State Updates
Colorado
Colorado released the new maximum weekly benefit amount for their Family and Medical Leave Insurance (CO FAMLI) program, with the updated amount going into effect on July 1, 2026. The maximum benefit amount will increase from $1,381.45 to $1,448.02. Any current or new claims will be adjusted to the updated rate as of the effective date.
Louisiana
The state of Louisiana has enacted two separate bills, the first being HB591 (Paid Family Leave Insurance Act), which establishes family leave as a class of insurance effective June 8, 2026. This law allows insurance carriers to cover family leave reasons (i.e., bonding, family care, military exigency) under their policies within the state, similar to other rider laws such as those in Arkansas and Virginia.
The length of family leave benefits covered under an insurance policy for each covered family leave reason is at least 2 weeks in a 52 consecutive calendar week period. The following family leave reasons are covered:
- The birth of a child or adoption
- Placement of a child with the employee for foster care
- Care for a family member who has a serious health condition (including recovery from surgery related to organ or tissue donation) or other leave as specified in the insurance policy
- Qualifying military exigency
The policy of insurance will determine whether there is an unpaid waiting period and if so, the terms and conditions of the waiting period. Additionally, the policy shall outline the definition of wages and how other sources of income that an employee may be eligible to receive coordinate with the plan (i.e., if other income will be handled as reductions, limitations, or exclusions). You may view the full list of covered family members, leave types, and any exclusions that can be included in the plan within the bill. Premiums for policies or riders providing paid family leave benefits will be calculated in accordance with the Social Security Act guidelines. If you are interested in including Paid Family Leave to your insured Short Term Disability (STD) plan, please discuss with your STD carrier and notify Larkin of any updates to your policies.
The second bill in Louisiana is SB409, the Louisiana Living Donor Paid Leave Protection Act. Effective August 1, 2026, the Act will allow employees a job-protected leave of absence to undergo a medical procedure to donate an organ or bone marrow. For private employers, the leave is unpaid and cannot exceed 30 consecutive calendar days, however, employers are not prevented from granting a paid or unpaid leave beyond the 30 day threshold. Lastly, employers are allowed to require certification from a physician for the purpose and duration of leave requested. As a reminder, The Larkin Company does not administer living donor leaves.
Massachusetts
The state Department of Paid Family and Medical Leave will be introducing a new process for employers to request and renew their Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (MA PFML) private plan exemptions. As of July 1, 2026, employers will no longer be filing exemptions via MassTaxConnect – instead, employers will use the PFML Employer Portal to file exemptions and renewals for purchased or self-insured plans. The DFML has confirmed that any employers with an exemption due to be renewed by June 30, 2026 should follow the existing exemption instructions.
Maine
Maine’s state average weekly wage (SAWW) has been updated to $1,249.12. Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) rounds up the SAWW to the nearest whole dollar (i.e., $1,250) and uses it to calculate the minimum earnings threshold for employee eligibility, to calculate the weekly benefit amount, and to set the maximum weekly benefit amount. As such, the following will be effective as of July 1, 2026:
- The minimum earnings threshold for employee eligibility will be $7,500 earned within the first four calendar quarters preceding the first day of leave.
- The maximum weekly benefit an employee could receive from ME PFML will be $1,250 (an increase from $1,199).
- The new SAWW will be used for ME PFML claims that have both an application date and a leave start date after July 1, 2026.
New Jersey
As a friendly reminder, the bill amending New Jersey’s Family Leave Act (FLA) will become effective on July 17, 2026. We covered the changes in our previous newsletter, and will continue to monitor the FLA and TDI/FLI posters for any updates.
Oregon
The Oregon Employment Department has announced the new maximum weekly benefit amount for Paid Leave Oregon benefits in this press release. With the increase in the state’s average weekly wage, the maximum weekly benefit amount will also increase to $1,692.16 (from $1,636.56) effective June 28, 2026. Any claims that begin prior to June 28, 2026 will be subject to the previous year’s benefit rate.
Additionally, PLO has released the mandatory model notice for 2026, so be sure your notice is updated to the most current version.
Rhode Island
Governor McKee signed a bill expanding the state’s paid family leave through the Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI) program. Benefit rates for both TDI and TCI will increase from the current rate of 4.62% to 5.38% starting on January 1, 2027, and then to 5.77% on January 1, 2028. As a reminder, this rate is used to calculate the weekly benefit amount utilizing an employee’s highest wage quarter of the base period, but not to exceed 85% of their average weekly wage.
