How it works. Pick the state where the employee works and the employer's size, then enter the hours in a usual week and the first day of work. You get the sick time earned month by month for the first year, the date the yearly limit is reached and the first day the time can be used, under that state's rule.
Work out sick leave accrual
Maine sick leave rule
- Accrual
- 1 hour of earned paid leave for every 40 hours worked.
- Yearly limit
- Up to 40 hours in a defined year, or the accrual limit in the employer's own paid leave policy if higher.
- Use may begin
- Employers can apply a 120-day wait before new employees use accrued leave.
- Carryover
- Employees must be allowed to carry over all accrued, unused earned paid leave from one defined year to the next.
- Front-loading
- Allowed at the employer's discretion at the beginning of the year.
Add the weekly hours and the first day of work above to put this on a calendar. Source: Earned Paid Leave (Maine Department of Labor)
Reading the result
The month-by-month table assumes the same hours every week and no time used. Real schedules vary, so a payroll record of hours actually worked is what counts; most states also require the balance to be shown to the employee, on the pay stub or in a regular statement. Where a state sets amounts by employer size, the size you pick decides the rate and the limit. If the rule reaches smaller employers later, as Connecticut's does on January 1, 2027, accrual starts on that date.
For the rules behind each state, see paid sick leave laws by state.
General information checked November 2026 against the official pages linked in each result. General information, not legal advice; we are not lawyers, and MCC Solutions is not a law firm. City or county ordinances, union contracts and a written policy can give employees more than the state minimum; the state labor agency or an employment attorney can say how a rule applies to one workplace.
Questions about the calculator
How does the calculator count the hours?
It multiplies the weekly hours by the number of completed weeks since accrual started, then divides by the state's rate (30 hours worked per hour earned in most states). A part-week isn't counted until it's complete, and results are rounded down to the hundredth of an hour, so the figure is never ahead of what the law requires.
What is the difference between an accrual cap and a use cap?
An accrual cap stops new hours once the employee has earned the yearly amount; the table shows the hours leveling off. A use cap lets hours keep building but allows the employer to limit how many are used in a year. California, Michigan, Nevada, New York and Oregon are shown as use caps because that is how their official pages word the limit.
What does 'use may begin' mean?
It's the latest date a state lets an employer make a new hire wait before using earned time, counting the first day of work as day 1. An employer can always allow earlier use. Colorado and Minnesota allow use as soon as hours accrue.
Does front-loading change the result?
Yes. If the employer gives the full year's hours on the first day of the year, the accrual table doesn't apply; the employee has the front-loaded amount at once, and many states then drop the carryover duty. The state's front-loading rule appears in the result.
Does the calculator save what I enter?
No. The page reads the choices from the address bar, works out the hours and shows them. Nothing is stored, and it works without JavaScript.