Resources
Member Gifts: Resources for PFML
As more states pass (and implement) paid family and medical
leave (PFML) laws, employers must be prepared to answer questions and operationalize them. In this issue of the DMEC Member Gift, we highlight PFML-related resources to guide you and your teams.
As more states pass (and implement) paid family and medical leave (PFML) laws, employers must be prepared to answer questions and operationalize them. In this issue of the DMEC Member Gift, we highlight PFML-related resources to guide you and your teams.
Live webinars and recordings that help you remain compliant with PFML
UPCOMING WEBINAR: Preparing for 2026 — Mastering Maryland and Maine’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Programs, March 19, 2025
This session will guide you in navigating the introduction of PFML in Maryland and Maine. Join us to gain a deep understanding of the key components of these programs, including eligibility requirements, benefits and contribution structures, funding mechanisms, and state plan administration rules. We’ll also explore private plan options and considerations, as well as strategies for selecting the best path forward for your organization.
PFML – Making Sense of the Madness
For some employers, state Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) programs may be old hat, but many others don’t feel ready to manage the complexities, compliance and administrative challenges that PFML programs bring. With the implementation of four additional PFML state programs fast approaching, now is the time for employers to educate and prepare themselves for what’s coming right around the corner!
How To Prevent State Leave Law Changes From Tripping You Up
“I didn’t see that coming!” The cadence of state leave law development doesn’t appear to be slowing down. Old days: state leave laws were very similar to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Today: states are making BIG changes and creating laws that look nothing like the federal model. The problem for employers: how to keep up and remain compliant with the myriad of state laws. For example, did you get your Delaware notice out to your employees yet?? (It’s due by December 1, 2024.) Unique components of state laws that veer far from the boring old FMLA of 1993 can trip up even the savviest employers.
Paid Family and Medical Leave Updates – DE, ME, MD, MN
Four more states are set to join the paid family and medical leave (PFML) landscape by 2026, broadening the reach of these vital benefit programs across the nation. However, this expansion also presents a heightened level of administrative intricacy for employers operating across multiple states.
2025 DMEC COMPLIANCE CONFERENCE SESSIONS
The 2025 DMEC Compliance Conference in Columbus, Ohio, will feature PFML discussions throughout the four-day conference April 14-17. Register before March 6 to save $150 with early-bird pricing to attend these and other PFML-related sessions:
- Walking the Talk: Creating Equity in Your Leave Program: Implementing an equitable benefits program helps demonstrate a company’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Yet how do employers balance successful administration of their leave programs with growing state disability and PFML mandates?
- Navigating the Bermuda Triangle: PFML Private Plan v. State Plan: With more states mandating PFML programs, employers with employees in those states often wonder whether they should participate in the state plan or file a private plan instead. The answer is it depends.
- Cracking the Code of Employee Protections and Leave Laws: In today’s complex regulatory environment, employers and brokers face significant challenges in determining employee eligibility for various types of leaves, their regulatory obligations, and the tangled interceptions between laws that offer leave protections, such as the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, federal Family and Medical Leave Act, state FMLA laws, and PFML.
Don’t miss the opportunity to learn, network, and gain confidence for addressing compliance issues.
@WORK MAGAZINE ARTICLES & DMEC PODCAST EPISODES
The Eye of the Storm: The Evolution of PFML Trends and Paid Leave Policies
Paid family and medical leave (PFML) has become a more critical and sought-out component of employee benefit packages as administration of the programs becomes more complicated. And that creates challenges for employers that are considering starting, expanding, and integrating PFML into their benefits programs.
Program Showcase: Different Types of Voluntary PFML
What are the employer takeaways and best practices for tracking different types of PFML across the U.S.?
Program Showcase: Offering a Private PFML Plan
As more states pass paid family and medical leave, employers are weighing the pros and cons of state program administration and private plans. Because state programs vary significantly, there is no easy answer for determining how to evaluate paid statutory plans. However, there are several factors that employers can consider to help inform their decision.
