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MA Paid Leave Delay Announced: Employee Notice and Funding Requirements

Update Available: On June 14, 2019, the MA Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) released an announcement delaying the compliance requirements of the MA Paid Family and Medical Leave Act. Read more here.


Following several days of negotiations between state officials, regional business organizations, and employee organizations, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has agreed to extend the deadlines for employee notification and contribution funding requirements.

A joint statement released by Governor Charlie Baker, House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Karen Spilka this afternoon reads, “To ensure businesses have adequate time to implement the state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program, the House, Senate and Administration have agreed to adopt a three-month delay to the start of required contributions to the program. We will also adopt technical changes to clarify program design.”

“The decision will allow employers and workers alike to prepare themselves for the era of paid leave and ensure that this landmark initiative gets off the ground successfully,” said John Regan, President and CEO of AIM.

Employers will now begin funding the contributions for MA Paid Family and Medical Leave as of October 1, 2019. It is important to note that the agreement does not affect the total funding level required. This means that the combined contribution amount will increase from the level of .63 percent to .75 percent of wages over the 15-month initial funding period (October 1, 2019, through December 31, 2020).

Employee Acknowledgment Notices

This agreement also moves the deadline for providing employee acknowledgment notices. It is believed that the new deadline for the notices will be August 31, 2019, to allow a 30-day notification period. If you have already provided notices to your employees, you may wish to provide revised notices reflecting the changes in the start date and new amounts for the deductions to payroll.

  • The deadline to apply for a Private Plan Exemption will still be September 20, 2019.
  • The deadline for the release of final regulations continues to be July 1, 2019.

Stay tuned for updates regarding the regulations and compliance burdens by visiting the Compliance Confidence Blog. For specific questions, or to learn more about how this may impact your business, contact your OneDigital Consultant today.

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