Maine has enacted legislation that will create a paid family and medical leave program in the state. Contributions to the program will begin Jan. 1, 2025, and employees will be entitled to begin using the job-protected leave on May 1, 2026.
Employers can opt to have a private plan to meet the requirements, provided the plan is approved by the state. An employer with an approved private plan is not required to remit premiums.
The details
Coverage
The program covers all individuals employed in the state and all employers that employ individuals at a location in the state. Employees must meet certain wage-base requirements to be eligible for the paid leave. Self-employed individuals will have the option of voluntarily participating in the program. See the text of the law for details.
Reasons for Leave
Under the program, employees will be entitled to use up to 12 weeks of leave in a benefit year for the following absences:
- To bond with their child during the first 12 months after the child's birth or the first 12 months after the placement of the child for adoption or foster care.
- To care for a family member with a serious health condition.
- For the employee’s own serious health condition.
- To attend to a qualifying exigency that arises when a family member is on covered active duty in the Armed Forces or has been notified of an impending call or order to covered active duty.
- To care for a family member who is a covered military service member or veteran injured while in the line of duty.
- Because the employee or their family member is a victim of violence, assault, sexual assault, stalking, or similar act to:
- Any other reason covered by the Maine Family and Medical Leave Requirements, including:
The leave may be taken by an employee intermittently in increments of at least 8 hours or on a reduced leave schedule otherwise agreed to by the employee and the employer.
Note: For the employee’s own serious health condition, benefits aren’t payable during the first seven calendar days of the leave. However, an employee may use accrued sick or vacation pay, or other paid leave provided under a collective bargaining agreement or employer policy during the first seven calendar days of the leave.
Contributions
The program will be funded by a payroll tax/premium that will be paid by employees and employers with 15 or more employees. From 2025 through 2027, the tax/premium is set at one percent of the employee’s taxable wages. It may be adjusted in subsequent years.
Employers with 15 or more employees must contribute at least 50 percent of the tax/premium, with employees paying the portion that remains. Smaller employers aren’t required to contribute to the program but must still deduct and remit employee contributions (50 percent of the tax/premium).
Beginning Jan. 1, 2025, for each employee, employers must remit employer contribution reports and taxes/premiums in the form and manner determined by the state agency that will administer the program. Employer contribution reports and premiums must be remitted quarterly.
Job Protection
Except for an employee who has been employed for less than 120 days, an employee who exercises the right to leave under the law is entitled, upon return from that leave, to be restored to the position held by the employee when the leave commenced or to be restored to an equivalent position with equivalent employment benefits, pay and other terms and conditions of employment.
Interaction with Federal FMLA
Leave taken under this law runs concurrently with leave taken under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Employees may take leave under this law while ineligible for leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act in the same benefit year.
Retaliation Prohibited
Employers are prohibited from taking adverse action against individuals for exercising their rights under the law.
Employee Notice
Absent extenuating circumstances, an employee must give reasonable notice to their supervisor of their intent to use leave under the program. Use of such leave must be scheduled to prevent undue hardship on the employer as reasonably determined by the employer.
Employer Notice
Employers must post in a conspicuous place on each of their premises a workplace notice provided or approved by the Maine Department of Labor (MDOL) to notify employees of their rights under the paid family and medical leave program.
The MDOL will create the workplace notice in English, Spanish, French, Somali and Portuguese and any other language that is the primary language of at least 2,000 residents of the state. The employer must post the workplace notice in English and each language other than English that is the primary language of three or more employees of that workplace, if such notice is available from the MDOL.
An employer must also furnish a written notice, provided, or approved by the MDOL, to each employee no more than 30 days from their date of hire. The notice must be in the employee's primary language.
Next steps
- Review leave policies and update them if necessary.
- Watch for the sample poster and notice that must be provided to employees.
- Once published, display the poster in the workplace and provide the sample notice to new hires.
- Prepare to begin making contributions on Jan. 1, 2025.
- Train supervisors on how to handle leave requests.
- Begin providing leave for the covered reasons on May 1, 2026.
Please contact your ADP Service Representative with any questions.