Paid Family and Medical Leave
Effective May 1, 2026, all Maine employers with eligible employees located in the state must provide up to 12 weeks of leave under Maine's paid family and medical leave (PFML) program. Employees may begin taking leave on May 1, 2026.
However, employer and employee contributions to fund the program began earlier, on January 1, 2025.
The law also requires employers to post a notice of benefits and issue a written notice to each employee within 30 days of their hire date.
Note: The technical effective date of the law establishing the PFML program is January 1, 2026, and amendments impacting certain definitions and intermittent leave requirements were passed with an effective date of July 16, 2024.