In late December 2024, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development released revisions to two required labor law posters, the Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) notice and the Earned Sick Time notice. The revised Paid Family and Medical Leave poster includes increased maximum weekly benefit amounts, while the updated Earned Sick Time poster includes new qualifying reasons for sick time usage. Affected Massachusetts employers must update their existing labor law postings with the revised versions.
2025 Updates to Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) Poster
The revised Paid Family and Medical Leave Poster reflects an increased maximum weekly benefit amount from $1,149.90 to $1,170.64 per week. It also specifies that employers can deduct up to 0.46% of an employee’s gross wages for contributions to the state’s paid leave fund.
Under Massachusetts state law, eligible workers can receive up to 26 combined weeks of paid family and medical leave in a given year are as follows:
- Up to 20 weeks of paid medical leave for a serious health condition
- Up to 12 weeks of paid family leave for qualifying family or military reasons
- Up to 26 weeks of family leave to care for an injured family member serving in the armed forces
Most Massachusetts employers must comply with these requirements, but some industries are exempt unless they decide to opt into the program.
2025 Revisions to Massachusetts Earned Sick Time Poster
The revised Earned Sick Time poster includes additional permissible reasons for using state-mandated accrued sick leave. The newly listed reasons include domestic violence affecting the employee or their child, pregnancy loss, and failed assistive reproduction, adoption, or surrogacy. Other reasons for sick time usage already listed on the previous poster include sickness or medical appointments for the employee, their spouse, or their child.
The updated poster now states that employers cannot reduce employees' work hours, terminate them, or assign them disciplinary points for using their accrued sick leave. The job protection provisions of the state’s earned sick time law expressly prohibit businesses from disciplining, penalizing, or retaliating against employees for exercising their rights under the law.
The state’s earned sick time law covers all Massachusetts employees, regardless of whether they are full-time, part-time, seasonal, or temporary. It requires the accrual of one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Employees can use up to 40 hours of accrued sick time per year, and unused time can roll over up to 40 hours per year. Under the state’s law, employees begin accruing paid sick time on their first day of employment and can begin using accrued time after working for 90 days.
Employer Compliance Checklist for 2025 MA Sick Leave and PFML Laws
Massachusetts employers not exempt from these laws must post the newly revised posters in a conspicuous area where employees can view them as required. Employers should also ensure the Massachusetts minimum wage poster is displayed alongside other labor law postings to keep employees informed of all state wage requirements. Additionally, employers with written policies addressing paid leave and sick time must revise those policies accordingly. Lastly, upon removing prior versions of these posters, employers should keep them on file for up to 3 years as proof of prior compliance in case of an audit or lawsuit. For new updates for the coming 2025 labor law poster requirements and updates, visit Massachusetts Labor Law Poster.
Labor Law Posters Online's revised 2025 Massachusetts State & Federal Labor Law Poster now includes both newly revised notices. Our all-on-one compliance poster solution is guaranteed to include all recent updates to any required state and federal posters. Existing Labor Law Posters Online customers who purchased our poster update program will automatically receive the revised notices at no additional cost as part of their annual subscription.
FAQs
What are the key updates in the 2025 Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) poster?
The 2025 PFML poster reflects an increase in the maximum weekly benefit amount from $1,149.90 to $1,170.64. It also specifies that employers can deduct up to 0.46% of an employee’s gross wages for contributions to the state’s paid leave fund.