Family Leave Insurance: Integrating More Equity into Employer Paid Leaves
There are several new approaches to expanding employee access to paid family and medical leave, which leads more multistate employers to question how they can ensure equity across employee populations.
A New Benefits Baseline: PFML Puts States in Absence and Disability Management Business
Two years after implementation, data shows that the Granite State’s Voluntary Paid Family and Medical Leave Law (the first in the country) is increasingly popular with employees! What does this mean for employers? Listen in for hot-off-the-presses data and insights from Gina Rutledge, director of paid family and medical leave product management and strategic planning with MetLife.
What is the PFML Need? Lessons from New Hampshire
It is increasingly important for employers to participate in policy conversations about state paid family and medical leave implementation to ensure their voices are heard, says Tracy Marshall, BSN, RN, CCM, CDMS, SHRM-SCP, division director, Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) division, Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Listen in for details about FAMLI, the value of more employers engaging in the rule-making process, perspectives shared during an employer roundtable discussion Marshall facilitated during the 2023 DMEC Annual Conference, and more.
Employers See Opportunities Amid Waves of PFL and PFML Laws
While challenging to implement, paid family leave (PFL) and paid family and medical leave (PFML) laws provide employers with an opportunity to revise benefits and policies to ensure equity and fairness, and to attract and retain talent. Listen in to this episode as Terri L. Rhodes, DMEC chief executive officer, talks with Jessica Bolar, product manager for The Standard; and Regina Stringer, director of integrated absence management for Walmart about the challenges to tracking and implementing these laws as well as some of the silver linings they’ve seen.
How Do Employers Ensure Equity and Support Employees Where They Are?
Confused about paid family and medical leave (PFML) terminology? Learn about the evolution of PFML and get tips on how employers can set realistic expectations with private-sector employees in states where voluntary PFML is available from Jessica Bolar, senior product manager, PFML and Absence Management with The Standard. While there are two of these “voluntary plans” today, there will be 16 by 2026 and industry experts like Bolar question whether there will be more. As a result, the best approach is for employers to start preparing now. Listen in for details and guidance.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
In addition to the State and Local Leave Law Map, which offers DMEC members a complimentary, streamlined version of the JacksonLewis Leave and Accommodation Suite, members can get the latest federal, state, and local compliance updates on the DMEC Legislative Updates.
Updates for Employers Using Private Plans to Comply with Minnesota’s Paid Leave Law
Minnesota is one of a dozen states that have enacted a statewide program providing compensation to employees during family and medical leaves. Minnesota’s law (the Paid Leave Law) provides job protection and payment of benefits through a state-run insurance program to qualifying employees to take up to 12 weeks of leave for family and/or medical reasons (or a combined total of up to 20 weeks of leave if the employee qualifies for both types of leave in one benefit year). The insurance program will be funded through employer and employee contributions beginning on Jan. 1, 2026. Employees can also begin applying for compensation beginning on Jan. 1, 2026.
The DOL Issues New Guidance On The Relationship Between The FMLA and State Paid Family Medical Leave Programs
Employers face a complicated patchwork of state, local, and federal laws governing time off for family and medical reasons. The intersection of these often-overlapping laws creates numerous issues including how to handle time off that qualifies under both state paid family medical leave (PFML) laws and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). On Jan. 14, 2025, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued an opinion letter stating that employers cannot require employees to use their employer-provided paid time off, such as vacation time, while the employee is taking leave under the FMLA and receiving pay under a state or local PFML program.
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development announced that employers could use self-insured plans or an insurance carriers’ plans to comply with the Minnesota Paid Leave Law, which provides job protection and compensation during family and medical leaves. Get details in the latest Legislative Update from JacksonLewis and test your knowledge of the law with this quiz:
Why would employers choose to go with an “equivalent plan” instead of the state?
A) To avoid compliance with state laws
B) To provide more generous benefits than required
C) To meet state requirements while customizing benefits to their workforce
D) To reduce administrative costs
Answer
C) To meet state requirements while customizing benefits to their workforce
DMEC’s microcredential courses help you become a go-to expert in a particular area of absence and disability management. Learn more about available microcredential courses and start your journey to expertise today.
