Maine Family Medical Leave
Overview
What’s new: Implementing better support to this policy based on upgrades to platform functionality to address measurement periods in a 2 year period.
Maine's Family Medical Leave Act (ME-FML) provides eligible employees up to 10 work weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in any 2-year period. The law covers a broad range of qualifying reasons including the employee's own or a family member's serious health condition, birth or adoption of a child, organ donation, and leave related to a servicemember family member.
For detailed legislative requirements, see our Legislative Guidance.
How to Use
Throughout this guidance, look for these labels to quickly identify what actions may be needed:
Automatic: System handles this automatically, no action needed
Manual Action or Tracking Required: User must complete this action or track outside the platform
Configuration Note: How the policy is set up in the platform
Best Practice: AbsenceSoft recommendation for optimal management
How AbsenceSoft Manages Maine Family Medical Leave
AbsenceSoft manages Maine Family Medical Leave using a single policy:
Policy Name | Policy Code | Policy Type | Benefit Type |
|---|---|---|---|
Maine Family Medical Leave | ME-FML | State FML | Job Protected (Unpaid) |
Configuration Note: The ME-FML policy uses an Employer Default measurement period for the 2-year entitlement window.
Employer Coverage Requirements
Employee Count Thresholds
Employer Type | Threshold |
|---|---|
Private employers | 15 or more employees at one location |
Municipalities (cities and towns) | 25 or more total employees |
State employers (executive, legislative, judicial branches and agencies) | All covered regardless of size |
Configuration Note: AbsenceSoft's policy is configured with a minimum of 15 active employees at the same office location, consistent with the private employer threshold.
Manual Action Required: Municipalities with 25 or more total employees and state employers of any size should manually override eligibility as needed, as the platform applies the 15-employee private employer threshold by default.
Employee Eligibility
Work State Requirements
Configuration Note: AbsenceSoft's policy applies to employees with Work State = Maine.
Eligibility Exceptions
Length of Service Requirements
Employees must have 12 months of consecutive service to be eligible. AbsenceSoft uses minimum length of service which may take into account a collective amount of employment when rehire is present for the employee.
Manual Action Required: Continuous service is not automatically evaluated by the platform. Manually override eligibility for employees who do not meet the 12-consecutive-month requirement.
School Employees
Employees of a school administrative unit who have worked at least 900 hours in the previous 12-month period are eligible under the same terms as FMLA.
Manual Action Required: The 900-hour threshold for school employees is not automatically evaluated by the platform. Manually override eligibility for school employees who qualify under this provision but would not otherwise meet the standard 12-consecutive-month requirement.
Qualifying Family Members
Refer to Legislative guidance for details.
Special Family Relationship Requirements
Siblings are covered relationship types only if they live with the employee or have a share in financial responsibilities.
Configuration Note: AbsenceSoft does have “sibling” configured within the policy, however clients may need to verify the relationship meets the definition under the law.
Best Practice: If the sibling relationship verification results in the employee not meeting the law’s definition, this may be noted in case notes, and the policy denied as not applicable.
Leave Entitlements and Duration
Eligible employees are entitled to up to 10 work weeks of leave in any 2-year period. All absence reasons under ME-FML draw from this single shared pool.
Automatic: AbsenceSoft automatically calculates and tracks the shared 10-week entitlement pool across all qualifying absence reasons.
How Leave Can Be Taken
Intermittent and Reduced Schedule Leave
Intermittent or reduced schedule leave rules differ by absence reason:
Bonding and Adoption/Foster Care: Intermittent or reduced schedule leave may only be taken if the employer and employee mutually agree.
Configuration Note: AbsenceSoft's policy applies to case’s requested for Consecutive, Intermittent, and Reduced case types.
Manual Action Required: For Bonding and Adoption/Foster Care absence reasons, the platform does not enforce the mutual employer-employee agreement requirement for intermittent or reduced schedule leave. Administrators must confirm that employer agreement has been obtained before approving intermittent or reduced schedule requests for these absence reasons and document the agreement in case notes.
Need Help?
For questions about policy configuration or case management, contact your AbsenceSoft support team or consult the Legislative Guidance for compliance details.