The United States is the only industrialized nation lacking a universal paid sick leave law that guarantees employees the right to time off from work to attend to their own or their family’s medical needs. Nonetheless, many states and municipalities have created their own paid sick leave laws to fill in the gap left open by the federal government. Following the passage of three state referendums on paid sick leave laws in the 2024 general election, there are now eighteen states, plus the District of Columbia, which mandate that employers provide employees with paid sick leave. Although there continues to be a growing trend in subfederal paid sick leave laws, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, there remain questions about the constitutionality of these laws when applied to interstate transportation employers—like airlines—whose employees operate across multiple state boundaries daily. While some courts have partially addressed the possible preemption of state and municipal paid sick leave laws under the Airline Deregulation Act, courts have not addressed whether the dormant Commerce Clause preempts subfederal paid sick leave laws. This Note attempts to address these lingering questions of federalism by looking at the application of the dormant Commerce Clause to state and municipal paid sick leave laws. By examining paid sick leave laws generally, recent jurisprudence in constitutional preemption, and the evolution of the dormant Commerce Clause doctrine, this Note identifies the major issues, and solutions, to vertical federalism posed by state and municipal paid sick leave laws.
