Vermont Parental & Family Leave Act (VPFLA)

The Vermont Parental & Family Leave Act (VPFLA), significantly expanded by Act 32 (effective July 1, 2025), is the cornerstone of Vermont’s job-protected leave system. It requires employers with 10 or more employees to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period for parental leave (birth, adoption, foster placement of a child under 18), bereavement leave, safe leave (domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking), and qualifying military exigency leave. Employers with 15 or more employees must also provide leave for the employee’s own serious health condition or to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Employees must have worked for their employer for at least one year at an average of 30 hours per week to qualify.

Act 32 (2025) additions: Bereavement leave allows up to 2 weeks (no more than 5 consecutive workdays at a time) within one year of a family member’s death, including time for estate administration. Safe leave covers time needed to seek medical care, counseling, legal services, safety planning, or relocation related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking affecting the employee or a family member. Parental leave now explicitly covers miscarriage recovery, and the foster child age limit was raised from 16 to 18. All leave types count toward the same 12-week annual cap.

Family members covered under the VPFLA (as defined by Act 32) include: spouse, civil union partner, or domestic partner; children (biological, adopted, foster, step, legal ward, or in loco parentis); parents (biological, foster, adoptive, step, legal guardian, or in loco parentis); grandparents; grandchildren; and siblings (including step and foster siblings). Domestic partner is defined as an enduring relationship of spousal nature where both parties are 18+, have lived together for 6+ months, and are not married or partnered to another person.

Vermont’s voluntary Family & Medical Leave Insurance (FMLI) program, launched by Governor Scott and administered by The Hartford, provides wage replacement during qualifying leave. State employees have had coverage since July 2023. Private employers with 2+ employees can opt in (since July 2024), and an individual/self-employed purchasing pool opened enrollment in May 2025 with benefits starting January 2026. The program provides approximately 60% wage replacement for 6 to 26 weeks depending on the plan. The elimination period is 0 days for family leave and 7 days for medical leave. Premiums vary by employer size, industry, and demographics. While participation is voluntary, FMLI does not provide independent job protection (employees must rely on VPFLA or federal FMLA for that).

Vermont’s Fair Employment Practices Act (FEPA) provides anti-discrimination protections for employers with 1 or more employees. Mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and bipolar disorder, are explicitly protected as disabilities. The Attorney General’s Civil Rights Unit handles complaints against private employers, while the Vermont Human Rights Commission (HRC) handles complaints against the State as employer. Administrative complaints must be filed within 1 year of the discriminatory act.

Vermont’s Earned Sick Time law (21 V.S.A. §§ 481-486, effective 2017) requires all employers to provide paid sick time accruing at 1 hour per 52 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year. Employees working 18+ hours per week on average are eligible. Earned sick time can be used for the employee’s own illness, family member care, domestic violence or sexual assault needs, and school or business closures.

All employers, regardless of size, must allow employees to take up to 4 hours of unpaid short-term family leave in any 30-day period (up to 24 hours per 12-month period) for school activities, medical appointments, or family medical emergencies. Vermont also provides crime victim leave protections (13 V.S.A. § 5313), which prohibit employers from discharging or disciplining employees for honoring a subpoena to testify as a crime victim.

Lower employer threshold than FMLA (10 for parental/bereavement/safe leave, 15 for family vs 50). Act 32 (2025) added bereavement, safe leave, and qualifying exigency leave. Voluntary FMLI program (administered by The Hartford) for wage replacement. FEPA covers employers with 1+ employees for anti-discrimination. Short-term family leave (4 hours per 30-day period, 24 hours per year) applies to all employers.