NFIB Urges Additional Paid Leave Rule Comment Period

August 12, 2024 Last Edit: June 5, 2025

NFIB Urges Additional Paid Leave Rule Comment Period

NFIB is urging the Maine Department of Labor to hold a special comment period before draft final rules are adopted for the Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) law. Maine law already requires additional comment if an agency “determines that a rule that the agency intends to adopt is substantially different from the proposed rule.” However, the agency has discretion on what it considers “substantially different,” and existing law allows the agency to limit comments to only provisions the agency identifies. In the spirit of “measure twice, cut once,” NFIB says the complexity of the PFML law and expected rules warrant additional public comment on the whole set of rules prior to their final adoption. NFIB noted the agency may have misunderstood a particular comment or, in changing some provisions in the proposed rules, created new areas of concern that need to be clarified. About 300 public comments, including those of NFIB, were submitted on the proposed rules prior to the July 8 deadline. Labor department officials have indicated a desire to issue final rules by October 1. The new tax on employee earnings takes effect January 1, 2025. Paid leave benefits take effect May 1, 2026.

Topics:

Taxes

State:

Maine

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