Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Program: November 2024 End-of-Year Update

Quick Hits

• The Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave has issued its 2025 poster, individual notices, and rate sheets.
• While the maximum weekly benefit amount and the state average weekly wage will increase slightly going into 2025, there will be no change to the minimum earnings threshold. So, just as in 2024, a worker may be eligible for Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) benefits if the worker has earned at least thirty times the expected benefit and at least $6,300 (adjusted annually) in the last four completed quarters preceding the application for benefits.
• Employers may want to review more recent changes in PFML administration to ensure they remain compliant and avoid the possibility of fines or other penalties.

The 2025 Workplace Poster

All Massachusetts employers must display a DFML-prepared or DFML-approved workplace poster explaining the benefits available under the PFML program. This poster must be displayed at the employer’s workplace in a location where it can be easily read (for example, near other mandatory workplace posters, such as wage-and-hour and workplace-safety notices). The poster must be in English and in each language that is the primary language of five or more individuals in the workforce, if translations are available from DFML. The 2025 DFML template workplace poster can be found at the department’s website.

2025 Notices for Individuals

The DFML has also issued notices for individual workers. Employers may want to assess whether they are issuing the correct notice based on the relevant number of covered workers:

• Employers with workforces with twenty-five or more covered individuals
• Employers with workforces with fewer than twenty-five covered individuals
• Self-employed individuals from employers with twenty-five or more covered individuals
• Self-employed individuals from employers with fewer than twenty-five covered individuals

New workers must be issued these notices within thirty days of hire. Like the poster explaining the benefits available under the PFML program, the notice must be available in English and each language that is the primary language of five or more individuals in the employer’s workforce. The DFML provides versions in English and many other languages on its website.

2025 Rate Sheet Notices

The DFML’s 2025 rate sheets are now available. There are two versions:

• 2025 rate sheet for employers with twenty-five or more covered individuals
• 2025 rate sheet for employers with fewer than twenty-five covered individuals

The DFML’s website advises that for current workers and self-employed individuals who have previously signed their individual notices, employers must provide information on the new rates thirty days in advance of the rate change effective date of January 1, 2025, which is roughly December 1, 2024. Electronic issuance of the notice is allowed.

Benefit Adjustments

There are several monetary adjustments, effective January 1, 2025, to be aware of:

• The maximum weekly benefit amount that a worker can receive in PFML benefits per week will be $1,170.64. This is roughly a $21 increase from 2024.
• The state average weekly wage will increase slightly, by roughly $32, to $1,829.13.
• There is no change to the contribution rates for employers and employees.

FY 2024 Annual Report

The Massachusetts PFML statute requires the DFML to issue annual reports containing information about applicants. The most recent annual report contains interesting statistical information regarding applicants for PFML benefits in FY 2024 (i.e., from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024). The DFML’s FY2024 Annual Report for the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Program can be found on the department’s website.

Staying Informed

The DFML website includes links to the DFML’s regulations, notices, and other guidance. The DFML also issues a newsletter to which readers may subscribe.

Ogletree Deakins’ Boston office and Leaves of Absence/Reasonable Accommodation Practice Group will continue to monitor developments with respect to the PFML program and will provide updates on the Leaves of Absence and Massachusetts blogs as additional information becomes available.

In addition, the Ogletree Deakins Client Portal provides subscribers with timely updates on Massachusetts paid sick leave requirements. Premium-level subscribers have access to updated policy templates for Massachusetts. Snapshots and Updates are complimentary for all registered client users. For more information on the Client Portal or a Client Portal subscription, please reach out to clientportal@ogletree.com.

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