The start of Maine’s Paid Family Medical Leave program on May 1, 2026 is fast approaching. While your business has been contributing to either the state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) fund or a private insured fund since the start of 2025, the real test begins on May 1, when your employees may claim up to 12 weeks of paid leave.
Why this matters to employers
In some ways, this program won’t seem as significant to employers who are already subject to the Maine and/or federal unpaid Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) programs. However, there are going to be differences, and there is work to be done to ensure that you are prepared for implementation of the PFML as well as coordinating with your other leave and benefit programs.
For those employers who have not been subject to state and/or federal FMLA, PFML represents a far more significant change. Either way, understanding how PFML interacts with existing unpaid state and federal FMLA programs—as well as Paid Time Off (PTO), vacation, and other leave policies—will be essential to maintaining compliance and running your business as efficiently as possible.
The Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program: key features
The Maine PFML program applies to nearly all employees and employers in the state, regardless of size. There is a minimal earning eligibility threshold for employees. Employees do not have to have worked any set amount of time in order to qualify; they are entitled to apply for the leave immediately upon hire as long as they meet the earnings threshold. There is an exception for public employees with a collective bargaining agreement (CBA); however, employees of a private employer with a CBA are still subject to the PFML.
Qualifying reasons for leave
The PFML program will provide eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of paid time off per benefit year for qualifying circumstances, which include:
- to care for a new child (birth, adoption, or fostering of a child);
- to care for family with a serious health condition;
- to care for one’s own serious medical needs;
- to stay safe or to help a family member stay safe after abuse or violence; and
- for any reason covered by the existing Maine unpaid FMLA program, including organ donation and death/serious injury of a family member on active military duty.
The amount an employee may receive under the PFML is determined by a set formula and depends on the employee’s earning level. The benefit is capped at 100% of the State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW).
Intermittent leave is permitted. The smallest increment of leave time is one hour.
Employee notice and job protection
Employees must provide at least 30 days’ written advance notice for foreseeable leave. In the case of emergency leave, the employee must provide notice as soon as practicable under the circumstances. Notice must be given in writing, which can include email or text message. Notice can also come from a family member or a health care provider.
Employees are entitled to reinstatement to the same or equivalent position if they had worked at least 120 days before their leave began. Employers must maintain health benefits during leave under the same terms as prior to the leave. Retaliation or discrimination for taking PFML leave is strictly prohibited.
The program will be administered by the State rather than by each employer, unlike the unpaid FMLA programs. That takes some burden off the employer—there won’t be forms like those that need to be administered under the unpaid FMLA, and you are not in charge or approving or denying the leave.
It is imperative that employers understand how leave under the PFML will interact with other leave programs.
Interaction with state and federal unpaid FMLA
There are similarities between the PFML program and current unpaid state and federal FMLA programs. However, the unpaid FMLA programs have not gone away. If you are subject to the unpaid FMLA programs (or one or the other), you have to continue to administer those leave programs just as you have been doing. The unpaid FMLA time can run concurrently with the PFML if the reason for leave qualifies for both.
Interaction with paid leave (PTO, EPL, vacation, sick time)
To understand how PFML interacts with paid leave, employers should first clearly define their existing paid time off programs. Employers can decide whether to offer vacation, sick time and/or PTO, but those with more than 10 employees must provide Earned Paid Leave (EPL). It is a good idea to be clear about these programs first, because then you have to decide how that time will impact PFML.
You cannot require that employees use available accrued PTO (regardless of what you call it) before or during their PFML. Employees can choose to use paid time to “top off” the PFML since the amount they will be receiving will not be their full wage, provided the combined total does not exceed their normal weekly wage.
Perhaps most importantly, an employee continues to accrue all paid time and employment benefits (including attendance bonuses) while on PFML. This is a very significant change from many prior leave programs and you will need to be sure your payroll system accounts for this. Note that it is not the same for unpaid FML leaves or virtually every other kind of leave. In other words, as stated in the regulations, “you must treat the leave period as if the employee were actively working for the purpose of these benefits”.
Other wage replacement programs
For employees receiving other kinds of paid benefits, the PFML is a secondary payer. That means that if an employee is receiving any of the following, their PFML benefits will be reduced dollar-for-dollar:
- State unemployment insurance;
- worker’s compensation (except for benefits for partial incapacity for an injury that occurred prior to the PFML claim);
- any government provided short-term disability or long-term disability program (such as Social Security Disability Insurance);
- a long-term disability insurance plan provided by your company or by a prior employer of your employee.
What should you be doing now
- Develop a PFML policy
- Review and evaluate your current leave policies, including PTO and vacation, and determine whether you want to change any other paid leave programs
- Have a plan for how to account for paid leave when an employee uses FML (this includes unpaid FMLAs, PTO, vacation, sick, EPL)
- Prepare notices for employees about the new PFML
- Revise and update employee handbooks accordingly
Bernstein Shur is here to support you in this process. Please do not hesitate to reach out to the author at the address below.
Anne-Marie L. Storey is a leading Labor and Employment attorney with more than two decades of experience who advises Maine employers on all aspects of workplace law, including compliance, risk management, employee relations, investigations, and litigation. She can be reached at [email protected].