Potential PFML developments for 2025

We expect more states, particularly those with Republican leadership, to adopt voluntary PFML programs.

At the same time, a few states with Democratic trifectas (control of the governorship and both legislative chambers) could move toward enacting mandatory PFML programs, with benefits potentially starting in 2027 or 2028. The most likely candidates include:

• New Mexico: Has come close to passing a mandatory PFML program in each of the past two years.
• Hawaii: Employers are already required to provide Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI), and paid family leave bills have been proposed in the past.
• Illinois: Known for enacting several employee-friendly laws in recent years.
• Michigan: Multiple PFML bills are in committee, but the clock is ticking as the state’s Democratic trifecta will end after the current legislative session concludes on December 19.

California: Direct deposit available

California’s Employment Development Department (EDD) recently upgraded the employee benefit payment options for its state-paid benefit programs (such as State Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave) to include direct deposit.

Colorado: Lower PFML demand than anticipated  

Colorado started paying benefits under its Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program in January 2024. In the program’s first six months, more than 62,000 Colorado workers received $311 million in benefits, 44% less than projected. Colorado plans to continue outreach and education efforts to help ensure eligible employees know about the benefits available to them.

Connecticut: Expanded PFML coverage and paid sick leave requirements

Beginning October 1, 2024, Connecticut Paid Leave (CTPL) benefits will extend to victims of sexual assault for purposes of seeking care or participating in the criminal justice process.

CTPL benefits are currently available for eligible employees who need leave for certain bonding, family caregiving, medical, military family and family violence reasons.

In addition, Connecticut recently amended its paid sick leave law to apply to more employers and employees.

The law currently applies to employers with 50 or more “service workers” in Connecticut, but the amendments remove the “service worker” requirement, and the law will apply to any employer with:

• 25 or more employees in Connecticut as of January 1, 2025
• 11 or more employees in Connecticut as of January 1, 2026
• One or more employees in Connecticut as of January 1, 2027

The amendments also modify provisions covering permitted leave reasons, sick time accrual, employee eligibility, notice requirements, supporting documentation and records retention.

Connecticut employers are encouraged to consult with counsel to review their existing sick time policies and make any necessary changes before the January 1, 2025 effective date.

New York: Paid time off for prenatal appointments and lactation breaks

As of June 19, 2024, employers must provide paid breaks to employees in New York as often as reasonably needed to express breast milk for a nursing child, for up to 30 minutes each break.

Also, New York employers must provide the New York State Department of Labor’s model policy to employees upon hire, on an annual basis and whenever an employee is returning to work following the birth of a child. (Tilt assists customers by including the lactation notice in its communications to NY employees returning from a birthing leave.)

As previously reported, employers must provide up to twenty hours of paid time off (PTO) to pregnant New York employees for prenatal appointments and procedures beginning January 1, 2025. Pregnant employees can use the twenty hours of PTO for “physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring and testing, and discussions with a health care provider related to the pregnancy.”

The twenty hours of prenatal PTO is in addition to the bank of time required under New York’s paid sick leave law, and the PTO can be taken in hourly increments. Employers with New York employees should ensure their time off policies and systems are updated for 2025 to reflect this new bank of available PTO.

Oregon: Leave law changes went live on 7/1 (prev. reported)

The previously reported changes to Oregon leave laws went into effect on July 1st, which means that Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA)’s unpaid job protection now applies in fewer leave situations: pregnancy disability, caring for a sick child, caring for a child with a serious health condition, bereavement, and certain military-family or adoption-related reasons.

Although OFLA has been scaled back, Paid Leave Oregon (PLO) remains available for most Oregon employees who need leave for family and medical reasons. PLO and OFLA can no longer run concurrently, so when an eligible employee needs leave for a reason that could be covered under either law (such as pregnancy disability), the employee can choose OFLA protection or apply for PLO for any given leave segment.

Rhode Island: TCI benefits increased

Rhode Island’s Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI) program provides eligible employees with up to six weeks of paid leave for family caregiving and new child bonding reasons.

On June 13, 2024, the state legislature passed a law to increase the maximum benefit duration to seven weeks beginning January 1, 2025, and eight weeks beginning January 1, 2026. In addition, the legislation doubled the minimum weekly allowance for dependents: from $10 to $20 per dependent, for up to five dependents.

Washington: Concerns about high PFML utilization (updated)

Last fall, we reported Washington State’s concerns about the high utilization of its WA PFML program, which paid out $1.5 billion last year–24% more than the previous year.

Washington’s Employment Security Department is now reporting that the WA PFML program could run a deficit as soon as this October, and it may be more severe than initially projected. As a result, employee contribution rates are likely to increase soon.

TL;DR: Two states swing and miss on mandatory PFML; one scores voluntary PFML

State PFML programs can be either mandatory or voluntary. Mandatory programs are funded through payroll deductions and guarantee wage replacement benefits to eligible employees who need leave for a qualifying reason.

