Employers of 15 or more employees will need to begin paying Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave program premiums to the state beginning January 1, 2025. Benefits will be available beginning May 1, 2026. The premiums, which consist of contributions from both employees and employers, are being collected in advance to ensure adequate funding exists when benefits begin.
Covered employees will be eligible for paid leave of up to 12 weeks over a one-year period to accommodate the following situations:
- Serious health condition of the employee;
- Birth of the employee’s child or the employee’s domestic partner’s child;
- Placement of a child 16 or under with the employee or the employee’s domestic partner for adoption or foster care;
- Access safe leave as a victim of assault, violence or sexual assault for the employee or their family member;
- Care for family member’s serious health condition including child, domestic partner’s child, grandchild, domestic partner’s grandchild, parent, domestic partner, sibling or spouse;
- Donation of an organ of that employee for a human organ transplant; or
- Death or serious health condition of the employee’s spouse, domestic partner, parent, sibling or child if the spouse, domestic partner, parent, sibling or child as a member of the state military forces or the United States Armed Forces, including National Guard and Reserves, dies or incurs a serious health condition while on active duty.
More information will be available closer to the date benefits become available from the Maine Department of Labor. Posters will be required but have not been provided at the time of this posting.