Allegheny County, PA Approves Sweeping Paid Parental Leave Requirements; Broadens Separate Paid Sick Leave Entitlement

Seyfarth Synopsis: Allegheny County has approved a sweeping new paid leave ordinance that will require covered employers to provide eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave. Separately, the ordinance also substantially expands the County’s existing paid sick leave requirements to better harmonize the County standards with amendments made to Pittsburgh’s paid sick leave mandate at the start of 2026. The Allegheny County ordinance is the first county-level paid parental leave mandate in the country and, among several unique components, requires covered employers to fully finance and directly pay employees the paid parental leave benefit.

What You Need to Know

• On October 22, 2026, the Allegheny County Executive approved a new mandate requiring employers with at least 15 employees to provide eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave.
• The ordinance generally covers employers with at least 15 employees and employees who perform at least 80 hours of work in Allegheny County during a year.
• The mandate, which is now known as “Paid Sick and Parental Leave” instead of “Paid Sick Days,” also expands the County’s paid sick leave requirements. Notably, the paid sick leave amendments include increasing accrual to one hour for every 30 hours worked and allowing employees of employers with at least 15 employees to accrue up to 72 hours of paid sick leave per year. Employers with fewer than 15 employees must provide at least 48 hours of paid sick leave per year. These changes bring Allegheny County’s paid sick leave standards in line with amendments to the City of Pittsburgh’s separate paid sick leave mandate that took effect earlier this year.
• The County mandate is expected to become effective on approximately April 19, 2027, but employers will have an additional 180 days, until approximately October 16, 2027, to implement the new requirements. Both dates remain subject to confirmation by the County.

Background and Approval Process

On October 21, 2026, the Allegheny County Council passed the new paid parental leave mandate and expanded its existing paid sick leave requirements. The County Executive approved the legislation the next day. The ordinance is expected to take effect on approximately April 19, 2027, and covered employers are expected to have until approximately October 16, 2027, to implement its requirements. Both dates remain subject to confirmation by the County.

Covered Employers and Employees

The ordinance generally covers entities situated or doing business within Allegheny County that employ at least 15 individuals for a salary, wage, commission, or other compensation. The United States government and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including their offices, departments, agencies, authorities, institutions, legislatures, and judiciaries, are excluded. However, the paid sick leave provisions also include requirements and obligations for smaller employers.

An employee generally is covered by the ordinance if they perform at least 80 hours of work within Allegheny County during a year. Independent contractors, state and federal employees, temporary employees, seasonal employees, and certain members of construction labor unions who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement are excluded.

Employees who fall within the law’s general coverage must satisfy additional service and claim requirements to become eligible for paid parental leave, as discussed below.

Paid Parental Leave Requirements

Pennsylvania state law does not currently require employers generally to provide paid parental leave. The new Allegheny County mandate will create a fully employer-funded paid parental leave requirement for covered employers and eligible employees working within the County.

The principal requirements include:

• Employee Eligibility:
  • In addition to the general eligibility standards outlined above, to become eligible for paid parental leave, an employee must have been employed by the employer for at least 180 continuous days. A part-time employee must have been employed for at least 180 days and worked at least 625 hours during that period. These eligibility thresholds are significantly lower than the federal FMLA’s eligibility requirements that an employee generally have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and completed at least 1,250 hours of service during the preceding 12 months.
  • Further, to be eligible for paid parental leave the employee must be actively employed by the employer, file a claim with the employer, provide appropriate supporting documentation, and provide a written schedule indicating how the leave will be used and anticipated dates of leave.
    
    
• Amount of Leave: An eligible employee may receive up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave per claim. Although not expressly addressed, language in the ordinance suggests that paid parental leave will be available on an intermittent basis. We anticipate this point being clarified in future regulations.
  
  
• Qualifying Events: Paid parental leave may be taken following the live birth, stillbirth, adoption, or legal permanent placement of a child. For a live birth, adoption, or legal permanent placement, leave may be used to care for and bond with the child during the first 12 months following the qualifying event. Following a stillbirth, leave may be used for recovery from childbirth, where applicable, and to address the employee’s related physical and behavioral health needs.
  
  
• Pay: Parental leave must be compensated at the employee ’s base rate of pay in effect when the leave is taken, subject to a maximum weekly benefit of $4,200. For a part-time employee, the benefit is calculated by multiplying the employee’s current rate of pay by the employee’s average weekly hours during the six months immediately preceding the benefit request.
  
  
• Funding: As noted above, Allegheny County’s approach to paid parental leave funding is unique and makes the County an outlier compared to existing state and local paid family and medical leave (PFML) programs.^[1]Employers are responsible for fully funding paid parental leave and directly paying employees who are absent for a qualifying, approved parental leave up to the weekly maximum amount described in the immediately preceding bullet point.
  
