E-Alerts

Massachusetts To Implement Three-Month Delay In Payroll Contribution Date Under PFML Law

Earlier this week, Governor Baker and the leaders of the Massachusetts House and Senate announced that they had reached an agreement to delay by three months the upcoming July 1, 2019 deadline for employers to begin making payroll deductions under the new Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave ("PFML") law.

Although legislation providing for this delay still needs to be approved by the Legislature and signed into law by the Governor, it appears that payroll deductions under the PFML law will not need to be made until October 1, 2019 - giving employers some welcome breathing room in preparing.

Notably, the anticipated legislation is expected to include some other changes to the PFML law, including an increase to the payroll contribution rate (currently set at 0.63%) to offset the three-month delay. It is also possible that the current June 30, 2019 deadline for providing employees (and, in some cases, 1099-MISC independent contractors) with written notices about the statute will be postponed.

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We are following these developments closely and will provide further updates as soon as we are able to. In the meantime, please feel free to contact any of our experienced employment attorneys if you have questions about these anticipated changes or any other issues under the new PFML law.