Compliance Stuff

Takeaways Virginia is expanding employer obligations through a paid family and medical leave insurance program, with contributions beginning in 2028. Employers should review leave policies, update payroll systems and prepare for new notice and compliance requirements. Related links Virginia Legislative Information - 2026 Regular Session Virginia Employers Face Major Workplace Policy Shifts Under New Gov’t Leadership: How to Prepare Now Virginia’s Wide-Ranging Workplace Reforms: Employer Takeaways for July 1 Go Live Virginia Governor Spanberger Proposes Amendments to Paid Sick Leave, Paid Family and Medical Leave, and Menopause Accommodations Legislation Article Virginia’s 2026 General Assembly was one of the  busiest  seasons for employers. On April 22, 2026, the General Assembly accepted Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s recommended amendments to legislation creating a statewide paid family and medical leave insurance program. Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program Under SB ...

Contributions to Delaware’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program have kicked in, and employees will soon begin making claims for paid leave. A growing number of states have enacted paid family and medical leave laws in recent years. Quick Hits Lawmakers recently passed a law to substantially revise Delaware’s  paid family and medical leave program . Employers began contributing to the paid leave program on January 1, 2025. E mployees can start receiving benefits on January 1, 2026 . Under the  Healthy Delaware Families Act , which was enacted in 2022, employees can take up to twelve weeks of paid leave per year to care for a new child, or six weeks of paid leave per year to address their own serious health condition, care for a family member with a serious health condition, or address the impact of a family member’s overseas military deployment. Employers with ten or more employees must register for the state program and submit payroll taxes to fund it , or create a private...

At a Glance Amendments to Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave law would extend job protection, address leave stacking, reduce claim duration, expand rights to health benefits continuation, impose notice requirements, and provide grants to small employers . Changes are slated to take effect on January 1, 2026, if the new amendment is funded in an appropriations bill.   Washington employers take note: Significant changes to the Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave (WA PFML) law are on the horizon that will impact every employer in the Evergreen State. The bill amending the law,  HB 1213 , is complex with several components that are a mixed bag for employers. It will l essen the eligibility requirements for job protection, provide a mechanism for employers to count leave taken under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) against the total amount of WA PFML time qualifying for job protection, reduce the minimum claim duration, expand employee rights to h...

  The Maine Department of Labor (MDOL) just announced that it has certified 12 fully insured, private policies providing paid family and medical leave (PFML) coverage that employers may use to meet their obligations under the state’s new PFML law. Employers that wish to use a private plan for this purpose must apply for (and ultimately obtain) approval from the MDOL, and may submit such applications starting April 1 . We’ll give you some quick background and explain everything you need to know about your options for PFML private plan substitutions. Quick Background on Maine’s PFML Program Governor Janet Mills signed a Maine budget bill into law last year that included the  creation of a statewide PFML program  that will, starting in May 2026, provide eligible workers up to 12 weeks of paid time off for qualifying family, medical, safe, or military leave. PFML benefits are financed by payroll “premiums” – the employer contribution mandate kicked in on January 1, requiring ...

The Wage and Hour Division published an opinion letter addressing Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) regulations. The opinion letter addressed whether the FMLA regulations pertaining to substitution of paid leave apply when employees take leave under state or local paid family leave programs. FACTS FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for specified family and medical reasons (29 USC § 2612(a) . FMLA provides for unpaid leave, the statute also allows employees to elect, or an employer require the employee, to "substitute" accrued employer-provided paid leave (like vacation, PTO, paid sick leave, etc.) for any part of the  unpaid FMLA period (29 USC §2612(d)(2) ; 29 CFR § 825.207(a) .  Either the employer or employee can decide to have employer-provided paid leave "run concurrently (at the same time) with the unpaid FMLA leave."  Some State Governments have passed legislation that provides p...

  The Maine Department of Labor (DOL) announced revised  proposed rulemaking   for the Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave Program. This comes on the heels of the first draft of   proposed rules   issued on May 20, 2024. Public comment is open through Sept. 30, 2024. Comments can be submitted  here . Maine DOL’s rulemaking follows the  Maine Legislature’s passage of the new law in 2023 . Employees can begin receiving paid leave benefits effective on May 1, 2026, and employer contributions to the plan funding those benefits begins on Jan. 1, 2025. The proposed rules provide greater detail as to how the DOL plans to implement and enforce the new program. Although they are substantially similar to the initial proposal, the revised rules contain a number of relatively minor changes and reorganizations and seven significant changes: Bona fide volunteers will be excluded from the program’s coverag e. Federal employees will be excluded from coverage. Previous...

 In one of the first decisions interpreting the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFMLA), the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) held that the PFMLA does not require an employer to allow employees to accrue benefits, such as vacation time and sick time, during PFMLA leave . Bodge, et al. v. Commonwealth, et al., SJC-13567, slip op. (Sept. 13, 2024). In this case, a group of state troopers sued the State Police, claiming the State Police’s policy of not providing for accrual of employee benefits, including vacation time and sick time, while the employees were on PFMLA leave violated the PFMLA . The SJC held that the State Police’s policy of not providing for accrual during the leave did not violate the PFMLA. The SJC noted the PFMLA states, “ An employee who has taken family or medical leave shall be restored to the employee’s previous position or to an equivalent position, with the same status, pay, employment benefits, length-of-service credit and seniority as of the date...