Benefits under the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act are set to begin on January 1. 2021.  Employers who are required to make deductions from employees’ pay should be submitting those payments quarterly with the latest quarter due on 10/31/2020.   Please see below for important information regarding your obligations under this new law.

Contributions are due October 31.

Massachusetts’ Paid Family and Medical Leave program (PFML) is here. If your business or nonprofit employs anyone, you should be PFML ready. And that means that you should be withholding from your employees and making quarterly payments to the state. Current contributions are due October 31.

No change in contribution or weekly benefits for 2021.

The following rates will remain in effect for calendar year 2021:

1. The contribution rate will remain at .75%.
   Please visit our website for a detailed explanation on calculating contributions.
2. The maximum weekly benefit amount will remain at $850 per week.

The Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) will not make adjustments to the contribution rate or the maximum weekly benefit amount until next October 2021. 

Benefits start January 2021.

Starting in January 2021, Massachusetts employees will be able to apply for PFML benefits. You should have received emails from DFML asking you to update your leave administrator contact information by October 31, 2020. It’s important that we collect this information now as we build out our contact list of people who will manage leave requests for your organization. Incorrect contact information may delay approvals and bring unnecessary stress and anxiety to your employees.

What do I need to do? Follow the instructions below.

1. Find the email from DFML with the subject line: Action Required: Submit Your Leave Administrator Contact Information
2. If you can’t find the email, you may want to check with the person in your company that submits taxes to the MA Department of Revenue, as it was sent to them.
3. Visit https://www.mass.gov/forms/leave-administrator-contact-information  by October 31, 2020, and enter the employer-specific verification code that was provided in the email when prompted.
4. Enter your preferred contact information for leave notifications.

There will be one final step required to set up your Leave Administrators once the system goes live on December 2, 2020. We will send you specific information regarding this process shortly beforehand.  In the meantime, we will be sending you information that will help you and your organization prepare for PFML. 

Watch for DFML emails heading your way. And stay up to date by signing up for our PFML Newsletter.

If you have any questions, please call us at (833) 344-7365​ between the hours of 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.