Massachusetts employers should prepare for an important change to the Commonwealth’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) contribution structure beginning January 1, 2027. Under recently enacted Chapter 101 of the Acts of 2026, the employer-required share of PFML contributions will shift from medical leave to family leave. According to the Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML), the change is intended to mitigate the impact of recent IRS guidance regarding the tax treatment of Massachusetts PFML benefits.

While the change does not alter employers’ obligation to remit PFML contributions, it will affect how contributions are allocated between employers and employees for employers with 25 or more covered individuals.

Current PFML Contribution Structure

For 2025 and 2026, employers with 25 or more covered individuals contribute to PFML through a combination of employee payroll withholdings and employer-paid contributions. Under the current structure:

  • Employees may be charged up to 100% of the family leave contribution.
  • Employees may be charged up to 40% of the medical leave contribution.
  • Employers are responsible for the remaining 60% of the medical leave contribution.

What Changes on January 1, 2027?

Beginning January 1, 2027, Massachusetts will effectively reverse that allocation.

For employers with 25 or more covered individuals:

  • Employers will be required to pay 60% of the family leave contribution.
  • Employees may be charged up to 40% of the family leave contribution.
  • Employees may be charged up to 100% of the medical leave contribution.

In other words, the employer’s required contribution will move from the medical leave side of PFML to the family leave side. The overall contribution framework remains in place, but the allocation between family and medical leave changes significantly.

The 2027 Rate Is Not Yet Known

It is important for employers not to assume that the current PFML rate will remain unchanged in 2027.

DFML notes that contribution rates are established annually and that the actual 2027 total contribution rate has not yet been determined. The agency’s example illustrating the new structure uses the current 0.88% contribution rate solely for demonstration purposes and is not representative of the final 2027 rate. Rates are expected to be set by October 1, 2026.

Practical Considerations for Employers

Employers should begin evaluating the operational implications of the new contribution structure now, including:

  • Reviewing payroll system configurations and PFML withholding settings.
  • Coordinating with payroll vendors regarding 2027 implementation requirements.
  • Updating employee communications and PFML notices.
  • Assessing whether collective bargaining agreements or employment policies reference current contribution allocations.

Employers should stay alert for further guidance from DFML and ensure payroll practices are updated before the January 1, 2027 effective date. If you have questions about this upcoming change, please contact a Jackson Lewis attorney.

The Maryland Department of Labor’s final regulations implementing the new paid family and medical leave insurance program provide important guidance for employers. Our Maryland colleagues provide insights as employers prepare for payroll contributions beginning Jan. 1, 2027, and for benefits and leave to begin January 2028.

As the July 23, 2026 effective date quickly approaches, employers should review and prepare to comply with the recent changes to the New York City Earned Sick and Safe Time regulations. You can read our colleague’s deep dive on the new rules here: From Rulemaking to Reality: NYC’s Finalized Employer ESSTA Obligations Take Effect July 23 – Jackson Lewis

Hawaii has enacted a new law expanding the state’s family leave law to better support military families. Hawaii’s family leave statute will allow eligible employees to take unpaid family leave for qualifying military exigencies connected to a family member’s active-duty service.

What the New Law Does

Starting July 1, 2026, in addition to the birth or adoption of a child or caring for certain family members with a serious health condition, eligible employees in Hawaii may take up to four weeks of family leave in a calendar year for a qualifying military exigency. Eligible employees include any person who performs services for hire for not fewer than six consecutive months for the employer from whom the employee requests leave.

A qualifying military exigency refers to certain urgent or practical needs arising from a family member’s active-duty military service as outlined in the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (29 C.F.R. 825.126), including for issues related to:

  • Short-notice deployment;
  • Military events and related activities;
  • Childcare and school activities;
  • Financial and legal arrangements;
  • Counseling;
  • Rest and recuperation;
  • Post-deployment activities; and
  • Parental care.

Covered Family Members

Employees may take leave when the qualifying military exigency relates to active-duty service by an employee’s:

  • child;
  • spouse;
  • reciprocal beneficiary;
  • sibling;
  • grandchild; or
  • parent.

Notice and Documentation

When an employee requests family leave for a qualifying military exigency, they must provide their employer with a copy of the relevant military orders.

