Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave

The Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) law provides most Massachusetts employees the right to paid family and medical leave. These rights are described further below and include both (1) job protection when the employee returns to work and (2) partial wage-replacement benefits while the employee is out of work. Employers can provide these benefits either by (1) participating in the PFML Trust Fund operated by the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (the Department), or (2) providing an exempt private plan that offers benefits at least as generous as those available through the Department.

An employer may apply for an exemption from the medical leave contribution, family leave contribution, or both. Your employer has elected to provide benefits as follows:

Brewster Ambulance Service, Inc. √ Does not have an approved private plan and is providing all leave benefits through the Department.

Regardless of whether your employer participates in the State Trust Fund or has a private plan, you will be entitled to certain benefits and protections. You may be required to make contributions to the Trust Fund or to fund your employer’s private plan, but only up to a certain amount. You will also need to tell your employer when you need leave, and you will need to file a claim for benefits with the Department or through your employer’s private plan.

· 12 weeks of paid family leave in a benefit year for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child; to care for a family member with a serious health condition; or because of a qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that a family member is on active duty or has been notified of an impending call to active duty in the Armed Forces;

· 20 weeks of paid medical leave in a benefit year if they have a serious health condition that incapacitates them from work;

· 26 weeks of paid family leave in a benefit year to care for a family member who is a covered service member undergoing medical treatment or otherwise addressing consequences of a serious health condition relating to the family member’s military service;

· 26 total weeks, in the aggregate, of paid family and medical leave in a single benefit year.

A “benefit year” is the 12 months preceding the Sunday immediately before your leave begins.

Other Leaves Any leave you take – paid or unpaid – for the same qualifying reasons listed above will count towards your amount of leave for that benefit year.

Eligibility You will be eligible for leave and wage-replacement benefits if you meet the earnings test. You must have earned at least $6,000 in wages in Massachusetts in the four completed quarters before you apply for benefits. In the same period, you also must have earned at least 30 times your maximum potential benefit amount. (This is the amount calculated in the “Wage Replacement Payments” section below.)

Wage Replacement Payments When you take leave for any of the reasons described above, you will be eligible to apply to the Department or to your employer’s private plan for wage replacement benefits. These benefits will be a proportion of your average weekly earnings. Your maximum potential benefit amount will be as follows:

· In no event more than a maximum amount. For 2023, this maximum benefit amount is $1,129.82. This amount will be adjusted annually based on increases in the State Average Weekly Wage.

Private plans may choose to provide higher benefits but may not provide lower amounts than what the Department would pay.

Concurrent Benefits Payments If you receive benefits from other sources while you are also receiving benefits from the Department, the benefits you receive from the Department may be reduced. Certain types of other benefits will cause a one-for-one reduction in benefits you receive from the Department. This means that for each dollar you receive from these benefits, your benefit from the Department will decrease by a dollar. Benefits that will have this effect include:

Other forms of benefits will not reduce the benefits you receive from the Department unless you are receiving more than your average weekly wage in total benefits. Benefits that will have this effect include:

· Temporary Disability Policies or Programs (including both Short-Term Disability and Long-Term Disability)

Supplementing Massachusetts Paid Family & Medical Leave Benefits Previously, employees receiving their MA PFML benefits through the State plan could only supplement or “top off” their MA PFML benefits through certain employer provided programs such as an employer provided paid family leave, parental leave, or temporary disability benefit. Any accrued paid time off such as combined PTO, vacation, or sick time could only be used as a block of time during the seven-day unpaid waiting period or, if elected by the employee, as a block of time at the beginning or end of the MA PFML period in lieu of MA PFML pay benefits.

Employers who provided MA PFML benefits through an approved private plan could choose whether they would allow employees to supplement their MA PFML benefits with accrued time.

Beginning on November 1, 2023, these limitations will no longer be in place. Employees may use their accrued leave time to supplement their MA PFML benefits, and employers with private plans must give employees the option of using their accrued leave during MA PFML. This does not, however, give the employer the right to require employees to use their accrued time during MA PFML. Under no circumstances should an employee collect more than 100% of their normal pay while using a combination of these benefits.

Job Protection Generally, if you take family or medical leave, once you return to work, your employer must restore you to your previous position or to an equivalent position, with the same status, pay, employment benefits, length-of-service credit, and seniority as of the date you started your leave. This may not apply if your position was eliminated due to economic reasons unrelated to your use of leave.

Continuation of Health Insurance Your employer must continue to provide for and contribute to your employment-related health insurance benefits, if any, at the level and under the conditions coverage would have been provided if you had continued working for the duration of such leave. Your employer may require you to continue to pay your portion of your health insurance premium on the same terms and conditions as before your leave.

No Retaliation It is unlawful for any employer to discriminate or retaliate against you for exercising any right to which you are entitled under the paid family and medical leave law. An employee or former employee who is retaliated against for exercising rights under the law may, not more than three years after the violation occurs, institute a civil action in the superior court.

To help fund paid leave benefits available under the PFML law, your employer may make a contribution, funded in part by a deduction from your wages, which will either be remitted to the Trust Fund or to the operator of your employer’s private plan. An employer who contributes to the Trust Fund will be required to contribute the following amounts:

Because your employer has 25 or more covered workers, the total contribution amount is 00.63% of wages.

Under the law, employers are responsible for a minimum of 60% of the medical leave contribution (.312% of wages) but are permitted to deduct from employees’ wages up to 40% of the medical leave contribution (.208% of wages) and up to 100% of the family leave contribution (.11% of wages) for a total of .318% of wages. Whether your employer has a private plan or participates in the state Trust Fund, your employer cannot deduct more than these percentages from your wages.

Medical Leave

Total Required Contribution: .52%*

Brewster Ambulance Service

will contribute

_60%

of the medical leave contribution

(Employer Name)

and the remaining

_40%

will be deducted from your earnings

Family Leave

Total Required Contribution: .11%*

Brewster Ambulance Service

will contribute

__0%

of the family leave contribution

(Employer Name)

and the remaining

_100%

will be deducted from your earnings

* The numbers provided are through 2023. These rates may be adjusted on an annual basis, effective January 1 of each calendar year.

BEFORE you take leave or apply for benefits, you MUST notify your employer that you need to take leave. You are required to provide at least 30 days’ notice of your need for leave. If 30 days’ notice is not possible due to circumstances beyond your control, you must provide notice as soon as practicable, and in any event, before you file any application for benefits.

When you notify your employer of your need for leave, you must provide the following information:

4. Whether you will need intermittent leave (leave taken in separate blocks of two or more) or reduced leave (leave that involves a reduced schedule of fewer hours or days per week), and;

5. If you need intermittent or reduced leave schedule, the expected frequency of leave and expected duration of each instance of leave.

If any of this information changes, you must tell your employer as soon as you are aware of the change.

To apply for Paid Family and Medical Leave benefits, you will need the following information about your employer:

If your employer has an exempt private plan, you must file a claim for benefits with the provider of that plan. Your employer must provide you information about the private plan and the application process. Your employer has made that information available:

If your employer contributes to the Trust Fund, you must file a claim for benefits with the Department. You may file this claim in one of two ways:

2. You can call the Department’s call center at (833) 344‑7365 to complete an application over the phone.

Family Leave Contribution	Medical Leave Contribution	Total Contribution Amount
0.11% of earnings*	0.52% of earnings*	0.63% of earnings*