New year brings changes to Massachusetts’ paid family, medical leave law

The first year of anything is hard, and you can expect changes will become necessary along the way. The Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) Law is no exception. In the time since the measure went into effect on January 1, 2021, the Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) has done some reflecting on how everything worked and made noteworthy changes for 2022.

Almost $168M in benefits during first 6 months

The DFML published data for fiscal year (FY) 2021, which included the program’s initial rollout from January 1 through June 30. In that period, the department approved 43,440 applications and paid out benefits totaling $167,915,781, approximately 60% for medical leave and 40% for parental leave.

Interestingly, the DFML notes it denied 9,989 applications, representing about 23% of all requests received. Of those, 4,785 denials were issued because the applicants failed to submit or had insufficient documentation to support taking the leave. The department also denied 2,113 applications because the applicants’ employers participated in private plans or were exempt from the program altogether.

Data about the applicants provides a picture of who was seeking the leave:

• There were twice as many female applicants as males;
• Almost half of the applications came from people ages 30 to 39;
• The applicants’ average weekly wage was $1,434.52; and
• The average duration of the leaves taken was 53 days.

Contribution rates declining