FY2025 Annual Report for the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML)

Department of Family and Medical Leave FY2025 annual report for the PFML program.

The enactment of the Family and Medical Leave Law, M.G.L. c. 175M on June 28, 2018, created Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) in Massachusetts.

The PFML program provides benefits to covered individuals. A covered individual is either:

1. an employee who meets the financial eligibility requirements of M.G.L. c. 151A, § 24(a); provided, however, that all such employment shall have been with an employer in the Commonwealth.
2. a self-employed individual who has:
   1. elected coverage under M.G.L. c. 175M, § (2)(j), and
   2. reported earnings to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue from self-employment that meet the financial eligibility requirements of M.G.L. c. 151A, § 24(a) as if the individual were an employee, and
   3. made contributions as required by M.G.L. c. 175M, § 6, for at least two of the previous four calendar quarters.
3. a covered contract worker, as that term is defined in M.G.L. c. 175M, § 1.

The Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) is required by M.G.L. c. 175M, § 7(e) to issue annual reports containing information about applications for PFML benefits made to DFML. This report provides a summary of data on applications for paid leave benefits from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025 (FY25). ^FN1

FY2025 DFML Annual Report (pdf)

Information on Approved Applications in FY25:

Approved application data is based on approvals of PFML applications that occurred between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025 (FY25).

In FY25:

• Total applications approved: 202,846
  • Applications were approved for 130,309 unique individuals. (This number is lower than total applications because applicants can file for multiple leaves within a single benefit year.)
• Applications approved for medical leave: 131,941 (65.04% of total approved applications)
  • Medical leave for one’s own serious health condition, other than medical leave related to childbirth or pregnancy, accounted for 52.98% of approved applications (107,460 approved applications).
  • Medical leave associated with recovery from childbirth or pregnancy accounted for 12.07% of approved applications (24,481 approved applications).
• Applications approved for family leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition: 25,758 (12.70%of total approved applications)
• Applications approved for family leave to bond with a child following birth, adoption or foster care placement: 45,097 (22.23% of total approved applications)
• Applications approved for military exigency leave: 39 (.02% of total approved applications)
• Applications approved for family leave to care for a covered military service member: 11 (less than .01%of total approved applications)

Approved Applications by Leave Type

Leave Type	Count	Percentage
Medical	131,941	65.04%
Child Bonding	45,097	22.23%
Caring	25,758	12.70%
Military Exigency	39	0.02%
Military Caring	11	Less than 0.01%
Total	202,846

Demographics for Approved Covered Individuals

Age

Covered individuals are required to disclose demographic information for age to DFML. In FY25 the primary age group for covered individuals was the 31-40 range, which accounted for 36.31% of the total approved covered individuals.

Approved Applicants by Age

Age	Approved Applicants
11-20	625
21-30	22,061
31-40	47,309
41-50	21,685
51-60	20,715
61-70	15,133
71+	2,781

Gender

Covered individuals are not required to disclose demographic information for gender to DFML. In FY25, 61.14% (79,667) of covered individuals identified as female, 35.49% (46,249) of covered individuals identified as male, 3.18% (4,144) of covered individuals preferred not to answer, and 0.19% (249) identified as non-binary.

Approved Applicants by Gender

Gender	Approved Applicants
Female	79,667
Male	46,249
Prefer not to answer	4,144
Non-Binary	249

Race

Covered individuals are not required to disclose demographic information for race to DFML. In total, 20.56% (26,787) of covered individuals preferred not to answer. After excluding covered individuals that preferred not to answer, 57.22% (74,566) of covered individuals selected White as their race; 11.10% (14,462) of covered individuals selected Black/African as their race; 4.48% (5,835) of covered individuals selected Asian/Asian American as their race; 2.68% (3,496) of covered individuals selected “Another Race not Listed” as their race; 3.00% (3,908) of covered individuals selected Multiracial as their race; and less than 1% (1255) of covered individuals selected American Indian/Alaska Native, Middle Eastern/North African or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander as their race.

Approved Claimants by Race

Race	Approved Claimants
White	74,566
Prefer not to answer	26,787
Black/African American	14,462
Asian/Asian American	5,835
Multiracial	3,908
Another race not listed	3,496
Middle Eastern/North African	589
American Indian/Alaska Native	469
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	197

Language

Since the launch of multilingual application options in 2023, 5.71% of applicants have applied and received notices in Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Chinese, French, or Vietnamese.

