Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave - Legislative Guidance

Table of Contents

Overview

Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave (MEPFML) provides eligible employees up to 12 weeks or partial wage replacement benefits per benefit year, and may provide job-protection if the employee works at least 120 days before leave is taken.

MEPFML can be taken to care for a serious health condition of the employee, a family member or servicemember, qualifying exigency matters, bonding with a newborn or newly placed child, safe leave due to violence, stalking, or assault, or any qualifying reason under the Maine Family and Medical Leave Act (MEFMLA). In addition to the reasons listed above, MEFMLA covers organ donation and death of a servicemember during active duty.

Employees may be eligible for job protected leave if they work for their employers for 120 days prior to the leave.

Employers have the ability to invoke undue hardship regarding the scheduling of the employee’s leave.

MEPFML is a state-administered program that is funded through a combination of employer and employee contributions. Maine has chosen to use a third-party administer to render claim decisions and handle the claim intake processes. While almost all Maine employers must participate in the program, they have the option to offer an equivalent plan. Equivalent plans must provide equal or greater benefits than the state program and must be approved by the Maine Department of Labor (MDOL).

AbsenceSoft Policies

MEPFML is configured in AbsenceSoft with the policy code and naming below:

• Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave ME-PFML

• Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave - Job Protection ME-PFML-JP

Legislation codes and statues

The information presented in the guidance relates to the following legislative codes, links to the specific legislation can be found within the ‘Resources’ section of this document:

• Maine Revised Statues title 26 subsection 850-A (ME Rev. Stat. tit. 26, §850-A)

Employer Coverage

Most all employers in Maine.

Exclusions:

• Tribal governments may opt-in

• Federal employers

Employee Eligibility

An employee is eligible for the program if they have made six times the state average weekly wage (SAWW) within the base year determined by the state, and wages were earned in Maine. Employees must work 120 hours for their employer for job-protections.

Exclusions:

• Independent contractors/self-employed may opt-in

• Public sector employees under a CBA prior to 10/25/2023, until the CBA expires

• Certain railroad employees

• Federal government employees

• Wages earned through federal work study or incarceration programs

• Volunteers

Qualifying Absence Reasons and Leave Duration

MEPFML is on a Sunday rolling forward measurement period. The total amount of leave an employee may take for any qualifying absence reason noted below is 12 weeks.

Family Leave

• Adoption/Foster Care: Care for and bond with a child during the 12 months after placement through adoption or foster care.

• Bonding: Care for and bond with a new child during the 12 months after birth.

• Family Health Condition: Care for a family member with a serious health condition.

• Care of injured Servicemember: serious health condition arising out of an injury or impairment that occurred while a service member was deployed. The injury doesn’t have to be current but can be reaggravated.

Medical Care

• Employee Health Condition: Care for the employee’s own serious health condition.

• Pregnancy/Maternity: Pregnancy disability, prenatal care, and/or pregnancy complications.

• Organ Donation: employee is donating an organ for transplant.

Military

• Qualifying Exigency: Employee is attending to matters resulting from the service member’s active duty deployment in a federal branch of the U.S. Military. Factors include financial, legal or childcare planning, counseling services, military events/ceremonies, visitation during rest and recuperation, or addressing items related to the servicemember’s parent.

• Bereavement for Servicemember*: death of a state servicemember or U.S. Armed Forces servicemember while servicemember was on active duty. Restricted to certain family members, see Qualifying Family Member section.

Safe Leave

• Domestic Violence/Safe Leave: employee or employee’s family member is seeking assistance as a result of violence, assault, stalking, abuse, threatening violence, sex trafficking, or harassment.¹ Leave may be requested for medical care, securing housing, relocating, attending court proceedings, or seeking legal protections such as a restraining order.

Qualifying Family Member

• Child of any age*(biological, adoptive, foster, stepchild, in loco parentis, legal ward, child of domestic partner, grandchild. *Bonding is excluded for adopted/foster care children over the age of 16).

• Parent (stepparent, de facto parent when child was a minor, adoptive, foster, legal guardian, grandparent).

• Sibling

• Spouse or Domestic Partner

• Any individual the employee identifies as having a significant familial bond or relationship regardless of legal or blood relationship.

• *Bereavement of Servicemember is limited to spouse, domestic partner, parent, sibling, or child.

How Leave Can be Taken

Employees may take leave consecutively or intermittently

• Consecutive leave: A continuous, uninterrupted period of leave taken for a single qualifying reason.

• Intermittent leave: Leave taken in separate, sometimes unpredictable, blocks of time (either hours, days or weeks) between the start and end dates of leave. Intermittent leave must be taken in no less than one work day increments. Employers and workers can agree to taking time in smaller increments of no less than one hour.

Certification Requirements

Certification and verification forms are provided by the MDOL. Employees will need to file a claim to receive instructions for completing any required documentation the MDOL determines is necessary. Any forms provided will need to be returned back to the MDOL for processing.

