Massachusetts program
Sick time to care for your child (40 hours a year)
Time earned at work that you can use to care for a sick child [Earned Sick Time].
What it is
Time earned at work that you can use to care for a sick child [Earned Sick Time].
Sick time can cover shorter absences for your child’s care. You earn it as you work, so the usable balance may be smaller than the annual limit. A separate law covers some routine appointments.
Eligibility rules
- Covered workers accrue one hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year.
- Caring for the employee’s child is a permitted use.
- Most employees whose primary workplace is Massachusetts are covered, including part-time and temporary workers, but public-employer and other specified exceptions apply. Use normally begins after 90 days of employment; carryover can be up to 40 hours, with a usual 40-hour annual use limit. Notice and documentation must follow the state rules. HR can check the balance and whether the separate, normally unpaid 24-hour Small Necessities Leave applies under FMLA-style employer, tenure and hours tests.
What you get
- Up to 40 hours of earned sick time each year.
- Paid time at employers with 11 or more employees, and unpaid time below that threshold.
What the help covers
- Small Necessities Leave can provide up to 24 additional unpaid hours in 12 months for specified routine appointments and school needs. FMLA-style employer, tenure, hours and worksite tests apply. It is separate from FMLA, not extra general medical-care leave.
If you decide to apply
- Ask human resources for your earned balance, employer headcount and leave policy in writing.
- Have a recent pay stub and the dates you expect to miss work ready.
- Ask how child-care absences, the PFML waiting week and any separate appointment leave fit together.
The employer, under state law · Official page ↗
After you ask
- Human resources can confirm the usable balance and any documentation for the dates requested.
- The state Attorney General’s office enforces the earned-sick-time law.
Good to know
Whether the time is paid turns on one number: does your employer have 11 or more employees? Ask HR, and ask for your balance in writing.
Other details
- Accrued time can be much less than 40 hours for a worker who recently started the job.
Official sources
“How much sick time can I use for our child’s care, and would it be paid? Could you help compare using it for appointments or the PFML waiting period and check any separate appointment leave?”
Why I’m asking: I want to know what short absences can be covered without using more leave than necessary.
More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules
Who does what
The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.
You
Ask for the balance in writing and say the time is to care for your child.
Your social worker
Human resources tracks the accrual and the headcount.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- The employer applies the law; the Attorney General enforces it.
- Ask HR
- “How many earned sick hours do I have, and does the company have eleven or more employees, so I know whether those hours are paid?”
How to apply
First step: Ask human resources for your sick-time balance and the company headcount in writing.
- Ask human resources for the balance and the employer’s headcount in writing.
- Use sick time for the first unpaid week of state paid leave.
- Ask about small necessities leave for routine appointments.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Ask human resources for the sick-time balance in writing and use it for clinic days.
What to gather
- Recent pay stubs or the sick-time balance
- The employee handbook’s leave section
How long: Available as soon as it is earned, at one hour for every 30 worked.
What a yes looks like
A balance you can use for clinic days, paid if the employer has eleven or more people.
What a no looks like, and the next move
If sick time is refused for a child’s care, the state Attorney General’s office enforces this law.
Watch out
- Paid sick time starts at eleven employees, which sits inside the "5 to 19" band asked about here. Ask for the headcount.
- It is earned as you work, so a new job means a small balance.
- Small necessities leave is a separate 24 hours, and it is for routine appointments rather than long treatment.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
40 hours of sick time a year, paid at eleven or more employees and unpaid below, earned at one hour for every 30 worked, plus 24 hours a year for routine child appointments.
- $40 — Sick time a year
- $11 — Employer size at which the 40 hours are paid
- $30 — Hours worked for each hour of sick time earned
- $24 — Small necessities leave in a 12-month period
Legal protection: Caring for a sick child is an allowed use of earned sick time · Small necessities leave covers accompanying a child to routine medical or dental appointments
What it costs the family: None.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Employment
- employees in Massachusetts; the paid entitlement starts at eleven or more employees
- Accrual
- one hour for every 30 hours worked, to 40 hours a year
- Use
- care for the employee’s child among the listed uses
The trap: The line for paid sick time is eleven employees, which sits inside the "5 to 19" band this site asks about. Ask your employer how many people it employs before assuming the time is unpaid.
Where I read this
- M.G.L. c. 149 § 148C — Earned Sick Time — Massachusetts General Court, read September 10, 2026
- M.G.L. c. 149 § 52D — Small Necessities Leave — Massachusetts General Court, read September 10, 2026