1. Paid Family Leave in Massachusetts – An Overview for Employees
Current as of June 2019
Massachusetts is in the process of implementing a comprehensive Paid Family and Medical Leave law. There are a number of questions that both you as employees and we as employers have on the subject. We are providing this presentation as a general overview of how it will benefit and affect you based upon what we know at the present time. However, please note that there remain details that have yet to be ironed out. We will continue to keep you abreast as further developments unfold.
Portions of this law will go into effect on 10/1/2019, however the ability to take leave and receive payment won’t start until 2021.
The majority of what I’ll review with you today is still being reviewed by the DFML and may be revised over the next 18 months.
Mark R. Adams, JD, IOM, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

2. Are You Covered? It depends
To be eligible for benefits, it depends upon how much you have earned in wages
Your earnings will determine how much your paid claim benefit could be
The MA Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) will make these determinations upon receiving a claim for benefits
Employees are responsible for filing the claim with the state
First, all employees – both full time, part time and others will be able to benefit under the state PFML law. However, how they can benefit will vary as the payment for the time taken will be based upon the earnings of an employee who ultimately chooses to file a claim for benefits (which we discuss more in a bit). The base threshold for being eligible is: times the individual’s average weekly wage during the last 4 completed calendar quarters. Earnings will be reviewed by the DFML after a claim has been filed to evaluate whether an individual is eligible for benefits. That determination is not made by the company.
Remember that the ability to paid for the leave doesn’t start until 2021 so when looking at wages earned, the DFML will really be looking at 2020 or 2021 calendar quarters.
you can estimate what you might receive by going to the DFML website. They have a calculator you can use.

3. What Can You Take PFML For?
Beginning on January 1, 2021, you can take:
Up to 20 weeks to care for your own serious health condition;
Up to 12 weeks to bond with your child during the first 12 months after the child’s birth, adoption or foster care placement;
It is important to note at this juncture, that claims for benefits cannot be submitted by you to the state until 2021 and the time being taken has to occur on or after 1/1/2021
So what types of situations are covered? There are many. (Review events one at a time over the next 3 slides).

4. What Can You Take PFML For?
Beginning on January 1, 2021, you can take:
Up to 12 weeks due to a qualifying military circumstances arising out of your family member being on active military duty or being called to active military duty.
Up to 26 weeks of job-protected paid family leave to care for an injured covered service member.
(Review events on this slide one at a time), then say the following:
As some of these reasons do reach out to cover instances to attend to a family member, you may ask “what does a family member mean?” Well a family member can include a spouse, parent, parent of spouse, domestic partner, grandchild, grandparent or sibling. It can even include a domestic partner.

5. What Can You Take PFML For?
Beginning on July 1, 2021, you can take:
Up to 12 weeks to care for a family member with a serious health condition;
For a child, the child must be either under the age of 18; or
18 or older but incapable of self-care
Note: You are only entitled to 26 total weeks in a “benefit year” for any combination of PFML leave reasons: personal, family, and/or military exigency
(Review events on this slide one at a time).
The benefit year is the 52 weeks starting on the Sunday before your first day of leave.

6. How Can You Take it?
May be taken in one block of time such as a week or month; or
Full day increments; or
Can be taken in 4 hour minimum increments
Only if medically necessary
For all leaves, except for bonding with a child, adopted or foster care placement of a child
You will be allowed to take this time off in manners that reflect your situation. It may be that you need to file a claim because you need to take time off in one block of time, or it could be that you need to take it in other amounts…..day by day, partial days or others. The only exception would be that for leaves involving the birth, adoption or foster care placement of a child, that will be required to be taken all in one block of time. Please be aware that if you need to take it on an intermittent basis and you have flexibility in scheduling appointments, treatments, etc., there is a requirement to work with us to determine the schedule which would be least disruptive to our operations.

