MA Department of Family and Medical Leave issues important PFML updates

The Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave oversees the Commonwealth’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program, which went into effect on January 1, 2021. Under the law, employees are eligible to take up to 26 workweeks of leave in a benefit year for various reasons, including but not limited to leave for the employee’s own serious health condition or the serious health condition of a family member and leave to bond with a child after birth, adoption, or placement. Employees (and companies with more than 24 employees) fund the PFML program through contributions deducted from their wages, and employees on leave are paid a certain percentage of their regular pay up to a maximum based, in part, on the state’s average weekly wage. In recent weeks, the department issued two important updates regarding these two issues and its fiscal year (FY) 2022 report.

Contribution rate is decreasing

Beginning on January 1, 2023, the PFML contribution rate for businesses with 25 or more employees is decreasing from 0.68% of wages to 0.63%. Of the 0.63%, 0.11% applies to the family leave portion of the law and may be paid for solely by the employee. The remaining 0.52% is applicable to the medical leave portion of the law, of which 0.208% may be paid for by the employee, with the remaining 0.312% to be paid for by the employer.

Similarly, the PFML contribution rate for businesses with fewer than 25 employees is decreasing from 0.344% to 0.318%. They may require employees to pay the full 0.318% contribution.