Pittsburgh’s paid sick leave rules have expanded: Are you compliant?

The Pittsburgh Paid Sick Days Act (PSDA) has been in effect since March 15, 2020, but amendments that took effect on January 1, 2026, have significantly expanded employees’ rights under the law. The amendments increase both the rate at which employees accrue paid sick leave and the annual caps on an employee’s accrual and usage. Employers should review their internal policies and practices now to ensure they are compliant.

Key takeaways:

• As of January 1, 2026, Pittsburgh employees accrue one hour of paid sick leave per 30 hours worked, as opposed to one hour for every 35 hours.
• Annual caps have increased to up to 72 hours for employers with 15 or more employees and 48 hours for employers with fewer than 15 employees.
• Employers with an employee working 35 or more hours a year in Pittsburgh should update their handbooks, leave policies, and workplace postings now.

How does the PSDA work?

As a quick recap, the PSDA applies to most private employers and requires them to provide paid sick leave to employees (full-time or part-time) who work at least 35 hours within the Pittsburgh city limits in a calendar year. Employees may use paid sick leave for the following reasons:

• Diagnosis, care, or treatment of an employee or an employee’s family member (as defined by the statute), mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition, including preventive medical care
• Closure of the employee’s place of business or a child’s school or place of care due to a public health emergency, care for a family member due to a public health emergency, or other required exclusion of the employee from the workplace for health reasons.

Previous PSDA requirements

New PSDA requirements

Next steps for employers

Employees may carry over unused paid sick leave up to the new accrual caps, unless the employer frontloads the new maximum amount, based on their employer size, at the start of each calendar year.

Before this amendment, the paid sick leave laws in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County used the same accrual rate and annual cap. As a result, employers subject to both laws could take a more streamlined approach to compliance. Philadelphia was the outlier, as its law has always used different accrual and usage amounts than Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Now, the three local laws in Pennsylvania are no longer aligned.

Employers should therefore carefully assess whether they are subject to these local laws, specifically whether they have any employee, full-time or part-time, who works at least 35 hours within Pittsburgh’s city limits in a calendar year. If so, employers should review and revise their employee handbooks and update their workplace postings as needed.