Maine’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) Benefits Authority announced Thursday that it will be holding a meeting next month to solicit public comment on the state’s new PFML program.
On Tuesday, September 9 at 9am, the PFML Benefits Authority will be meeting at the Maine Department of Labor in the Frances Perkins Room to receive feedback from employees and employers on their experience with the program so far.
The Authority will be gathering immediately after this public comment period to discuss the feedback and consider any ideas for future legislation they may like to advance.
The meeting will be held at 45 Commerce Drive in Augusta and may be attended either in person or online.
The Zoom link for the meeting can be found on the PFML website, and members of the public are asked to register in advance here.
This program, enacted last year as part of a spending bill, has imposed a one percent payroll tax on most working Mainers and their employers to fund paid leave for all employees statewide, with benefits not scheduled to begin until May of 2026.
Mainers began contributing to the program on January 1 of this year, sixteen months ahead of when benefits are first scheduled to become available.
Beginning in the spring of 2026, Maine workers will be eligible to take up to twelve weeks of paid leave to care for a sick family member, as well as to bond with a newborn baby or newly adopted child. Also eligible for leave are those who are experiencing a serious health condition and are rendered unable to work for an extended period, and anyone serving as a caregiver for someone who meets the other conditions.
Click Here for More Information on the Paid Family and Medical Leave Program
Earlier this summer, Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed a bill into law that adds new penalties and enforcement measures for the PFML program.
Under the new law, civil action may be taken against an employer to collect unpaid premium contributions and penalties.
The state will be authorized to collect a levy against a third party that has “possession or control” of property in which the employer “may have an interest.”
This legislation also established penalties for employers who have been approved for a private plan substitution but allow their policies to lapse.
Employers who are out of compliance with a substitution agreement will be required to pay a fine equal to the amount of premiums that would have otherwise contributed, as well as a penalty worth one percent of the employers total payroll for the period in which their policy had lapsed.
These changes, among others, were supported by the Democratic majority of the Labor Committee and ultimately approved along largely partisan lines in both chambers of the legislature before landing on Gov. Mills’ desk.
[RELATED: House Rejects Even More Amendments to Maine’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Program]
During this previous legislative session, Republican lawmakers took a markedly different approach to the PFML program, some looking to repeal the program altogether.
Others sought to amend the program in a variety of different ways, including by reducing the retroactive filing period from 90 days to 30 days, placing limits on the fees that may be imposed with respect to private plan substitutions, and adding more structure and clarity to certain provisions of the original legislation.
All of these changes were ultimately rejected, however, along largely partisan lines on the chamber floor.
