Index
Employment & LaborMassachusetts, USA

Massachusetts Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML)

Summary

Massachusetts provides most workers with paid time off for medical or family reasons, funded through a state tax. Your job is legally protected while you are on leave.

Rights & Rules

  • 01.
    You can take up to 20 weeks of paid medical leave for your own serious health condition.
  • 02.
    You can take up to 12 weeks of paid family leave to care for a sick family member or bond with a new child.
  • 03.
    The total combined leave you can take in a single year is capped at 26 weeks.
  • 04.
    While on leave, the state pays you a percentage of your regular income (capped at a state maximum), and your employer must preserve your job and health insurance.

Penalties

  • 01.
    Employers cannot fire or retaliate against you for taking PFML. If they do, they can be sued for lost wages, benefits, and severe financial penalties.

Verified Citations

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 175M

Source
"An employer shall not threaten to retaliate or retaliate by discharging, firing, suspending, expelling, disciplining... or in any other manner discriminating against an employee for exercising any right to which such employee is entitled under this chapter..."