  
• Employee Notice to the Employer: An employee generally must provide at least 30 days’ written notice when the need for paid parental leave is known at least 30 days in advance. If the need for leave is not known at least 30 days in advance, the employee must provide written notice as soon as practicable.
  
  
• Required Documentation: An employee must provide documentation supporting the qualifying event, which may include a birth certificate, health care provider document, adoption or placement documentation, court order, acknowledgment of paternity, certificate of stillbirth, or other qualifying documentation.
  
  
• Leave Schedule: An employee must provide a written schedule explaining how the employee intends to use the leave and identifying the anticipated leave dates.
  
  
• Employer Acknowledgment of Leave Request and Determination:
  • When an employee requests paid parental leave, the employer must send the employee a written acknowledgment that contains several specific pieces of information. This substantive information must include, among other required content, an explanation of the employee’s right to paid parental leave and the terms of its use, and the approved duration of leave and amount of benefits payable.
  • The employer must determine the employee’s eligibility within 10 business days after receiving the claim and all necessary supporting documentation. If the employer fails to issue a timely determination or denies the claim, the employee may file a complaint with the designated County agency.
    
    
• Spouses and Domestic Partners: Spouses or domestic partners employed by the same employer are each independently eligible for benefits, even when their leave periods run concurrently. This is materially more generous than the FMLA, which generally limits spouses employed by the same employer to a combined total of 12 weeks of leave for birth, adoption or foster-care placement, and bonding. The County mandate also expressly extends this protection to domestic partners.
  
  
• Benefits Continuation: During paid parental leave, the employer must maintain the employee’s established employment benefits as though the employee had remained continuously employed. The employee must continue paying the employee’s regular share of benefit costs.
  
  
• FMLA Coordination: Leave that also qualifies under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act will run concurrently with FMLA leave. The County law establishes minimum requirements and does not diminish an employer’s obligations under another law, collective bargaining agreement, benefit plan, employer policy, or contract that provides more generous leave rights.
  
  
• Private Plans: An employer may satisfy its obligations through a private plan if the plan provides at least the same rights, protections, and benefits required by the County law, including the maximum weekly paid parental benefit.
  
  
• Job Restoration: At the conclusion of paid parental leave, a covered employee generally must be restored to the position held when the leave began or to a position with equivalent seniority, status, employment benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment.
  
  
• Interference and Retaliation: Employers may not interfere with an employee’s exercise of rights under the law, retaliate against an employee for requesting or using paid parental leave, or count protected leave as an absence that may lead to discipline or another adverse employment action.
  
  

Expanded Paid Sick Leave Requirements

Allegheny County’s current paid sick leave ordinance, adopted in 2021 and discussed in Seyfarth’s prior alerts regarding the ordinance’s enactment and its December 15, 2021 effective date, generally applies to employers with 26 or more employees and requires covered employees to accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 35 hours worked, subject to a 40-hour annual cap.

Key highlights of the changes to the County’s existing paid sick leave requirements include:

• Employer Coverage: The County’s amended paid sick leave provisions significantly expand employer coverage. The current ordinance requires paid sick leave only from employers with 26 or more employees. Under the new ordinance, the paid sick leave requirements intended appear to apply to County employers of all sizes, with different annual accrual and point-in-time caps depending on whether the employer has at least 15 employees.
  
  
• Accrual Rate: Consistent with the January 2026 amendments to the Pittsburgh paid sick leave ordinance, eligible Allegheny County employees will accrue at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked within Allegheny County. This is a faster accrual rate than the current requirement of one hour for every 35 hours worked, meaning employees will earn an hour of paid sick leave after working five fewer hours.
  
  
• Annual Accrual and Point-in-Time Caps: Employees of employers with at least 15 employees must be permitted to accrue up to 72 hours of paid sick leave during a calendar year, unless the employer provides a higher amount. This represents a substantial increase from the mandate’s current 40-hour annual cap, and an additional alignment with the separate Pittsburgh paid sick leave ordinance. Separately, the mandate provides that an employee may not have access to more than 72 hours of paid sick leave at any point, unless the employer designates a higher amount.
  
  
• Smaller Employers:^[2]Employees of employers with fewer than 15 employees will accrue at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours per calendar year. Employees of these smaller employers also may not have access to more than 48 hours of paid sick leave at any point, unless the employer designates a higher amount.
  
  
• Carryover and Frontloading: Accrued paid sick leave generally carries over to the following year. For an employee of an employer with at least 15 employees, carryover is limited so that the employee’s total available balance does not exceed 72 hours. For an employee of an employer with fewer than 15 employees, the corresponding limit is 48 hours. An employer need not permit carryover if it provides the employee with the full applicable paid sick leave amount, 72 or 48 hours, at the beginning of each year. If the employer frontloads less than the full applicable amount, the employee must be allowed to carry over accrued time, but the employee’s total available balance need not exceed the applicable 72-hour or 48-hour point-in-time cap.
  
