t withheld during the gap.
When a Waiver Isn’t the Right Tool
The employee-level waiver is different from opting your whole company out of the state fund. Under 19 Del. C. § 3716, employers can offer an approved private plan, and employers with 100 or more workers can apply to self-insure with a surety bond equal to one year of contributions.2Delaware Code Online. Delaware Code 19 Chapter 37 – Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program8Delaware Department of Labor. Self-Insured Employers Those are separate applications with their own requirements, not something the waiver form handles. If your goal is to move the whole workforce off the state program, look at the private plan or self-insurance track instead.