Resources

Member Gifts: Resources for PFML

In 2025, DMEC will be highlighting member resources on a weekly schedule to ensure you have what you need for success! Check your inbox on Wednesdays for Member Gifts (like this one) that focus on topic-specific resources as well as DMEC Bulletin issues, event updates, and more.  

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.

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!

Seven new states have passed paid family and medical leave (PFML) laws this year — bringing the total to 22 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Employers are becoming the trusted go-to resource for their employees when seeking guidance in navigating leave options; they are also being tasked with the complex challenge of ensuring multi-state compliance. In this session, we focused on how PFML is dominating conversations as employers seek to understand new laws and how to integrate PFML into their existing benefits framework.

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 Feb. 6 to save $300 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.

What are the employer takeaways and best practices for tracking different types of PFML across the U.S.?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 

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Lindsay Lueken

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Alice Cotti

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Seth Turner, Chief Strategy Officer
Seth Turner

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