Delaware Paid Leave: Which Tier Your Company Lands In

The three tiers

Delaware Paid Leave is the state’s paid family and medical leave insurance program, run by the Delaware Department of Labor. Employers began paying into it on January 1, 2025. Employees began filing claims on January 1, 2026, according to the state’s announcement that day. If you have people working in Delaware, the program is already live for you. The only question is which tier you sit in.

The tier turns on how many Delaware employees you have. The Department of Labor’s Employer and TPA Guide lays out three levels.

Parental leave is time to bond with a new child. Medical leave is for the employee’s own serious health condition. Family caregiving leave is for a family member’s serious health condition, and qualified exigency leave covers needs that arise when a family member is called to military duty.

The 0.80 percent rate is the sum of three pieces: 0.32 percent for parental, 0.40 percent for medical, and 0.08 percent for family caregiving and qualified exigency, according to the Department of Labor’s guide. That is why the 10 to 24 tier pays exactly 0.32 percent. It carries the parental piece only.

These rates are set by law for 2025 and 2026 only (19 Del. C. 3705(b)). Starting in 2027, the Department of Labor sets them each year on actuarial principles, based on what the fund is expected to need. As of October 19, 2026, it had not published a 2027 rate, so check before you set up January payroll.

Under 10 Delaware employees, you owe nothing and your employees cannot claim unless you opt in. Opting in is a business decision, not a legal one.

How Delaware counts your employees

Pennsylvania and New Jersey companies with a Delaware office need to slow down here. The count is not your total headcount. It is your Delaware headcount, measured a specific way.

The Department of Labor’s Paid Leave regulation says you count at the start of each quarter. The count includes employees who earn 60 percent or more of their wages in Delaware, less employees who have signed a waiver, plus any out-of-state employees you have agreed in writing to reclassify as Delaware employees. A waiver is allowed only for an employee hired on a temporary basis (a job expected to last less than 12 months) or expected to work fewer than 25 hours a week, so that neither of you expects the employee to qualify for benefits. If the employee shares the cost, you both sign it. Remove the waiver before the employee meets the 12-month and 1,250-hour tests, or the state will revoke it and bill you for back contributions plus interest.

Because the count is quarterly, your tier can change in either direction. When it does, you owe your employees a notice, and the clock is short.

Two kinds of employers are exempt outright: federal employers and seasonal businesses that close entirely for 30 or more days in a row each year, per the Department of Labor’s guide. If neither describes you, assume the program reaches you at 10 Delaware employees.

What the benefit pays and who qualifies

The benefit is the same across tiers. The Department of Labor says the program replaces 80 percent of the employee’s wages, up to $900 a week, and an employee can draw at most 12 weeks of combined benefits in a year. The $900 cap is fixed by law through 2027 (19 Del. C. 3704(a)(3)). The state pays the benefit, not you. Your job is to remit contributions, handle notices, and hold the job.

Not every employee can file on day one. The guide sets eligibility at 12 months of service and 1,250 hours worked, based on your last 4 quarterly reports. A new Delaware hire contributes from the first paycheck but cannot claim until both tests are met.

You can share the cost. The Department of Labor allows you to deduct up to 50 percent of the contribution from the employee’s pay. Whether you take the full half, part of it, or none is your call. Put the choice in writing. The rules allow different splits for different classes of employees, as long as the classes are not based on a protected trait, but one split for everyone is the simplest to run.

Two limits apply. If you change the split, you must tell the Department of Labor and all of your employees by December 1, and the change takes effect the next January 1. Also, if you opt in to a line of coverage you are not required to carry, you cannot charge employees any of its cost (19 DE Admin. Code 1401, rules 6.3 and 6.17).

Contributions were due beginning January 1, 2025, or the employee’s hire date if later. The guide notes that the first quarterly Hours and Wage Report was due April 30, 2025. If you had 10 or more Delaware employees in 2025 and have not been reporting, that gap is your first item to fix.

Your notice duties

The Department of Labor’s guide lists notice requirements at several moments in the employee’s time with you. They are easy to turn into a routine.

Posting is a separate question. Delaware’s state postings come from several laws. Post the Wage and Hour Labor Law poster, which the Division of Industrial Affairs names as required. Above 3 employees, add the Wage Payment chapter summary (19 Del. C. 1108(5)). At 4 or more, add the Discrimination in Employment Act notice (19 Del. C. 716). Then display the Paid Leave poster in English, Spanish, and any language that is the first language of at least 5 percent of your workforce, if the Department of Labor provides one (19 Del. C. 3710(c)). The Department’s Paid Leave employer page offers a Notice of Employee Rights but does not call it a poster, so check that page before you print.

The rest of Delaware’s ladder

Paid Leave is the biggest Delaware rule that turns on headcount, but it is not the only one. Here is the rest of the ladder, from your first Delaware employee up. For the federal thresholds that stack on top of these, see our guide to employer headcount thresholds.

A few of these deserve a sentence. The Delaware Discrimination in Employment Act, or DDEA, is the state’s anti-discrimination law. The statute defines an employer as anyone employing 4 or more employees in the state at the time of the alleged violation, and the Division of Industrial Affairs confirms that part-time employees count. The wage notice rule under 19 Del. C. 1108 sits at more than 3 employees, so the moment you hire a fourth Delaware employee, both rules are on.

Delaware EARNS has conditions beyond the count. It applies if you have at least 5 employees with Delaware wages now and had at least 5 in the prior calendar year, were in business in Delaware for at least 6 months of that year, and do not offer a plan such as a 401(k), 403(b), SEP, or SIMPLE IRA. If you already offer one of those plans, EARNS does not apply.

The meal break rule counts differently. Under 19 Del. C. 707, an employee who works 7.5 or more hours in a row gets an unpaid break of at least 30 minutes. The statute lists fewer than 5 employees on a shift at a single place of business as a case where the Secretary of Labor issues rules granting exemptions. So a shift that small may be exempt, but check the Department of Labor’s rules before you rely on it. That is a per-shift, per-location test, not a company-wide one.

At 50 Delaware employees, the harassment information sheet becomes a training duty. Under 19 Del. C. 711A, all employees get interactive training within one year of hire and every 2 years after, with supervisor-specific training on the same cycle. Employees under 6 months of continuous service and independent contractors are exempt.

On the salary history ban, one caution. Section 709B bars you from screening on compensation history or seeking it from the applicant or a past employer. The statute has no headcount threshold, so it applies from your first Delaware hire.

Ban the box in Delaware is the opposite of what Philadelphia employers expect. Under 19 Del. C. 711, the limit on asking about criminal or credit history during the initial application applies only to public employers. Delaware has no general private-sector ban-the-box law; a 2014 measure only encouraged state vendors to adopt one.

Pay transparency is coming in 2027, not now

You may have seen headlines about Delaware requiring pay ranges in job postings. The law is real, but it is not in effect yet.

Governor Meyer signed HS2 for HB 105 on September 26, 2025, according to the state’s announcement. The bill takes effect two years after signing, which puts it in September 2027. Once in effect, postings must include the hourly rate or salary range plus a general description of benefits and other compensation.

The law does not apply to an employer with 25 or fewer employees, so the trigger is 26, one above the Paid Leave full-coverage line. If you already post ranges under New Jersey’s law, you are ahead. If not, you have until September 2027. Nothing is due today.

Checklist

If you hire across the state line, this article pairs with our piece on your first hire across a state line, which walks through Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware side by side at employee one.