City Update
San Francisco
San Francisco’s Office of Labor Standards Enforcement is offering an introductory webinar to the Paid Parental Leave Ordinance (PPLO). This is a repeat from their June 2025 webinar, so if you missed it then now’s your chance! The webinar will be presented Tuesday, September 23, 2025 at 10AM PST. You can register here.
State Updates
California
An updated version of the DE 2511 brochure for the Paid Family Leave program has been released. Please be sure to provide these to new hires, as well as to employees who request a leave of absence in order to care for a seriously ill family member, bond with a new child, or to participate in a qualifying military event. To our clients whom we provide leave of absence services to, we will continue to provide your California employees with the brochure upon their leave request.
Illinois
Governor JB Pritzker signed HB 2978, the Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act, which provides unpaid leave for employees with a child in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) beginning June 1, 2026. Under this new act, employers must provide unpaid NICU leave for employees based on their employee count:
- Employers with 16 to 50 employees: 10 days
- Employers with 51 or more employees: 20 days
Eligible employees may take leave continuously or intermittently at the employee’s selection but employers may require that leave be taken in minimum increments of not less than 2 hours. Employers may also require reasonable verification of an employee’s child’s length of stay in the NICU, however, they cannot request confidential medical information protected by HIPAA or any other law. Employees who are eligible for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) must first exhaust those leave entitlements before they can take leave under this Act, meaning FMLA and NICU leave do not run concurrently. Be sure to review the bill for additional information on reinstatement rights and prohibited practices as well as update internal leave policies accordingly.
The state’s existing Employee Blood and Organ Donation Leave Act also got some attention with the passing of HB 1616 on August 15, 2025. Employees with at least six months of employment with an employer that employs 51 or more individuals in the state are entitled to leave with pay for up to ten days in any 12-month period to serve as an organ donor, or one hour every 56 days to donate blood.
The amendments from HB 1616 serve to now provide part-time employees with 10 paid days for organ donation, and provide employers with clarification on how pay should be calculated for these individuals. Employers shall calculate the daily average pay the part-time employee received during the previous two months of employment, and compensate the employee the amount of the daily average pay for the leave time used. These changes come into effect on January 1, 2026, so employers that are covered under the law have time to prepare and review and/or revise any policies to ensure compliance with the amendments.
New Jersey
The Department of Labor & Workforce Development has released the maximum weekly benefit and taxable wage rates for the state’s Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) and Family Leave Insurance (FLI) programs. The employee taxable wage base for the FLI program will increase from $165,400 to $171,100 and the employer wage base will increase from $43,300 to $44,800.
The eligibility requirements for employees to qualify for FLI and TDI benefits also updated – For the upcoming year, employees must have earned at least $310 weekly or have earned a combined total of $15,500 in the base year – this is an increase from the 2025 requirement of earning $303 weekly or a combined total of $15,200 in the base year. Lastly, the maximum weekly benefit in 2026 for TDI and FLI will increase from $1,081 to $1,199.
The contribution rates for 2026 have yet to be released, and we will continue to keep you informed as updates become available. For more information on the taxable wage base update, you can visit the state website.
Lastly, the PR2 form for FLI has been updated – you will be able to find the updated poster within the “Employer Poster Packet” section here. Be sure to display this poster within a noticeable place for all New Jersey employees, as soon as practicable.
New York
The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) has announced updated premium details for the Paid Family Leave (PFL) program for the 2026 calendar year.
The updated contribution rate, effective as of January 1, 2026, will increase to 0.432% as compared to the premium rate of 0.388% for 2025. The maximum annual contribution cost per employee in 2026 will subsequently increase to $411.91 from $354.53. If you would like further detail on the rate decisions, you can find more within the DFS press release.
As a reminder, the maximum weekly benefit for PFL was updated earlier this year – you can get up to speed from our June newsletter.
Oregon
Governor Tina Kotek signed SB 1108 earlier this year, amending Oregon’s paid sick leave law to include blood donation as a permitted reason to take time off. Beginning January 1, 2026, employees may use their accrued paid sick leave to donate blood through a program approved or accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks or the American Red Cross.
Canada Updates
Employment Insurance (EI) Federal Benefits
Recently announced in the 2026 Actuarial report, we now have the maximum insurable earnings (MIE) for EI benefits, effective January 1, 2026. The MIE for 2026 is $68,900. This is an increase from $65,700 in 2025. Here are the maximum amounts of premiums payable to the EI program by employers and employees for 2026:
| Contributor | Premium rate (per $100 of insurable earnings) | Maximum annual contribution 2026 | Difference in maximum annual contribution from 2025 |
| Workers | $1.63 | $1,123.07 | $45.59 |
| Employers | $2.28 | $1,572.30 | $63.83 |
| Workers residing in Quebec | $1.30 | $895.70 | $35.03 |
| Employers in Quebec | $1.82 | $1,253.98 | $49.04 |
As represented in the table, the employee premium rate will be $1.63 per $100 of insurable earnings in 2026 and $2.28 for employers. With the updated MIE and premium rate, insured workers in 2026 will be subject to a maximum annual premium of $1,123.07, an increase from $1,007.48 in 2025.
Residents of Quebec will be subject to a premium rate of $1.30 per $100 of insurable earnings in 2026, up to a maximum annual premium of $895.70, an increase from $860.67 in 2025. As a reminder, the lower premium for Quebec residents is due to the province’s administration of the parental insurance plan, QPIP.
Also due to the updated MIE, the maximum weekly EI benefit rate for claims that begin in 2026 will increase to $729 from $695 per week. The extended EI benefits plan for parental benefits will increase to $437 in 2026 from $417 per week, too. Lastly, it has been announced that Service Canada will continue to waive the 1-week waiting period for claims established between March 30, 2025 through April 11, 2026. This end date was previously through October 11, 2025.
Quebec
The premium rates for the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan have been confirmed, and will decrease by 8% as of January 1, 2026. For salaried workers, the rate will be 0.455%, and for employers the rate is 0.636%. The maximum insurable earnings (MIE) are typically confirmed in December – we will inform you around year-end once the 2026 MIE is released so you can know what the maximum premium amounts you’ll need to pay to the program and withhold from your employees.
Saskatchewan
Back in June, we covered Bill 5, that will amend the province’s Employment Standards Act. At the time, there was no effective date, but we finally have one! The changes made from Bill 5 will come into effect as of January 1, 2026. As a quick recap, we can expect changes to various leaves of absence, required notices, and pay related to layoffs and terminations. You can refresh your memory with our previous newsletter and you can review a fact sheet (PDF) on the amendments the government created.