Paid Family Leave Coming Soon?

In 2025, the legislature tasked a legislative working group with developing recommendations for establishing and implementing a paid family and medical leave program. During Hawaii’s most recent legislative session, a bill to establish a family and medical leave insurance program passed the House but stalled in a Senate committee. That bill would have provided up to twelve weeks of paid family leave benefits and up to twenty-six weeks of medical leave benefits per year.

With momentum building, we may see the Hawaiian legislature take this matter up again in coming sessions.

Bottom Line

By adding qualifying military exigencies to Hawaii’s family leave law, the state has expanded job-protected leave rights for employees whose families are affected by military service. Employers with Hawaii employees should prepare now to incorporate this new leave category into their compliance practices.  Please contact Jackson Lewis if you have any questions regarding this new law, or any other workplace law questions.

Takeaways

  • Chicago’s updated rules (effective 06.01.26) clarify key aspects of its Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance, including compliance options, certification rules, and limits on sick leave use.
  • The updated rules expand and define permissible uses and confirm employers may use a combined PTO policy if it meets accrual, carryover, and other requirements.
  • They also address areas such as discipline for misuse and joint employer and successor liability.

Related links

Article

Chicago’s Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance requires employers to provide covered employees with up to 40 hours of Paid Leave that can be used for any reason and up to 40 hours of Paid Sick Leave annually. The City of Chicago’s updated Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance rules provide employers with important clarification effective June 1, 2026.

Childcare Closures

The Ordinance allows covered employees to take Paid Sick Leave when their child’s “place of care” has an unscheduled closure. The updated rules clarify that a “place of care” includes informal caretaking arrangements (e.g., home babysitters and family members who supervise children).

Combined Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave Policies

The updated rules explicitly authorize employers to maintain a single bank of paid time off (PTO) in lieu of maintaining separate banks so long as the employer’s policy allows covered employees to accrue up to 80 hours of paid time off and meets all other Ordinance requirements.

The technical requirements of the Ordinance can make it difficult for employers to meet all obligations with a combined PTO policy.

Discipline for Abuse of Paid Sick Leave

When a covered employee takes Paid Sick Leave for reasons other than provided by the Ordinance, or otherwise abuses the use of Paid Sick Leave, the updated rules clarify that employers may take disciplinary action, up to and including termination, against the employee. Examples of abuse that may be subject to discipline include patterns of taking Paid Sick Leave:

  • Unscheduled, on or adjacent to weekends, holidays, vacation days;
  • On a day when a previous request to use a different type of leave was denied; and
  • To avoid performing duties perceived as undesirable

Employers should carefully evaluate the circumstances before taking disciplinary action against employees.

Joint Employment

The updated rules confirm that joint employers are both individually and jointly responsible for compliance with the Ordinance. Additionally, if an employee is jointly employed by more than one other employer, each employer must count that employee for the purposes of any coverage threshold defined in the Ordinance, such as for payout obligations upon separation of employment.

The updated rules define joint employment as “…when the essential terms and conditions of an [e]mployee’s work are controlled by two or more entities” and note that joint employment may occur when employers use temporary staffing agencies or professional employer organizations.

Employers should evaluate their business relationships with other entities that could be considered joint employers and consult with counsel.

Sale or Transfer of a Business

When employees are transferred to a successor employer after a merger or acquisition, the updated rules provide that employees must retain any accrued and unused Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave. Failure to comply may result in liability for both the original and successor employer.

Employers should consider the interplay of this requirement with any Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act obligations. Determining how to approach paid time off for transferred employees, for instance, can be especially complex.

Other Changes

The updated rules also provide that:

  • Employers may allow employees to use Paid Sick Leave for purposes the Ordinance does not provide.
  • For employees who are non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave time is accrued based on all hours worked, including overtime hours. Exempt employees may accrue Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave based on a maximum 40-hour work week. Employers are prohibited from requiring an employee using Paid Sick Leave to appear in person at a worksite or administrative office.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact a Jackson Lewis attorney.

Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County Board of Health has unanimously approved seeking public comment on a proposal to expand Allegheny County’s Paid Sick Leave rules and to adopt paid parental leave obligations for employers.