  
• Annual Usage Cap: Although the amended paid sick leave ordinance does not expressly address whether employers are permitted to establish an annual usage cap for available paid sick leave, FAQs regarding the current County paid sick leave mandate suggest that an annual usage cap is permitted. Forthcoming regulations or guidance may clarify this point.
  
  
• Existing PTO Policies and Leave Designation: An employer may use an existing paid leave or PTO policy to satisfy the paid sick leave requirements if the policy provides a sufficient leave amount that employees may use for the same purposes and under the same conditions required by the ordinance. However, the employer must separately designate the leave provided as paid sick leave and paid parental leave. Only designated paid sick leave is subject to the ordinance’s accrual requirements; paid parental leave does not accrue based on hours worked.

Employer Notice and Certification Requirements

Employers must provide employees with written notice of their entitlement to paid leave, including the amount and terms of use for the leave; the prohibition against retaliation for requesting or taking paid leave; and the right to file a complaint with the designated County agency if the employer denies paid leave required by the law or retaliates against the employee for requesting or taking such leave. The designated County agency will determine the required notice mechanism and publish necessary compliance materials on the County’s website.

For paid parental leave, employers must provide written notice upon initial hire and annually thereafter. As noted above, when an employee requests leave, the employer must also provide a written acknowledgment explaining the employee’s rights and the terms of use for the approved leave, the approved duration and benefit amount; job-protection and benefits-continuation rights; the prohibition against discrimination and retaliation; and the employee’s ability to file an administrative complaint or civil action.

Beginning one year after the effective date, employers must annually certify to the designated County agency that they complied with the mandate’s paid sick leave and paid parental leave standards during the preceding year.

Recordkeeping and Enforcement

Employers must retain records of employees’ hours worked and paid leave taken for at least two years. Failure to maintain or provide access to adequate records may create a presumption that the employer violated the law. Willful violations may result in penalties of up to $100 per day, per violation, although the County may not assess fines or penalties during the first calendar year following the effective date.

Employees may file complaints with the designated County agency regarding suspected violations. The ordinance also creates a private right of action for certain paid parental leave violations, with available relief including damages, equitable relief, and reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. In addition, certain adverse actions taken within 90 days of protected activity are presumed retaliatory unless the employer establishes otherwise.

Key Takeaways and Looking Forward

The new paid parental leave ordinance and amended paid sick leave requirements are expected to become effective on approximately April 19, 2027, but employers will have an additional 180 days, until approximately October 16, 2027, to implement the new requirements. Both dates remain subject to confirmation by the County.

In the interim, employers should consider taking the following steps:

• Determine which employees perform work in Allegheny County and whether the employer will be covered by the paid parental leave and expanded paid sick leave requirements.
• Review and revise paid parental leave, paid sick leave, PTO, short-term disability, and FMLA policies, including the coordination of existing benefits and the required designation of paid sick and parental leave.
• Update payroll, benefits, and leave-administration systems to address the new paid parental leave benefit and the revised sick leave accrual, cap, carryover, and frontloading requirements.
• Prepare required employee notices, leave-request acknowledgments, recordkeeping procedures, and annual compliance certification processes.

Seyfarth will continue to monitor and provide updates as the County confirms the effective date and issues implementing guidance and compliance materials. In the meantime, with the paid leave landscape continuing to expand and grow in complexity, companies should reach out to their Seyfarth contact for solutions and recommendations on addressing compliance with this ordinance and paid leave requirements more generally. To stay up-to-date on Paid Leave developments, click here to sign up for Seyfarth’s Paid Leave mailing list. Companies interested in Seyfarth’s paid leave laws survey should reach out to paidleave@seyfarth.com.

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[1] Washington, D.C. paid family and medical leave is fully employer-funded; however, this is done through a payroll tax that the employer submits to the district to fund the District’s PFML program. Further, it is the district, not the employer that pays an employee who is out on PFML leave. San Francisco, CA also maintains a local Paid Parental Leave Ordinance (PPLO). However, while San Francisco PPLO requires that the employer directly provide supplemental compensation to employees on a covered leave, the employer is not funding the full benefit. This is because California’s statewide Paid Family Leave benefit covers an initial portion of the compensation, and the employer then provides the employee with San Francisco PPLO supplemental pay.

[2] Although the County ordinance’s general definition of “employer” refers to entities employing at least 15 individuals, the paid sick leave provisions expressly and repeatedly address employers with fewer than 15 employees, indicating that the paid sick leave requirements are intended to apply to employers of all sizes. Additional regulations or guidance may clarify the interaction between these provisions.