League Submits Comment Letter to DOL on Paid Family Medical Leave

This past week, the League’s Governmental Affairs team submitted a comment letter to the Maine Department of Labor (DOL) regarding proposed rules for the new Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) Act that was signed into law this past session. The letter, drafted with input from the League’s Governmental Affairs Committee, focused primarily on two areas of concern with the proposed PFML program.  

First, the current rules provide that employers must prove “undue hardship” in order to deny leave. However, the burden for doing so is not clear in the rulemaking. The current rules also prohibit the use of a standard form for requesting leave. This conflicts with current federal practice and was addressed in the League’s letter.  

More concerning, there is a waiting period before employers using private plans may be exempted from paying into the program. This means employers will pay into the program for at least one year before any exemption is approved. The League’s letter requested the opt-out declaration period be moved up to avoid this from occurring. 

To date, more than 300 people have commented on the proposed rules, with many sharing these same concerns. It is the League’s hope that after such a robust comment period, the DOL will amend the rules to alleviate these issues.

The League will continue to monitor this issue closely and keep credit unions apprised as this process continues.