MA Paid Family & Medical Leave: Application Process
Quick Overview on PFML:
- Paid Family & Medical Leave is a Massachusetts state-offered benefit for anyone who works in Massachusetts and is eligible to take up to 26 weeks of paid leave for medical or family reasons.
- Most Massachusetts PFML benefits have been available since January 1, 2021, except for paid family leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition. This will become available this summer July 1, 2021.
PFML can be taken to:
- Care for a family member with a serious health condition
- Bond with a child during the first 12 months after the child’s birth
- Bond with a child during the first 12 months after adoption or foster care placement
- Care for a family member who is or was a member of the Armed Forces, National Guard or Reserves and developed or aggravated a serious health condition in line of duty on active duty while deployed to a foreign country
- Manage family affairs when a family member is on or has been called to active duty in a foreign county while in the armed forces, including the National Guard or Reserves
- Manage your own serious health condition (not available for use until July 1, 2021)
This can be such an amazing benefit, especially for our working mommas and dads of course! So, we want to make sure employees can use it as well as make sure employers know what actions to take when it comes to the application process.
How to apply as an employee?
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You can file your application online, but you will first have to set up an account on the mass.gov website (Paid leave).
- The application may ask you to provide some documentation to verify your leave.
- Within 5 business days after your application has been submitted, the Department will notify your employer and ask them to review it.
- The Department will reach a decision and inform you of that decision within 14 calendar days of receiving your completed application. You will have 10 calendar days to appeal the decision, if you wish to.
- Once your application is approved, you can expect your first payment to arrive at the beginning of your fourth week of leave, if your leave has already started. If your leave starts in the future, you can expect your first payment 2-4 weeks after your leave starts. After that, you will receive your payments every other week.
For more information on the application process or if you have any questions or concerns please register for our webinar (available live and on demand) and we will cover this topic in more detail! Use the button below.
Reviewing employee PFML applications as an employer:
Your role as an employer is reviewing and providing important details about your employees’ applications for paid family and medical leave benefits.
- To review your employees’ application, you will first need to make sure you have a PFML employer account. To set up a PFML employer account you will have to call the Department’s Contact Center at (833) 344-7365.
- You will need to provide your work email address, EIN, and password, you will then be sent an email with a 6-digit code that you will use to verify and access your new account.
- Once your account is set up you will be notified via email whenever an employee at your company begins or submits an application for paid family or medical leave benefits.
- When an application is submitted, you will have 10 business days to review it. If you’re not able to review an application within 10 business days, the Department will proceed with the approval process using only the information that the employee has provided.
You may now be asking, what kind of information do I need to review and why is it important that I do so? We will be hosting a webinar on PFML employee and employer actions, Thursday March 4, 2021 @ 11:00am EST. Both employees and employers are welcome to join and participate in our open Q&A. Use the button below to register!
