How PFML benefit payments work

Learn how the PFML benefit payment process works.

Calculating Benefit Amounts

You will receive a letter with your maximum weekly benefit amount.

The Department calculates your weekly benefit amount using the information you and your employer provide in your application, including any reductions or adjustments.  

If you take leave on a reduced or intermittent schedule, we will prorate your benefits based on how many hours of leave you take.

Learn more about how DFML calculates benefit amounts.

Additional Resources

Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefits Calculator

Payments by Direct Deposit or Check

You enter your payment preference and your payment information as part of your application. You can choose to receive approved paid family or medical leave benefits by direct deposit or by check. 

Direct Deposit

If you choose to receive your payment by direct deposit, the payment will be listed in your account statement with this information:

• Organization ID: P046002284

• Organization Name: EOL-DFML

• Entry Description: PFML FAM or PFML MED

Check

If you choose to receive your payment by check, the envelope will look like this:

 

The memo line of the check will show:

• PFML Medical Payment Absence Case Number [Period start date-Period end date]

• PFML Family Payment Absence Case Number [Period start date-Period end date]

How to add or change banking information for direct deposit

Call our Contact Center [phone] and we will send you a form to update your payment preferences.

Payment Schedules

During the 7-day Waiting Period

When you begin your paid family or medical leave, there is a mandatory waiting period of seven (7) calendar days before benefit payments will start. You will not receive payment for the 7 days of this waiting period.  

First payment

If you apply in advance of your leave, you can expect your first payment 2-4 weeks after your leave begins.

If your leave has already started, you can expect your first payment to arrive 2 weeks after it is approved.

Subsequent payments

Subsequent payments are scheduled every Monday. If Monday is a federal or state holiday, payments will move to Tuesday for that week.

Additionally, your payment could be delayed due to changes to your leave, individual bank practices, or processing issues with your bank account information or address.

Here are a few ways to avoid common issues that could delay your payment.

For an intermittent leave schedule

For intermittent leave, you have an unpaid 7-day waiting period that begins the first day you report taking leave.

You need to complete your unpaid 7-day waiting period waiting period and report at least 8 hours of leave before you will receive a payment from the DFML. You may receive more than one payment per week, depending on how your hours are reported.

The most convenient way to report your intermittent leave hours is to log in to your PFML account at paidleave.mass.gov. You can also report intermittent leave hours by calling the Reporting line at [phone].

During changes to your leave

If anything changes during your leave that may affect your application status or benefit amount, we will suspend payments while we process the update. Once the change is complete, we will send you any retroactive leave benefits you didn’t receive when we were updating your application. 

If we receive additional information about other income or use of leave after we approve your application, we will send you a second notice with your new benefit amount or changes to your leave.

Additional Resources

Managing or extending your approved Paid Family or Medical Leave

Payment Status

Once you are approved and payments have started, you can log in to your account and check your payment status each week.

Learn more about how to check the status of your payments.

Overpayments

What is an overpayment?

For Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML), an overpayment is when an employee is paid benefit payments in excess of what they were entitled to receive.

How do overpayments happen?

Overpayments happen for a number of different reasons. Mainly, an overpayment occurs because:

• The employee received other wages, wage replacement, or benefit payments during their approved leave that would have affected or resulted in a reduction of their PFML benefits

• The employee made changes to or cancelled their original leave application resulting in them receiving a benefit payment to which they were not entitled

• DFML encountered an unintentional error resulting in the employee receiving a payment to which they were not entitled

Taxes

The IRS has not yet made a ruling on whether your PFML benefits are considered “taxable income.” Massachusetts tax treatment will follow the guidance provided by the IRS.

During your application, you have the option to have state and federal taxes withheld from your weekly benefit. This preference cannot be changed once your application has been approved. If you choose to have taxes withheld, we will withhold 5% for state taxes and 10% for federal taxes. These percentages cannot be adjusted once your application is approved.

If you're unsure whether you want to withhold taxes, we recommend speaking with a tax professional about how IRS decisions could affect your personal tax liability. We cannot offer guidance or advice for individual tax situations.

Learn more