Overview
The Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) Act provides workers with up to 20 weeks of paid medical leave for a serious health condition and up to 12 weeks of paid family leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition or to bond with a new child. PFML is funded through payroll contributions from both employees and employers, including self-employed individuals who opt into the program.30
Employer contributions to PFML began October 1, 2019 and are a percentage of wages. Employers with 25 or more employees are required to contribute to the Paid Family and Medical Leave Fund on behalf of their workforce, including a mandatory employee contribution. This payroll tax applies to earnings up to the contribution and benefit base limit set by the US Social Security Administration for the Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.31
The Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave provides a calculator in order to calculate estimated dues.32 Using this tool, with the following inputs: (1) “Year”: 2023; (2) “Employees”: 76,187; and (3) “Total wages”: $1,428,574,247, DLM estimated the TNCs’ total annual contribution for PFML in 2023 at $9,000,018. (Of this amount, $1,571,432 is for family leave and $7,428,586 is for medical leave.) Note that when the calculation is completed by marking the drivers as “contractors” rather than “employees,” the total due amount does not change.
| Date published: | April 30, 2024 |
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