This January, contributions began to Maine’s new Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) law, the 13th such law to be adopted in the U.S., with applications for leave beginning in May 2026.

The program’s breadth is exciting: All workers in the state of Maine who made at least $7,000 in the previous year will be able to take up to 12 weeks of leave annually for medical appointments, family assistance, military duties and domestic abuse situations.

Protections are in place so that neither employees nor employers are incentivized to abuse the program. It will give workers a needful safety valve for life’s most unfortunate emergencies (barring natural disaster, car trouble, etc.). States report that PFML programs improve worker retention and child welfare and reduce turnover costs.

Businesses can claim that excessive leave is an undue hardship on their business, but the state can deny it if it finds the business is fibbing. If a large corporation can offer a substantial emergency medical, military and safe leave with a private plan, it may do so after April 2025.

Small businesses may find that Maine’s PFML provides generous benefits they can’t provide themselves. Workers can take these absences (with 30 days notice for nonemergencies) and still keep their job after 120 days of employment. The first seven days of medical leave are unpaid to mitigate the proliferation of medical appointments.

See maine.gov/paidleave for more information or to find a PFML poster for the break room.

Joelle Glidden
Portland