Massachusetts Posts Paid Family and Medical Leave Notice

Massachusetts requires employers and covered business entities to notify their current workforce about future Paid Family and Medical Leave benefits by May 31, 2019. You can download notice templates now. It explains benefits, contribution rates, and other provisions outlined in M.G.L. c. 175M sec. 4.

Even though the program’s benefits won’t start until Jan. 1, 2021, employers need to stay on top of notice requirements. Here’s a quick overview:

• You can provide the notice electronically.
• It must include the opportunity for an employee or self-employed individual to acknowledge receipt of the information or decline to acknowledge receipt.
• The employer can receive these acknowledgments in paper form or electronically.
• The notice is available in six languages, with more translations coming soon.
• If more than 50 percent of your workforce in Massachusetts are 1099 workers, these individuals are included in the program and need to be notified like your W2 employees.

What if an employee or self-employed individual fails to acknowledge receipt? The employer or covered business will have fulfilled its obligation if it can prove it provided the notice as required.

What about future hires and contractors? You must provide the notice to all employees or self-employed individuals you employ or contract with on or after June 1, 2019. The notice must be written in the employee or contractor’s primary language and issued within 30 days after their first day of employment — or when you enter into a contract for services. In both cases, the notice must include the option to decline or acknowledge receipt.

Employers in Massachusetts are required to provide notice to their employees, either in electronic or written form, of upcoming payroll deductions. They must also have a mechanism in place for employees to acknowledge (or decline to acknowledge) the receipt of this notification either electronically or written. You can find the appropriate documents in a Guide to Paid Family and Medical Leave for Massachusetts Employers on the mass.gov website.

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