Occupation

Covered individuals who were approved for paid leave worked in a wide variety of industries. The top industries are listed below. 

Occupation	Sum of Approved Applicants
General and Operations Managers	1.835
Customer Service Representatives	1,791
Registered Nurses	1,579
Retail Salespersons	1,452
Cashiers	1,433
Waiters and Waitresses	1,364
Nursing Assistants	1,274
Personal Care Aides	1,261
Sales Manager	1,151
Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants	973
Medical Assistants	945
Office Clerks General	854
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers	811
Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners	811
Construction Laborers	775
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	729
Social and Human Service Assistants	687
Preschool Teachers Except Special Education	679
Light Truck Drivers	663
Home Health Aides	647

In addition to the categories listed above, “other occupations” account for 108,595 approved applicants.

Geography

The below figure shows utilization of PFML by county. Since population size varies by county, the data is presented on a scale of number of approved applications per 1,000 residents in each county. The darker colors indicate more approved applications versus the lighter colors which indicate fewer approved applications per 1,000 residents. There were 16,641 approved applications that were submitted with an out-of-state mailing address.

County	Approved Applications per 1,000 Residents	Percentage of Total Approved Applications
Barnstable	21.63	2.44%
Berkshire	28.07	1.79%
Bristol	33.21	9.48%
Dukes	13.16	0.13%
Essex	27.88	11.13%
Franklin	24.37	0.85%
Hampden	29.03	6.67%
Hampshire	20.25	1.62%
Middlesex	21.24	17.09%
Nantucket	14.73	0.10%
Norfolk	23.68	8.48%
Plymouth	31.38	8.21%
Suffolk	25.10	9.87%
Worcester	32.77	13.93%

Information on Denied Applications in FY25

Total applications denied: 35,964

Percentage of all filed applications that were denied: 15.06%

Reasons for Denied Applications

The following categories accounted for the denials issued by DFML in FY25:

Category	Description	No. Applications
Eligibility	The applicant’s employer was not identified as participating in the PFML program, for reasons that include coverage by an approved exempt plan or exclusion from the requirements of the PFML statute	7,983 applications
Eligibility	The applicant’s employer could not be located using tax filing data	3,578 applications
Eligibility	The employee had not satisfied the financial eligibility test under M.G.L. c. 175M in that they did not earn 30 times their weekly benefit amount over the 12 months preceding the individual's application	2,381 applications
Eligibility	The employee had wages too low to qualify for PFML	3,877 applications
Eligibility	The person was ineligible due to being unemployed for more than 26 weeks at the time they applied	228 applications
Documentation	The applicant did not complete the application or did not submit the required documents	7,181 applications
Documentation	The documents submitted by the applicant did not comply with DFML requirements	5,122 applications
Information from   employers	Employer provided disqualifying information about the applicant to DFML (e.g., that applicant had taken prior leave during the benefit year)	745 applications
Information from   employers	Employer was not notified by the employee of their need for leave in accordance with the timeliness requirements established under M.G.L. c. 175M	335 applications
Family leave	The leave did not fall within one year of the child’s birth or placement	155 applications
Family leave	The person applying did not establish that they were caring for a covered family member	31 applications
Other	The application was submitted more than 90 days after the leave began	314 applications
Other	The requested leave exceeded the amount allowed for family leave	1,221 applications
Other	The requested leave exceeded the amount allowed for medical leave	1,481 applications
Other	The requested leave exceeded the total allowed for both family and medical leave	98 applications
Other	The application contained false statements	1,221 applications

Abandoned Applications

In FY25, of the 7,181 applications reported above as denied for the reason of 'the applicant did not complete the application or did not submit the required documents', 5,597 of those applications were denied because an individual initiated their application on the website but did not complete and submit their application. The remaining 1,584 applications were denied because the applicant submitted their application but did not submit their certification documents within 90 days.

Average Weekly Benefit

During FY25, the average weekly benefit was: $866.11

• $910.23 for family leave
• $842.87 for medical leave

Total Benefits Distributed Year Over Year

Fiscal Year	Total of family and medical leave benefits paid out by DFML
FY25 (July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025)	$1,241,998,293.24
FY24 (July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024)	$1,049,721,590.56
FY23 (July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023)	$832,548,618.16
FY22 (July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022)	$602,767,692.31
FY21 (January 1, 2021-June 30, 2021)	$174,729,366.12

