Sick leave is when an employee takes time off work because of an illness or injury. Although there is no federal requirement for paid sick leave, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, employers subject to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) are required to give their employees unpaid sick leave. The FMLA allows eligible employees to take unpaid, job-protected leave for family and medical reasons. Under the Act, employees are given twelve workweeks of leave in a year’s period for situations such as birth and care of a newborn child, care for an immediate family who has a serious health condition, and a serious health condition of the employee themself.
[Last updated in July of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]