7. Notice and Waiting Periods
For foreseeable leaves: 30 day advance notice is required to your employer first
For unforeseeable leaves: as soon as practicable
Approved claims will be subject to a 7-day waiting period – meaning that the first 7-days you are out will not be paid by the state
So now that you know what the law covers, you may ask yourself: “How does the claim process works?” Unfortunately, we do not have those answers. While the state has yet to finalize all the details of the claim process, what we can tell you is that before a claim is approved, you have to tell us first of your intent to go out and file a MA PFML claim. For foreseeable leaves, that means providing us with a minimum of 30 days notice. For unplanned/unforeseeable leaves, it is as soon as practicable.
It is also important to emphasize that you need to follow our company procedure for providing us with this notice (Refer to your company policy as to what that says) as failure to do so could result in the state delaying or denying the approval of an otherwise valid claim.
Should a claim ultimately get approved by the state, the law establishes a 7 day waiting period before you can start receiving benefits. Details about the claim process will be made available to you at the time a claim is filed with the DFML.
Remember, none of this is applicable until 2021 so the DFML is still working out the process, tools and timing that will need to be used.

8. Benefit Amounts Will vary depending upon your earnings
The state PFML benefit will not fully replace 100% of your earnings – but rather a portion of your wages
Maximum benefit: currently is $850 per week
So, what could you receive? Again, the DFML will make that determination based upon your earnings. The program is not designed to fully replace all of your pay while you are out, rather it is designed to replace a portion of your pay up to a cap. The current maximum benefit amount is $850 per week, but that could change in future years. Again, that will be determined by the state.

9. Note: Please only use ONE of the next two slides in your presentation depending upon how your company is handling the contributions into the program.

10. Both The Company and You Will
Who Will Pay for It?
Both The Company and You Will
For ease of administration, we will be deducting your contribution to the program each pay period
Both the company and you will be paying into this program
These contributions are required regardless of whether or not you use the benefit
So, as you can imagine, while the PFML law allows for paid benefits to be paid out for certain situations, it comes as no surprise that there needs to be a way to fund this state program. This is done through the requirement of companies like us having to pay into the system periodically, starting on January 31st, 2020 – even though employees are not eligible to file for and receive benefits at this time. This is by design as the state is looking to build up a trust fund in advance so that it can support the claims that may be later filed.
What this also means is that both you and us are paying into the system based upon wages earned for services provided after October 1st. As far as how it affects your paycheck, of course everyone’s pay is different. Generally, for every $1,000 in pay, there will be a $3.79 deduction from your earnings. So, as you know what your annual pay is, you can determine the annual amount of this deduction which will be taken out in a prorated fashion on a pay check by pay check basis. You will be receiving a notice from us that provides more details on these deductions.
I know I sound like a broken record These are the contribution amounts and splits effective October 1, 2019.

11. The Company Will at this Time
Who Will Pay for It?
The Company Will at this Time
The law requires contributions be submitted to the state quarterly based wages
The company has decided to absorb both shares of the cost at this time
These contributions are required regardless of use
So, as you can imagine, while the PFML law allows for paid benefits to be paid out for certain situations, it comes as no surprise that there needs to be a way to fund this state program. This is done through the requirement of companies like us having to pay into the system periodically, starting on January 31st, 2020 – even though employees are not eligible to file for and receive benefits at this time. This is by design as the state is looking to build up a trust fund in advance so that it can support the claims that may be later filed.
While the law allows for both you and us to pay into the system based upon wages earned for services provided after October 1st, we have decided to absorb your share of the contribution at this time based upon our assessment of the law’s impact. However, please understand that these determination is subject to change based upon our budgetary circumstances. Should that be the case, you will be furnished with advance notice before those changes take effect.

12. THANK YOU!
We hope this presentation provides some additional information on the Massachusetts Paid Family Leave law. We will keep you updated as more information is put out there. In the interim, should you have further questions, please let HR know and we will investigate and answer those questions the best we can.
Thank you.