Do Travel Therapists Get Paid Sick Days on a Contract?
Only if your agreement or the law of the state you work in provides it: there is no federal paid sick leave requirement, but some states, including California and Washington, require employers to provide it. Even then, a short contract can end before you qualify to use it, so ask how sick time and missed shifts are handled before you sign.
Does federal law give travel therapists paid sick leave?
No. The U.S. Department of Labor says: “Currently, there are no federal legal requirements for paid sick leave” (DOL: sick leave). The federal wage law does not require it either; the Department's vacation leave page says: “The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations, sick leave or federal or other holidays.”
So whether a sick day is paid starts with two documents: your contract with the agency, and the law of the state where you are working.
Does FMLA protect a travel therapist's job when they're sick?
The Family and Medical Leave Act gives unpaid leave, not paid leave, and its eligibility test is hard for many travelers to meet. The Department of Labor says FMLA “provides for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for certain medical situations,” and that employees are eligible “if they have worked for their employer for at least 12 months, and have worked for at least 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months, and work at a location where at least 50 employees are employed by the employer within 75 miles.”
For a traveler, the employer is the agency, so those months and hours are counted with the agency, not the facility. A traveler who changes agencies every few contracts may never meet the test with any one of them; one who stays with an agency for more than a year may.
Which states require paid sick leave for travel therapists?
Some states and cities do, and their rules differ. Two examples show how they work for someone on a short contract.
California. The Labor Commissioner says employers “must generally provide 5 days or 40 hours of paid sick leave to their employees in California,” and that staffing agency employees are covered: “whoever is the employer or joint employer is required to provide paid sick leave to qualifying employees.” To qualify you must “Work for the same employer for at least 30 days within a year in California” and “Satisfy a 90-day employment period before taking any sick leave” (California Labor Commissioner: paid sick leave).
Washington. The Department of Labor and Industries says: “You must earn at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours you work.” Those hours are paid “at your normal hourly compensation,” and you may begin using them “90 calendar days after your first day of work with your employer” (Washington L&I: paid sick leave).
If you want sick time and missed-shift terms written into the contract before you sign, ask a ProTherapy recruiter: Find my next contract.
What happens to your sick time when a contract ends?
Accrued sick leave belongs to your time with the employer, which for a traveler is the agency. Under both state rules above, coming back to the same employer within a year matters. California says your accrued and unused sick leave must be restored “if you return to the same employer within 12 months from the previous separation.” Washington says that if you are “rehired within 12 months, any days you worked before leaving your job will count toward this 90-day period.” Moving to a different agency means starting again with the new employer.
The waiting period is the catch on a first contract with a new agency: you can have sick time on your pay stub that you are not yet allowed to use. Ask too whether your agency's policy pays out or forfeits unused time when a contract ends. California notes that an employer need not restore earlier time provided under a paid time off policy “which was paid or cashed out to the employee at the end of the previous employment with that employer.”
What does a missed shift cost you without sick pay?
Without paid sick time, a missed shift is a shift you are not paid for, and on a travel contract it can affect more than the hourly wage. Read the contract's call-off and missed-shift terms, because a contract can reduce the week's stipends, or add a penalty, when you work fewer than the contracted hours. Ask your recruiter to show you, in the contract itself, what one sick day would change on your check.
If a contract is short and you are new to the agency, plan as if that assignment has no paid sick time, the same way you plan for the weeks between contracts. Then use the contract negotiation guide to raise sick time and call-off terms before you sign, when they are still open.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a federal law that gives travel therapists paid sick days?
No. The Department of Labor says there are currently no federal legal requirements for paid sick leave. Some states and cities require it, and your contract may provide it.
Does California paid sick leave cover travel therapists placed by an agency?
Yes, if you qualify. California's Labor Commissioner says staffing agency employees are covered, with the employer or joint employer responsible, once you work for the same employer for at least 30 days within a year in California, and you can use the leave after a 90-day employment period.
Can a travel therapist take FMLA leave?
Only after meeting the eligibility test with the employer, which for a traveler is the agency: at least 12 months with it, at least 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months, and a location where it employs at least 50 people within 75 miles. FMLA leave is unpaid.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Labor: Sick Leave, read October 22, 2026
- U.S. Department of Labor: Vacation Leave (network data file travel-pt-benefits.json), read October 6, 2026
- California Labor Commissioner: Paid Sick Leave, Frequently Asked Questions, read October 22, 2026
- Washington State Department of Labor and Industries: Paid Sick Leave, read October 22, 2026