Previous Fiscal Year Comparison

• Increase in Approved Applications: 202,846 applications were approved in FY25. That represents a 12.97% increase in approved applications over FY24, when the department approved 179,564 applications.
  • The increase in approved applications correlates with a 12.70% increase in total applications (approved and denied applications).
  • The approval percentage for applications in FY25 increased by 0.19% to 84.94%.
  • While the overall number of applications denied in FY25 was higher than in FY24 due to an overall increase in applications, the percentage of applications denied decreased in FY25 when compared to FY24.
• Increase in Approved Applicants: The number of unique covered individuals accessing PFML benefits increased by 10.10%.
• Approved Medical Leave Combined with Bonding Leave: In FY25, 69.09% of covered individuals with an approved medical leave application to recover from childbirth or due to pregnancy also had an approved child bonding family leave application, compared to 74.10% in FY24.
• Improvement in Application Processing Time: The median time for an initialdetermination was reduced by 4 calendar days.
  • Overall, there was a 30.77% decrease in the time for an initial determination, from a median of 13 calendar days in FY24 to a median of 11 calendar days in FY25.
• Improvement in Application Processing Time: The Department issued final determinations, including the time spent completing decision appeals, faster, reducing the median time it takes to issue a final determination by 7 calendar days.
  • Overall, there was an 38.89% decrease in the time it took the Department to issue a final determination, from a median of 18 calendar days in FY24 to a median of 11 calendar days in FY25.

Metric	FY24	FY25	Percent Change
Approved Applications	179,564	202,846	12.97% Increase
Average Leave Duration	8.66 weeks	8.45 weeks	2.42% Decrease
Covered Individuals Who Took Leave	117,152	130,309	11.23% Increase
Denial Rate	15.26%	15.06%	1.31% Decrease
Denied Applications	32,330	35,964	11.24% Increase
Individual Average Weekly Wage - Average	$1,541.80	$1,583.00	2.67% Increase
Individual Average Weekly Wage - Median	$1,222.00	$1,251.00	2.37% Increase
Total Benefits Paid Out	$1,049,721,590.56	$1,241,998,293.24	18.32% Increase

Application Processing Times

To apply for paid leave benefits, a covered individual must submit an application with supporting documentation. The application is then sent to their employer, which has 10 business days to review and respond. After the employer responds or the 10 business days have lapsed, the application is adjudicated by DFML, and a decision is reached within 14 business days.

• The average response time from employers was 2.69 calendar days.
• The median initial determination (from application submission to initial decision) was 9 calendar days, which was a two full calendar day reduction from the FY24 median initial determination time. The median final determination (from application submission to final decision, including the appeal process) was 11 calendar days, which was a seven full calendar day reduction from the FY24 median final determination time. 

Leave Duration

The average duration of a leave completed in FY25 was 8.45 weeks.^FN2

• For medical leave, the average duration of a leave completed in FY25 was 8.16 weeks.
• For family leave, the average duration of a leave completed in FY25 was 9.04 weeks.

Open Cases

At the end of FY25, there were 41,971 open leaves, where covered individuals were in the midst of taking their leave. There were 160,875 approved completed leaves, where the leave had been completed. 

Employer Reimbursement

Employers may qualify for reimbursement of benefits paid to their employees on or after January 1, 2021, if they offer a paid temporary disability, family or medical leave policy, or an extended illness leave bank that provides equal or more generous benefits than those provided under the PFML law.

In FY25 DFML paid out a total of $1,803,574.22 in family and medical leave reimbursements across 50 employers.

• $835,796.04 for family leaves
• $967,778.18 for medical leaves 

Information on PFML Program Data

FN1.  The data used in this report is derived from various sources, including DFML’s application processing system. Numbers for reported data may be rounded. The data reported in each fiscal year is accurate at the time of June 30 to the best of DFML’s knowledge. Any inconsistencies in year-over-year data, such as the rise in the number of approved and denied applications compared to prior fiscal year annual reports, can be attributed to several factors, including applications with an appeals process in the subsequent fiscal year, application extensions, and applications that were pending at the end of each fiscal year.

FN2.  Note that in fiscal years FY23 and prior, leave duration was calculated based on a 5-day work week and excluded intermittent leave schedules. Beginning in FY24, and including FY25, leave duration was calculated based on actual work weeks reported by applicants and includes intermittent leave hours.

As of June 30, 2025, total application data from the beginning of the PFML program consists of:

• 711,216 approved applications
• 140,311 denied applications

As of June 30, 2025, the total of benefit payments disbursed from the beginning of the PFML program is $3,901,766,512.64.

Date published:	December 1, 2025