This post will guide you through employee leave laws for businesses and workers located in the state of Indiana.
Follow this guide to understand employers’ obligations for vacation time, paid time off (PTO), sick leave, parental leave, bereavement and more, along with state holidays observed in Indiana.
This page is intended for reference purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please see official government sources or consult a legal professional for actual legal advice.
No federal or state laws in the USA require employers to provide paid or unpaid vacation time. This includes the state of Indiana.
Employers are free to decide whether or not to provide employees with vacation time. If they do, they are required to comply with anything stated in employment contracts or company policy related to paid time off.
Use It or Lose It is not covered by law in Indiana, meaning employers are free to apply such a policy in their business.
Use It or Lose It leave policies mean that any leave not used at the end of the year is forfeited, and not carried over to the following year. Learn more about Use It or Lose It policies here.
Vacation pay is covered by the Indiana Wage Payment Statute, which considers earned vacation time a form of wages, and any unused vacation time must be paid out upon separation of employment (e.g. when an employee quits, is fired or is terminated).
However, Indiana law does allow employers to add terms into an employee’s contract giving stipulations for unused PTO to be paid out, or situations when unused PTO will not be paid out, which should have written acknowledgement from employees.
Indiana law does not cover sick leave, and does not mandate employers provide paid or unpaid sick leave to employees.
Besides any state laws or provisions written into employment contracts, employers in Indiana must comply with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which entitles eligible employees the right to take 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for serious health conditions, or to care for spouses, children or parents with a serious health condition.
The following official state holidays are observed in Indiana:
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| January 1 | New Year’s Day |
| 3rd Monday in January | Martin Luther King, Jr. Day |
| 2 days before Easter | Good Friday |
| 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in May | Primary Election Day |
| Last Monday in May | Memorial Day |
| July 4 | Independence Day |
| 1st Monday in September | Labor Day |
| 2nd Monday in October | Columbus Day |
| November 11 | Veterans Day |
| 4th Thursday in November | Thanksgiving |
| Day after Thanksgiving | Lincoln’s Birthday |
| December 24 | Washington’s Birthday |
| December 25 | Christmas Day |
Employees are not entitled to a paid or unpaid day off for state holidays, and employees required to work on state holidays are not legally entitled to extra compensation (such as higher pay or a compensatory day off), unless promised in their contract.
Maternity leave is not provided by law in Indiana.
However, the FMLA allows employees across the nation the right to take 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave for the birth of a new child, as well as a new adoption or placement of a foster child.
Paternity leave is also not covered by law in Indiana, but this too comes under the FMLA, giving new fathers the same right to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for a new birth, adoption or foster.
Bereavement leave is not required by law in Indiana. It’s up to the employer’s discretion whether to provide bereavement leave, and whether or not this shall be paid leave.
Employers must allow employees time off to respond to a jury summons or perform jury duty, but this is not required to be paid.
Employers of ten or fewer employees can request an employee’s jury service be postponed if the employer already has another employee serving jury duty at the same time.
There is no law in Indiana requiring employers to give employees time off (paid or unpaid) to vote.
Employers in Indiana must allow members of the Indiana National Guard or reserves the right to 15 days’ military leave if they are required to serve (including drills).
This is unpaid for companies in the private sector, and paid leave for state employees.
Federal Law (the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)) applies in Indiana, which states that military service members receive up to five years of unpaid leave for military service, and upon returning, must be reinstated to the same position (or an equivalent position) as they had before their leave.
Anything not covered in Indiana state leave laws is up to the discretion of the employer, such as whether or not to provide paid sick leave or PTO, or whether PTO rolls over from year to year.
However, if any benefits are laid out in an employee’s contract or company policy, employers must comply with what has been agreed in that document.
For example, if an employee’s contract states that they are to receive 12 days of PTO each year, the employer is legally required to provide this, even though paid time off is not required by state law.
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