Massachusetts PFML Update: Employees May Begin To Use Paid Family Leave To Care For A Family Member on July 1, 2021

Seyfarth Synopsis:  Massachusetts rolled out its Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) benefits in two phases, with most benefits available as of January 1, 2021.  Paid leave benefits to care for a family member with a serious health condition, however, were not available until this week, effective July 1, 2021.

Paid family leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition is available to all eligible Massachusetts workers on July 1, 2021.  Workers are eligible for up to 12 weeks of leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition. 

The Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) has clarified that workers are eligible for 12 weeks of leave beginning on July 1, regardless of any leave taken prior to July 1, 2021 to care for a family member.  Previous leave taken to care for a family member under another non-PFML program, therefore, will not reduce a worker’s 12-week allotment under the PFML Law to care for a family member with a serious health condition.  However, if a worker took family leave to bond with a child and/or family leave to care for family members who are active service members between January 1 and June 30, 2021 and that family leave qualified under the MA PFML Law, that leave will reduce the employee’s PFML family leave allotment.  As a reminder, workers cannot exceed a total of 26 weeks of PFML leave in a benefit year.

The DFML provided the following examples:

• If a worker took 8 weeks of family leave to bond with their child in 2021, they would only have 4 weeks of family leave available to care for a family member with a serious health condition.
• If the worker took 20 weeks of medical leave in 2021, they would only have 6 weeks of leave available to care for a family member with a serious health condition.

The DFML has also provided the following non-exhaustive list of examples of uses of paid family leave to care for a family member:

• Providing the daily living needs that the family member cannot perform due to their serious health condition, such as helping them get dressed or helping with meals;
• Providing transportation for the family member to the doctor or other facilities for appointments and treatment;
• Providing support for the family member’s serious mental health condition, such as taking them to therapy or medication appointments for major depression;
• Helping make arrangements for changes in care, such as a transfer to a nursing home.

Workers applying for family leave to care for a family member will need to provide a certificate of their family member’s serious health condition, available here:  DFML Family Member Serious Health Condition Certification Form.  Employers can review an employee’s application for leave and can contest the family relationship if there is reason to believe the information is not accurate.

As a reminder, for the purposes of the PFML Law, family members include:

• A spouse or domestic partner;
• Children (biological, adopted, foster, through legal guardianship or loco parentis, and/or step-children);
• Parents (biological, adopted, foster, through legal guardianship or loco parentis, and/or step-parents);
• A spouse or domestic partner’s parents;
• Grandchildren (biological, adopted, foster, through legal guardianship or loco parentis, and/or step-grandchildren);
• Grandparents (biological, adopted, foster, through legal guardianship or loco parentis, and/or step-grandparents); and
• Siblings (biological and/or adopted).

Where the family member lives does not affect a worker’s eligibility for benefits. 

We will continue to keep you apprised of any developments with the PFML Law.  Please reach out to one of the authors or your Seyfarth attorney with any questions.