Where is the Maine Paid Leave portal?

Employer registration, quarterly filing, and premium payments all happen through the Maine Paid Leave Contributions Portal, reachable from maine.gov/paidleave. You will need a PFML ID from the portal before you can file. Employees apply for benefits through the same site.

What is the difference between Maine PFML and Earned Paid Leave?

They are different obligations and you may owe both. Earned Paid Leave gives employees up to 40 hours of employer-paid time off usable for any reason, and applies to employers with more than 10 employees. PFML provides up to 12 weeks of partial wage replacement from a state fund for qualifying family or medical reasons, and applies to employers with at least one Maine employee. Offering one does not satisfy the other.

Paper Trails > What Is Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML)?

What Is Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML)?

Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) is a state-run program that pays employees a portion of their wages while they are out of work for a serious health condition, to care for a family member, or to bond with a new child. It is funded through mandatory payroll contributions, and unlike the federal FMLA, which only protects the job, PFML actually pays the employee during the leave.

Looking for the Maine Paid Leave portal? Registration and filing happen at maine.gov/paidleave.

Key Takeaways from this Article

PFML pays partial wages during leave. FMLA protects the job but pays nothing.
Maine has PFML. Contributions began January 1, 2025 and benefits became available May 1, 2026.
Maine's premium is 1% of wages for employers with 15 or more employees, split with the employee, and 0.5% for employers under 15.
Maine employers have two separate leave obligations: PFML and Earned Paid Leave. They are different programs with different rules.
If you have a remote employee in a PFML state, that state's program applies even if your business is somewhere else.

What is PFML?

PFML stands for Paid Family and Medical Leave. It is a state program that provides partial wage replacement to employees who need extended time away from work for a qualifying family or medical reason. Programs are funded through payroll contributions from employers, employees, or both, and the state pays the benefit directly to the employee rather than the employer continuing payroll.

A growing number of states run one, including Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, California, Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Oregon, Washington, and the District of Columbia. The details differ substantially between them, so confirm the rules for each state where you have employees rather than assuming they work alike.

Want to make sure your business is staying compliant? Don’t miss our Maine Employer's Almanac. It covers everything you need to know—from federal laws to Maine-specific requirements.

What is the Difference Between FMLA, PFML, and Earned Paid Leave?

Maine employers deal with three separate leave frameworks, and they get confused constantly because all three involve time off and two of them are paid.

	Federal FMLA	Maine PFML	Maine Earned Paid Leave
Paid?	No	Yes, partial wages	Yes, full wages
Length	Up to 12 weeks	Up to 12 weeks per benefit year	Up to 40 hours per year
Who pays	Nobody	State, from the PFML fund	The employer
Reason required	Qualifying family or medical	Qualifying family or medical	Any reason
Employer size	50 or more employees	One or more in Maine	More than 10 employees

FMLA, passed in 1993, guarantees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for adoption, pregnancy, foster placement, family or personal illness, and military leave, and requires the employer to maintain insurance benefits during it. It applies to employers with 50 or more employees.

Maine Earned Paid Leave is a different obligation entirely: 40 hours of accrued, employer-paid time off that an employee can use for any reason at all. Having a PFML program does not satisfy it.

Does Maine Have PFML?

Yes. Maine's Paid Family and Medical Leave program was signed into law in July 2023, payroll contributions began January 1, 2025, and benefits became available for leave taken on or after May 1, 2026.

The program provides up to 12 weeks of paid leave per benefit year for an employee's own serious health condition, bonding with a new child, caring for a family member with a serious health condition, a family member's military deployment, or to stay safe after abuse or violence. Employees with at least 120 consecutive days of service have job protection.

How Much Are Maine PFML Contributions?

The premium is 1% of covered wages for employers with 15 or more employees, split evenly, so no more than 0.5% comes out of the employee's pay. Employers with fewer than 15 employees pay a reduced premium of 0.5% and may deduct the full amount from employee wages, with no employer contribution required.

Contributions are capped at the Social Security taxable wage base. Any employer with at least one employee in Maine has to register in the Maine Paid Leave Contributions Portal and file quarterly.

One point worth flagging for employers who cover the employee's share: as of January 1, 2026, an employer pick-up of the employee premium is treated as taxable additional compensation.

How Should Employers Handle PFML?

Five things, and the first is the one that catches businesses off guard.

Check every state where you have employees. PFML follows where the work is performed, not where your business is based. A Maine company with one remote employee in Massachusetts owes Massachusetts PFML for that person. Maine uses the same locality test as state unemployment insurance, so if an employee appears on your Maine UI report, they are subject to Maine PFML.

Register with each applicable state. In Maine that means a PFML ID from the Contributions Portal before you can file.

Withhold and remit correctly. Employee contributions are post-tax deductions and get reported in Box 14 of the W-2. How PFML contributions are taxed has more detail on that.

Post the notice. The required workplace poster has to be displayed, and provided directly to remote employees who will not see a breakroom wall.

Review applications promptly. When an employee applies, the employer verifies the details. The state pays the benefit, not you, but a slow review delays your employee's money.

FAQs: Paid Family and Medical Leave

PFML stands for Paid Family and Medical Leave. It is a state-run program that replaces part of an employee's wages while they are out of work for a serious health condition, to care for a family member, or to bond with a new child. It is funded by payroll contributions and the state pays the benefit directly to the employee.
Yes. Maine's program was signed into law in July 2023, payroll contributions began January 1, 2025, and benefits became available for leave taken on or after May 1, 2026. Any employer with at least one employee working in Maine is covered and must register with the state.
Employer registration, quarterly filing, and premium payments all happen through the Maine Paid Leave Contributions Portal, reachable from maine.gov/paidleave. You will need a PFML ID from the portal before you can file. Employees apply for benefits through the same site.
For employers with 15 or more employees, 1% of covered wages split evenly, so the employee pays no more than 0.5%. Employers with fewer than 15 employees pay a reduced premium of 0.5% and may deduct the full amount from employee wages. Contributions are capped at the Social Security taxable wage base.
They are different obligations and you may owe both. Earned Paid Leave gives employees up to 40 hours of employer-paid time off usable for any reason, and applies to employers with more than 10 employees. PFML provides up to 12 weeks of partial wage replacement from a state fund for qualifying family or medical reasons, and applies to employers with at least one Maine employee. Offering one does not satisfy the other.

How Can Paper Trails Help?

Maine PFML added a new premium, a new portal, a new quarterly filing, and a new W-2 box, all on top of Earned Paid Leave and whatever other states your remote employees happen to live in. None of it is difficult in isolation. It is the accumulation that turns into a missed filing.

At Paper Trails, we handle PFML withholding, quarterly remittance, and W-2 reporting as part of payroll and tax services, including multi-state employers with people in more than one PFML program. Our Maine PFML resource page has the current employer guidance, and our team is in Kennebunk if you would rather just ask someone.

Updated: September 2026

Written by: Jon Portanova

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