The public comment period will remain open for at least 30 days, to June 12. A public hearing is scheduled for June 2, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.

Proposed Paid Parental Leave

Currently, Pennsylvania does not provide any statewide paid parental leave. Allegheny County’s Board of Health proposes amending the Allegheny County Health Department’s Rules and Regulations to require employers to provide all employees working in Allegheny County with up to 18 weeks of paid parental leave after the birth, adoption, or legal placement of a child, regardless of the size of their employer. As proposed, parental leave can be taken anytime within 18 months of the qualifying event.

To be eligible for parental leave under the proposed amendment, an employee must have been employed for more than 30 days prior to the leave.

Under the proposal, parents would be eligible to take the parental leave, even if both spouses or domestic partners take it concurrently with the same employer. During their leave, employees would be entitled to receive their regular pay and benefits from their employer. The leave would be concurrent to leave taken under other leave laws, including the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Proposed Expansion to Existing Sick Leave

The proposed amendment would also expand the County’s existing paid sick leave law. If passed, employers with up to 25 employees (who were not previously covered) would be covered by the paid sick leave law. The accrual rate would increase for the newly covered employers as well as those previously covered.

If passed, employees would be able to earn one hour of leave per 30 hours worked, which is an increase from the previous rate of one hour of leave per 35 hours worked. In addition, the rules related to carrying over unused leave would change. An employee would be permitted to carry over unused time as follows:

Employer SizeCurrent5.13.26 Proposal
≤ 15 employeesN/A48 hours/year
15–25 employeesN/A48 hours/year
≥ 26 employees40 hours/year  72 hours/year

The proposed amendment leaves certain things unchanged. For example, the amendment would cover employees, not independent contractors, seasonal workers, and other similar categories. Moreover, an employer subject to a collective bargaining agreement that provides sufficient sick leave that can be used under the same terms would not be required to provide additional sick leave.

Next Steps

Employers may consider providing feedback on the proposal. After the comment period, the Allegheny County Council will vote on the final rule. If the final rule is approved, then it will go into effect 180 days after the county executive signs it.

If you have questions or would like assistance submitting comments, please reach out to the Jackson Lewis attorney with whom you regularly work or any member of our Leave and Accommodation team.

The DOJ recently extended the deadline for states and local governments to comply with its web accessibility rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Read more about these requirements, the deadlines, and similar requirements for recipients of federal funding from the Department of Health and Human Services. DOJ Extends Public Entities’ Compliance Deadline for ADA-Related Website Accessibility, But HHS’s May 2026 Deadline Still Looms – Jackson Lewis

On April 13, 2026, Governor Spanberger proposed amendments to bills that would expand paid sick leave to nearly all Virginia employees, establish a statewide paid family and medical leave insurance program, and address workplace accommodations related to menopause and perimenopause. The General Assembly will reconvene on April 22 to consider the Governor’s proposed amendments.

Virginia Paid Sick Leave Expansion

Virginia is on the verge of expanding paid sick leave to cover all employees, beyond home health care workers. However, rather than signing the bill as passed, Governor Spanberger proposed amendments to HB 5 that, among other things, clarify key definitions—including “employee” and “family member”—address leave advances, and expand the permissible uses of leave to include an employee’s need for preventive medical care.

Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program

Governor Spanberger also proposed amendments to SB 2, which would establish a statewide paid family and medical leave insurance program. These amendments, among other things, clarify the definition of a “family member,” expand the definition of “safety services,” and clarify certification and job restoration requirements.

Menopause and Perimenopause Accommodations Under the VHRA

Finally, Governor Spanberger proposed a substitute bill that would eliminate the language in HB 1173 adding menopause and perimenopause as protected categories under the Virginia Human Rights Act (VHRA) and requiring related workplace accommodations. Instead, the proposed substitute bill directs the Commissioner of Labor and Industry to conduct a study on menopause and perimenopause in the workforce.

Jackson Lewis attorneys will closely monitor how the Virginia General Assembly responds to the Governor’s proposals when it reconvenes later this month. If you have questions about what these developments may mean for your business, please contact a Jackson Lewis attorney.

(Law graduate Nina Bundy contributed to this article.)