Can Self-Employed Workers Get Paid Family Leave? Opt-In States and Costs

Self-employed workers can get paid family leave in eleven states and the District of Columbia by voluntarily opting into a state-run insurance program. There is no federal paid family leave, and unlike W-2 employees who are enrolled automatically through payroll, freelancers, sole proprietors, and independent contractors have to sign up on their own and pay premiums out of pocket. Rates run from under half a percent to nearly 9% of income depending on the state, and every program makes you contribute for a waiting period before you can file a claim.

Which States Let You Opt In

As of 2026, the states with a voluntary opt-in for self-employed workers are California, New York, Washington, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon, Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, Maine, and the District of Columbia.1Paid Family Leave. Self-Employed Individuals Not all of them are live. Minnesota began accepting claims in January 2026, and Maryland’s program is not expected to launch until 2028.2Minnesota Paid Leave. Common Questions

Some states with paid leave for employees do not extend it to self-employed workers. Delaware explicitly excludes 1099 contractors with no opt-in pathway.3Delaware Division of Paid Leave. Guide to Delaware Paid Leave New Jersey’s Family Leave Insurance program has no clear voluntary enrollment mechanism for the self-employed either. If your state is not on the list above, you have no state-sponsored paid family leave option.

What Events Qualify

Paid family leave covers a defined set of life events, not general time off. The qualifying reasons are broadly consistent across states:

  • Bonding with a new child through birth, adoption, or foster placement. Most states give you up to 12 months from the child’s arrival to use bonding leave.
  • Caring for a seriously ill family member. The covered relatives typically include a spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, grandparent, or sibling, though the exact list varies.
  • Handling family needs when a spouse, child, or parent is deployed abroad on active military duty.4Paid Family Leave. New York State Paid Family Leave

Your own illness or injury is not covered by paid family leave. That falls under disability insurance, a separate program. California is an exception in how it packages the two: its elective coverage for self-employed workers bundles disability and family leave together, which is one reason its premium looks so different from other states.5EDD – CA.gov. Disability Elective Coverage Benefits and Premium Amounts

Who Is Eligible

States determine eligibility using your net self-employment income, which is gross business revenue minus expenses on your Schedule C (Form 1040). The IRS treats you as self-employed and requires a Schedule SE when net profit reaches $400, and state programs generally verify income against your federal tax filings.6Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax Some states add their own thresholds. Washington requires at least 820 hours of work during a qualifying period before you can file a claim.7Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. Elective Coverage Opt In Maine uses a benchmark of six times the state average weekly wage.

How your business is organized also matters. Sole proprietors and independent contractors can opt in across all participating states. LLC members and partners are typically not considered employees for paid family leave purposes, but they can cover themselves voluntarily under a policy.8Workers’ Compensation Board. Partnerships, Limited Liability Companies and Limited Liability Partnerships – Disability and Paid Family Leave Benefits Coverage California goes the other direction and excludes limited partners and corporate officers from elective coverage, treating them as employees subject to mandatory payroll provisions.9EDD – CA.gov. Fact Sheet – Disability Insurance Elective Coverage Program DE 8714CC If you are an S-corp owner paying yourself a W-2 salary, you may already be covered as an employee and would not need elective coverage.

What It Costs

Premiums vary widely by state. In most programs, self-employed workers pay only the employee share, which is the same percentage a W-2 worker would see deducted from a paycheck. For 2026:

The California rate is roughly ten times Colorado’s because you are buying two products in one. Premiums are paid quarterly across all programs. Colorado’s due dates, which are typical, are January 31, April 30, July 31, and October 31.10Family and Medical Leave Insurance. Self-Employed Workers

Waiting Periods and Commitment

This is the part that catches people off guard. Every state builds in a delay between when you start paying and when you can collect, and most also lock you into a multi-year commitment:

  • Washington: three-year initial enrollment, and you need at least 820 hours worked before filing a claim. Coverage renews annually after that unless you withdraw during a 30-day opt-out window.7Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave. Elective Coverage Opt In
  • Colorado: three-year minimum commitment, but benefits become available after just one quarter of paid premiums.10Family and Medical Leave Insurance. Self-Employed Workers
  • Minnesota: coverage lasts at least two years, or until you actively opt out.2Minnesota Paid Leave. Common Questions
  • New York: opt in within 26 weeks of starting your business and you become eligible for benefits 26 weeks after obtaining coverage. Wait longer than that and a two-year waiting period applies before you can receive any payment.1Paid Family Leave. Self-Employed Individuals

The practical rule is to enroll early, ideally when you first go self-employed. Waiting until you can see a baby or a family illness on the horizon will almost always mean you cannot collect in time. These are insurance programs, and the commitment periods keep the fund stable by preventing people from paying in for a single quarter and immediately drawing benefits.

How to Enroll

Enrollment starts at your state’s paid leave agency website. You register as a self-employed participant, provide personal and business details, and submit income documentation. Expect to need your Social Security number, a description of your business activities, and recent tax documents. Colorado, for example, asks for your most recent IRS tax transcript and any applicable W-2s.10Family and Medical Leave Insurance. Self-Employed Workers Your Schedule C is the key financial document across programs, and some states also reference Schedule SE to verify self-employment tax obligations.13Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes)

New York does it differently depending on whether you have employees. A sole proprietor with no employees purchases a paid family leave policy from a private carrier. If you already carry coverage for employees, you submit a voluntary coverage form to the Workers’ Compensation Board and notify your carrier that you want to opt in personally.1Paid Family Leave. Self-Employed Individuals California uses its own application, form DE 1378DI, which collects your business type, occupation, and estimated future earnings.14EDD – CA.gov. Application For Disability Insurance Elective Coverage DE 1378DI Report your net profit accurately. If the number on file is off, you risk overpaying premiums now or having a future claim denied because your contribution history does not match your actual earnings.

How Much You Get Paid

Most states provide up to 12 weeks of paid family leave per year. The District of Columbia offers up to 20 weeks, the longest in the country. Benefit calculations vary but generally replace between 60% and 90% of average weekly earnings, subject to a cap. For 2026:

Your “average weekly wage” as a self-employed claimant is drawn from income you reported during a look-back period, not the week you file. California uses your highest quarter of earnings from a base period covering roughly 5 to 18 months before your claim start date.15EDD – CA.gov. Paid Family Leave Benefit Payment Amounts A slow quarter right before your leave will not necessarily sink your benefit, but you also cannot inflate your reported income in the months before filing to boost it.

Filing a Claim

When a qualifying event happens, you file a separate claim form with the same state agency where you enrolled. The form asks for the type of event, the start date of leave, and supporting documentation. Caregiving claims need medical certification from the family member’s healthcare provider. Bonding claims need proof of birth, adoption, or foster placement. Payments typically arrive by direct deposit or a state-issued prepaid debit card.

Taxes on the Benefits

Paid family leave benefits are taxable as federal income. The IRS confirmed this in Revenue Ruling 2025-4, which applies to payments made on or after January 1, 2025. Benefits are not wages, so the state does not withhold income tax and does not report them on a W-2. You will get a Form 1099 from the state and are responsible for reporting the income and paying any tax owed. If you already make quarterly estimated payments, factor the extra taxable income into the quarters you receive benefits.

If Your State Has No Program

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave, but it only applies to employees of covered employers. Self-employed workers are not eligible for FMLA protections, so there is no federal fallback for family leave if your state does not run its own program.

In the roughly 37 states without paid family leave laws, options are thin. Some private insurers sell short-term disability policies that cover pregnancy and childbirth recovery, but true paid family leave insurance covering bonding and caregiving is not widely available on the private market. The practical alternative is an emergency fund built to cover several months of reduced income. Some self-employed workers set aside a percentage of each invoice into a dedicated leave fund, self-insuring against the gap a state program would otherwise fill.