Employer coverage thresholds
Vermont's Parental and Family Leave Act applies to employers with 10 or more employees for parental, bereavement, safe, and qualifying exigency leave, and to employers with 15 or more employees for family leave. The employee count is based on individuals employed for an average of at least 30 hours per week during a year.
Source: 21 V.S.A. § 471(4)
Leave entitlement — 12-week allowance and bereavement carve-out
Eligible employees may take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in any 12-month period for parental leave, family leave, safe leave, or a qualifying exigency. Within that 12-week total, employees may use up to 2 weeks for bereavement leave (taken upon the death of a family member or to settle an estate), with no more than 5 workdays taken consecutively. The 12-week entitlement is an aggregate limit across all covered leave types.
Source: 21 V.S.A. § 472
Employee eligibility — one-year tenure and 30-hour weekly average
To qualify for leave under Vermont's Parental and Family Leave Act, an individual must meet the statutory definition of "Employee" in 21 V.S.A. § 471(5). The statute sets a dual requirement: continuous employment for a period of one year by the same employer, and an average of at least 30 hours per week during that period. Both elements must be satisfied.
Continuous employment means uninterrupted service with the same employer. The statute does not define a permissible gap or break in service, nor does it specify whether approved leaves of absence toll or preserve continuous-employment status. Vermont Department of Labor guidance on this question is not published in an accessible primary-source format as of May 29, 2026.
One-year period is measured backward from the date the employee seeks to commence leave. The statute does not specify whether this is 52 weeks, 365 days, or 12 calendar months, and no Vermont regulation or published agency interpretation clarifies the measurement. Practitioners typically apply a 52-week lookback by analogy to the FMLA's eligibility structure, but that analogy is not codified in Vermont law.
30-hour weekly average is calculated over the one-year qualifying period. An employee who worked 40 hours per week for six months and 20 hours per week for six months would average 30 hours and satisfy the threshold. The statute does not address how to treat paid time off, approved leave, or furlough periods in the averaging calculation.
The statutory text in subsection (5) includes the phrase "or meets the service requirement set forth in" followed by a reference that is not rendered in the current online publication of the statute. This language suggests an alternative eligibility pathway—likely alignment with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act's 1,250-hour requirement in the preceding 12 months—but the incomplete statutory text prevents confirmation. Practitioners relying on an hours-worked alternative should consult the enrolled bill or the Vermont Statutes Annotated in print.
Coordination with employer-size thresholds. An employee who satisfies the tenure and hours test under § 471(5) is eligible only if employed by a covered employer under § 471(4)—10 or more employees (averaging 30+ hours per week) for parental, bereavement, safe, and qualifying-exigency leave; 15 or more for family leave. Both the employee-eligibility and employer-coverage tests must be met.
Source: 21 V.S.A. § 471(5)