The Department of Labor and Training has released the maximum weekly benefit amount for their TDI and TCI programs. Effective July 1, 2026, the maximum weekly benefit rate will increase to $1,150 (from $1,103). The dependent’s allowance will increase to the greater of $20 or 7% of the weekly benefit rate (increased from the greater of $15 or 5% of the weekly benefit rate). The maximum weekly benefit rate with the maximum of 5 dependents will increase to $1,552 (from $1,489). The Department also updated their quick reference guide with these updated rates, which can be found here.
Additionally, RI TDI recently released the mandatory workplace poster for the 2026 year, so be sure to update your poster if you haven’t already. You’ll be able to find it by navigating to the Department of Labor and Training (DLT) website and find the poster under the website’s “DLT Required Posters” tab.
Washington
The Employment Security Department (ESD) has released the 2027 maximum weekly benefit amount for the Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave program. The amount is increasing from $1,647 to $1,727 per week for any new claims filed on or after January 1, 2027. The contribution rates and changes to any materials (required poster, paycheck insert, and employer toolkit) are typically released later in the year – we will share once available.
Canada Updates
Manitoba
In our last newsletter, we mentioned Bill 10 and Bill 11 and are happy to report that both received royal assent as of June 1, 2026. While Bill 10 (the new leave for adoption or surrogacy) goes into effect as of the day it received royal assent, Bill 11 (sick note restrictions) will not go into effect until November 28, 2026 – 180 days after June 1, 2026. As it has become a pattern by now, it may not be a surprise if other provinces or territories follow suit with establishing either of these changes, whether it be sick note restrictions or a new leave to allow time off for adoption or surrogacy.
New Brunswick
The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick has passed Bill 26, An Act to Amend the Employment Standards Act (ESA). The Bill adds a new leave for long-term illness and injury under the ESA, and is effective as of June 12, 2026.
So long as an employee has completed more than 90 days of continuous service with their employer, they may be entitled to up to 27 weeks of job-protected unpaid leave within a 52-week period. Intermittent leave is permitted in minimum one-week increments, and the leave of absence is considered to begin on the first day of the week in which the employee becomes incapable of working. Under this amendment, a “week” is defined at the period between midnight on Saturday and midnight on the immediately following Sunday.
Employers may require certification from the employee’s medical practitioner, nurse practitioner, or midwife to confirm the employee is incapable of working due to their illness or injury.
Prince Edward Island
The last time we covered this was back in 2024, and a date has finally been set for Bill 76, which will replace the existing Employment Standards Act (ESA) as of June 30, 2026. You will find the new versions of the ESA, the ESA Regulations, as well as an updated ESA guide within this press release. Below are key changes we wanted to highlight:
- Termination of Employment: In the event of a termination or layoff, employers will be required to provide notice in writing to employees who have been employed for a continuous period of 90 days or longer. Previously, the notice of termination was after 6 months of employment. The advance notice period also varies depending on how long the employee has been employed, e.g., 90 days or longer but less than a year; one year or longer but less than 5 years; etc.
- Vacation Pay: Employees will qualify for 3 weeks of uninterrupted paid vacation after 5 years of service with an employer (as opposed to the previous 8 year requirement). Employees with less than 5 years of service would be eligible for 2 weeks after each year of continuous employment. Pay statements will also be required to show any paid holiday pay and pay for any paid leave.
- Leaves of Absence: Citizenship ceremony leave and medical leave have both been introduced as new entitlements. Further, the province’s already established sick leave was amended.
- Citizenship ceremony leave will allow for 1 day of unpaid leave for employees who have at least 90 days of continuous employment to attend their citizenship ceremony to receive a certificate of citizenship.
- Medical leave will allow for up to 27 consecutive weeks of unpaid leave per year for the employee’s medical treatment and recovery from an illness or injury; organ or tissue donation; gender affirming care; or any other prescribed medical treatment or procedure that renders the person unable to work for an extended period. Employees will be able to utilize this leave entitlement once they have at least 90 days of continuous employment and have provided notice in writing of the need for leave. Employers can require that the employee provide a certification from a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner confirming the employee is unable to work due to a medical reason and the duration required.
- Sick leave will increase to 4 unpaid days per year for employees who have at least 30 days of continuous employment – previously, it was 3 unpaid days once an employee has met 3 months of employment. Employers will also not be able to ask for a sick note unless the employee has been absent from work for 5 or more consecutive days.
While these are just some highlights, there are other changes on the topic of tips, working hours, scheduling, complaints, and penalties. If you have employees within Prince Edward Island, we recommend that you consult your internal teams to ensure compliance and alignment of your workplace policies with the updated legislation. The province’s Labour and Industrial Relations department also offers informational sessions for employers, provided at the press release link above.
