Maine Governor Janet Mills signedL.D. 1964 into regulation on Tuesday, which requires employers to offer most staff as much as 12 weeks of paid day off for household or medical causes. This invoice is an element of a bigger supplemental budget that Mills additionally signed into regulation.
Efficient beginning in 2026, the regulation implements a paid household and medical go away advantages program that entitles eligible staff to take go away for sure household and medical causes. The regulation covers virtually all public, personal and self-employed employers. The regulation doesn’t cowl staff of the federal authorities. Underneath the brand new regulation, staff can take go away to look after themselves, relations and for maternity in addition to paternity go away. Staff can take go away to look after relations or to handle people with which they’ve a “important private bond that’s or is sort of a household relationship, no matter organic or authorized relationship.” The brand new regulation additionally makes it illegal for employers to “retaliate” towards staff that train their new rights.
Throughout these leaves, eligible staff will obtain paid advantages. Moreover, the regulation authorizes the evaluation of a premium based mostly on worker wages and authorizes tribal governments to elect to take part in this system. Absent an emergency, staff should present “cheap discover” to employers about their deliberate leaves. The paid advantages below this system should not topic to Maine’s state earnings tax. The regulation duties the Maine Division of Labor with administering this system.
In response to signing the invoice into regulation, Mills acknowledged:
This historic finances delivers on my guiding perception that the best way to construct a stronger, extra affluent state is to spend money on the infrastructure that Maine folks have to succeed. From establishing a paid household and medical go away program to strengthening schooling, housing, baby care, our workforce, and delivering tax aid for seniors, this finances makes transformative investments in Maine folks.
Moreover, in response to the regulation, White Home Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated:
Paid household and medical go away improves the lives of working households and strengthens our workforce and economic system. The Biden-Harris Administration has labored to make the Federal authorities a mannequin by supporting Federal staff in accessing the go away they want and continues to name for a nationwide, complete paid household and medical go away program. We applaud states like Maine which are making progress on this essential subject.
Maine is the thirteenth state to enact a paid household and medical go away regulation, together with Washington D.C.
Source / Picture: jurist.org