In contrast, voluntary programs permit, but do not require, employers or employees to purchase PFML insurance as a private market product. The voluntary approach hasn’t meaningfully expanded employee access to paid leave, especially for lower-wage workers.

TL;DR: Post-launch, keep FAMLI requirements on your radar 

Colorado’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program started paying benefits on January 1, 2024. As of January 10, the state had sent over $2.7 million in benefit payments to over 3,200 workers.  

Under the FAMLI program, eligible employees can receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave for certain family, medical, military and safety reasons, and up to 16 weeks if the employee has complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. Most workers in Colorado will be eligible for paid FAMLI benefits, as the eligibility threshold is only $2,500 in wages earned in Colorado within a year. Employees can receive up to 90% of their wages, subject to a cap (currently $1,100/week).

Employees who welcomed a new child in 2023 and meet FAMLI eligibility requirements are entitled to up to 12 weeks of paid FAMLI bonding leave in 2024–even if they already took bonding leave under FMLA or an organization’s leave policy. However, the bonding leave must be completed within one year of the child’s birth or placement. Similarly, employees who exhausted all leave available to them last year for medical or caregiving reasons now have a fresh 12 weeks of leave entitlement, if they’re FAMLI-eligible.

For more information on the FAMLI program, check out the Division’s helpful toolkit for employers. The toolkit includes a program notice that was updated in December 2023. Colorado employers need to post the notice as specified in the FAMLI regulations. Employers must also provide a copy when an employee is hired and after learning an employee needs leave for an FAMLI-qualifying reason. (Tilt provides the notice to employees on behalf of customers whenever a leave is entered for an FAMLI-qualifying reason.)

TL;DR: Oregon’s new PFML program is live but not lively

Paid Leave Oregon officially launched on September 3rd. Eligible employees can receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave per year for family, medical and safety reasons, with an additional two weeks available in some pregnancy-related situations. Most Oregon workers will be eligible for paid benefits, as the earnings threshold is low ($1,000 in the prior year).

Oregon received about 19,000 applications for its Paid Leave Oregon program in its first month, which was less than half of what it had predicted. By the end of September, the state had approved approximately half of all claims filed, paying roughly $15 million in benefits. The state has been working on its efficiency, increasing its speed in processing applications by 162% since launch.

TL;DR: “Must do” > “can do” when it comes to PFML participation

At present, thirteen states (and Washington D.C.) have enacted mandatory paid family and medical leave (PFML) laws, which guarantee partial wage replacement to eligible employees who work for a covered employer and need leave for a qualifying reason. These benefits are typically administered by the state or a private carrier, but some states permit employers to manage their own voluntary PFML plans.

Mandatory PFML benefits are currently available in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Washington and Washington D.C. Benefits will be available in six other states in the near future: Oregon (September 2023), Colorado (2024), Maryland (2026), Delaware (2026), Minnesota (2026) and Maine (2026).

In addition, eight states have enacted “voluntary PFML” laws that permit, but do not require, employers or employees to purchase PFML insurance as a private market product: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Vermont.

Compared to mandatory programs, voluntary programs result in much lower rates of employee coverage. For example, a full quarter after New Hampshire’s voluntary program launched, only about 1% of employees working for private employers in the state were covered–and that was following a $2 million advertising campaign. 

We’re going to focus on mandatory programs below because they have a much greater impact on both employers and employees.

At present, eleven states (and Washington D.C.) have enacted mandatory PFML laws, which guarantee partial wage replacement to eligible employees who work for a covered employer and need leave for a qualifying reason. These benefits are typically administered by the state or a private carrier, but some states permit employers to manage their own voluntary PFML plans.

Mandatory PFML benefits are currently available in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Washington, and Washington D.C. Benefits will be available in four other states soon: Oregon (September 2023), Colorado (2024), Maryland (2025) and Delaware (2026).

In addition, five states have enacted “voluntary PFML” laws that permit, but do not require, employers or employees to purchase PFML insurance as a private market product: Arkansas (NEW as of February 2023), New Hampshire, Tennessee (NEW as of April 2023), Virginia and Vermont.

The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) provides unpaid, job-protected time off to eligible employees for certain military family reasons, new child bonding, caring for one’s own medical condition or caring for a family member with a medical condition. CFRA already defined “family member” broadly, but as of January 1, 2023, the definition now includes a designated person, which is “any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.” In other words, CFRA leave will be available to care for close loved ones who aren’t biologically or legally related to the employee.

Also, as of January 1, California employers with five or more employees are required to provide at least five days of unpaid bereavement leave to eligible employees for the death of a “family member” which is defined as a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner or parent-in-law of the employee. Employees are eligible if they have worked for at least 30 days for their employer. The leave can be taken intermittently, but must be completed within 3 months of the family member’s death.

On May 10, 2022, paid leave legislation was signed into law by Governor John Carney.

Beginning in 2026, this program will provide eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of partially paid parental leave in a year, and up to 6 weeks in two-year period for employees to care for themselves or a close family member with a serious health issue, or for certain military family reasons.