Employers will receive notification within 5 business days from MDOL when the employee files a claim, and will have 10 business days to respond.

Pay and Benefits

Where state pay benefits are involved with other law interactions, such as state mandated paid leave programs (sick leave) employers will want to consider where PTO/employer pay benefit application should occur. There is a 7-day waiting period for benefits. The waiting period still counts as job protected time though no wage replacement will be available.

Amount of Pay

MEPFML pays a weekly benefit amount that is determined by comparing the employee’s average weekly wage, in the employee’s highest earning calendar quarter, to the state’s average weekly wage. Benefits are calculated on a sliding scale, with lower-income employees generally receiving more of their usual wages compared to higher-income employees. Minimum and maximum weekly benefit amounts are based on the state average weekly wage. The state may increase the average weekly wage amount year over year. Employers should monitor the state website for updates in contributions and changes to the SAWW.

Any payments received from other employer, state or federal programs will receive a reduction in benefit amount from the MEPFML.

Benefits are payable based on the employee’s work schedule. When the schedule is variable, the Department will attempt to average the number of days worked over the last 12 weeks, or if that data is not available assume a Monday-Friday, 8 hours a day schedule.

Use of Paid Time Off (PTO)

An employee may use any accrued paid time off during the waiting period for benefits. If any other payment is made while the employee is receiving paid benefits from other sources, their benefit amount from the MEPFML will be reduced.

Job Protection

Job protections apply to employees who have worked 120 days or more for their employer. Eligible employees must be returned to the same or equivalent position following their leave. Equivalent position means the same benefits, pay and other terms and conditions of employment.

Employers may decide undue hardship in granting the leave and scheduling of leave. As this is a new concept for Paid Family and Medical Leave programs, employers should consult internally on making undue hardship decisions.

Other Protections

Employees who invoke their rights under MEPFML are protected from retaliation, interference and discrimination.

Benefits

Employers should continue to maintain benefits with the same conditions as if the employee is not on leave. Employees must continue to accrue any benefits, bonuses, seniority, service credit or advancement while on leave.

Interaction with Other Laws

Where an employee meets the definition of family member, qualifying absence reason, or serious health condition, the state and federal laws may interact. Accommodations that are not leave related, would not run concurrently with other state or federal leave laws.  

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

MEPFML may run concurrently with FMLA.

Maine Family and Medical Leave Act (MEFMLA)

MEPFML may run concurrently with MEFMLA.

Maine Victims of Violence(MEVOV)

MEPFML may run concurrently with MEVOV.

Maine Family Military Leave (MEMIL)

MEPFML may run concurrently with MEMIL.

Maine Pregnancy Disability Leave(ME-PDL)

MEPFML may run concurrently with MEPDL.

Unemployment

The regulations only state if the employee is receiving benefits for unemployment their MEPFML benefits may be reduced. There is no other stipulations indicated within the MEPFML regulations addressing the denial of benefits.

Worker’s Compensation

The regulations only state if the employee is receiving benefits for worker’s compensation their benefits may be reduced. There is no other stipulations indicated within the MEPFML regulations addressing the denial of benefits.

Employee and Employer Responsibilities

Employee Responsibilities

• Provide written advanced reasonable notice, defined as 30 days, when feasible pursuant to the employer’s established policies, which should include the reason, type, timing/duration, and any other relevant information²;

• Submit claim to the MDOL at least 60 days in advance of the leave unless unforeseen circumstances, and no later than 90 days following the start of leave;

• Respond to and follow any instructions for claim processing;

• Follow employer policies and procedures for time off reporting.

Employer Responsibilities

• Posting requirements are as follows and all posters must be a place that is conspicuous/frequented by employees:

  • Poster will be available in other languages and should be posted in the employee’s applicable language if three or more individuals have that language as their primary language and the MDOL provides notice in that language;

  • Written notice to all employees as provided by the MDOL in the employee’s primary language no later than 30 days from hire which includes

    • Employee’s contribution amount;

    • Employer’s name, identification number, and mailing address;

    • MDOL’s contact information (address, email, and phone number);

    • Rights, availability, and how to file a claim for MEPFML.

  • Employers who fail to provide notice to their employees as described above cannot request or subject an employee to adverse action for failing to provide proper notice to their employer.

    • Register for MEPFML;

    • Report employee wages and employee counts;

    • Withhold and send employee contributions;

    • Maintain payroll records;

• Respond to inquiries from the MDOL on claim within 10 business days;

• Determine any undue hardship in scheduling of the leave and provide written explanation of the hardship to the employee ; and

• Provide job protection for employees that have at least 120 days worked.

Resources

Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave website: https://www.maine.gov/paidleave/

Maine Legislation: https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/26/title26sec850-A.html

Maine Department of Labor Rules 12 702: https://www.maine.gov/sos/rulemaking/agency-rules/department-labor-rules#170

^{1 Me Rev. Stat. tit. 19-A ch.103 §4102}

^{2 Me. Code R. 12-702 (Section V. B)}