Introduction

Beginning in January of 2021, most workers in Massachusetts will be eligible to get up to 12 weeks of paid family leave and up to 20 weeks of paid medical leave. The program will be funded by premiums paid by employees, employers, and the self-employed. Contributions to the program will begin on Oct. 1, 2019, and will be managed through the Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) per MGL c.175M as added by St. 2018, c.121.

• Paid family leave may be taken to:

  • Care for a sick family member

  • Bond with a newborn child

  • Bond with a child after adoption or foster care placement

  • Manage family affairs when a family member is on active duty in the armed forces

  • Care for a family member who is a covered servicemember

• Paid medical leave may be taken to:

  • Manage a personal serious injury or illness

This leave is job protected.

Link to regulations: https://www.mass.gov/resource/paid-family-and-medical-leave-regulations

Absence Specification Setup

Leave Entitlement

A covered individual shall not take more than 26 weeks, in the aggregate, of family and medical leave

• Family Leave = 12 weeks

• Care of Servicemember Leave = 26 weeks

• Medical Leave = 20 weeks

Leave allotments based on number of hours or days an employee works; if part-time or variable, amount of leave they use is on a proportional basis; if schedule varies week to week, weekly average of hours scheduled over the 12 months prior to the beginning of the leave will be used for calculating leave entitlement - calculated like Federal FMLA (ex. employee works 40 hours a week, take 8 hours of leave, counts as 20% of a week of leave)

MA PFML runs concurrently with leave taken under other applicable state and federal leave laws, including MA Parental Leave Act and FMLA, when the leave is for a qualified reason under those acts.

Calendar Type (special rules)

Rolling Forward - 52 consecutive weeks beginning on the Sunday immediately preceding the first day that job-protected leave under this chapter commences for the covered individual.

Waiting Period

• 7 calendar day waiting period for each application for benefits

• Initial 7 day waiting period for paid leave benefits will count against the total available period of leave in a benefit year

• Intermittent or reduced schedule - wait period shall be 7 consecutive calendar days from the date of first leave, not the aggregate accumulation of 7 days of leave

• For medical leave during pregnancy or recovery from childbirth, if supported by documentation by a health care provider, that is immediately followed by family leave for bonding, the 7 day waiting period for the family leave does not apply.

Payment Calculation

Covered Individual

The regulations do have a definition for who is a Covered Individual: they have to meet a Financial Eligibility Test. That's a review of the employee's wages paid by a MA employer over the 12 months preceding the start of the claim (note, NOT the Base Period!). The 12 months of wages have to add up to more than a minimum amount set by the MA Dept of Unemployment Assistance, AND it has to add up to more than 30 times their Weekly Benefit Amount.

Intermittent Leave

Intermittent leave can be taken in increments consistent with the policy of the employer but shall not be less than 15 minutes. Additionally, a "covered individual shall not be permitted to apply for payment for benefits associated with intermittent leave until they have eight hours of accumulated leave time, unless more than 30 calendar days has lapsed since the initial taking of such leave" (458 CMR 2.02). For a covered individual who takes leave on an intermittent or reduced leave schedule, the weekly benefit amount shall be prorated/reduced in direct proportion to the intermittent or reduced leave schedule.

Weekly benefit:

• The portion of the employee’s average weekly wage that is equal to or less than 50 percent of the state average weekly wage shall be replaced at a rate of 80 percent; and

• The portion of an employee’s average weekly wage that is more than 50 percent of the state average weekly wage shall be replaced at a rate of 50 percent
  
  

Rules:

If Employee AWW is less than or equal to half SAWW then benefit is 80%
Else
80% of half SAWW AND 50% of difference between Employee AWW and half SAWW

Average Weekly Wage - Calculated using earnings from the base period; Base Period is defined as the last four completed calendar quarters within the five previous calendar quarters immediately preceding the starting date of a qualified period of paid family or medical leave. For example, i f an employee goes out on Feb. 15 of 2021, the last four completed calendar quarters would be Jan 1, 2020 - Dec 31, 2020. If a different employee goes out on May 15 of 2021, then their Base Period would be April 1, 2020 - Mar 31, 2021.

State Average Weekly Wage - $1431.66 (the SAWW is adjusted each year on October 1)

Maximum Weekly Benefit - 64% of the SAWW (per the regulations: "Annually, not later than October 1st of each year, the Department shall establish a maximum weekly benefit amount at a level that is 64% of the then-applicable state average weekly wage. The adjusted maximum weekly benefit amount shall take effect on January 1st of the year following such calculation")

Process Note: With regards to meeting the financial eligibility test, this will need to be incorporated into the customer's business process. ClaimVantage only calculates the weekly benefit amount AFTER the time has been approved, therefore, the system would only be able to determine if the employee meets the financial eligibility test after the approval. Suggestion is that once a claim has been created, the administrator will need additional information from the employer to determine if the financial eligibility has been met. If it has been met, then the claim process would continue as expected. If eligibility has not been met, the user would manually deny the date ranges for MA PFML.