Page 39 - BusinessWest June 23, 2021

John Gannon says employers saw a spike in leave claims in January and February, and expect another in July and August.
happened, hopefully you can get someone to agree with you in the court system. You have to make sure you have your documents in order.”
The PFML law runs concurrently with other applicable state and federal leave laws, such as the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Massachusetts Parental Leave Act. Simi- lar to the federal FMLA, a Massachusetts employ- ee who returns to work after taking leave under PFML law must be returned to same or similar position as he or she had prior to their leave.
The new law requires employers to provide eligible employees up to 26 total weeks of leave in a benefit year. Currently, employees may be entitled to up to 20 weeks of paid leave to man-
age their own serious health condition, and
may also receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave to bond with a child who is newly born, adopted, or placed in foster care, and up to 26 weeks to care for a family member in the Armed Forces.
On July 1, employees will also be able to receive up to 12 weeks to care for a family mem- ber — the employee’s spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, parent of a spouse, or parent of a domestic partner — with a serious health condition.
“There’s a department called the Depart- ment of Family and Medical Leave that oversees this whole program, and approves and denies claims,” Gannon said. “They’ve done a pretty effective job of getting the word out there about this program, particularly back in 2020 and early 2021 when it was going live. I remember seeing radio ads, print advertising, a lot of online ads as well.”
As a result, employees tended to know about it, and many held off on, say, elective surgery or put off parental leave for a newborn until after Jan. 1, so they could access the full benefits of the new law, he noted. “We did see a spike [in taking leave] in January and February, and we anticipate we’ll see another spike in July or August of this year when the family-leave components go live, and employees can take leave to care for family members with serious health conditions.”
A Rising Need
Patrick Leary, vice president of Work Benefits Research at LIMRA in Windsor, Conn., noted that interest in PFML started to rise several years ago, but has accelerated in recent years, especialy last year.
“More people became caregivers for their parents or other family members affected by COVID,” Leary said. “On top of that, parents took leave to care for their children when remote learning kept them at home.”
Peter Miller, a partner with Millbrook Benefits and Insurance Services in Springfield, added that Massachusetts’ PFML law offers benefits simi- lar to a short-term disability benefit, but won’t replace the need for employers to provide short- term disability insurance.
Leave under the PFML program applies to most W-2 employees in Massachusetts, regard- less of whether they are full-time, part-time, or seasonal. Unlike the federal FMLA, the Mas- sachusetts PFML law says an employee is not required to work for a minimum length of time in order to be eligible for leave. However, an employee must meet minimum-threshold earn- ing requirements in order to be eligible for leave under the law.
Notice requirements for the new law work both ways; employers must provide written notice of the PFML program to all employees within 30 days of the employee’s start date, while employees must inform their employers of their need to take leave under the law at least 30 days before the start of the leave, and before filing
an application for leave with the state. Where reasons beyond an employee’s control prevent them from giving such advance notice, they must inform their employer as soon as is practical.
Employers don’t have to offer their workers the state benefit; they can opt out of it and apply for an exemption from paying PFML contribu- tions, but only if they purchase a private plan with benefits that are as generous as the state’s
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