Tentative in-person hearings planned on paid leave
Photo | Courtesy of Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Massachusetts State House
The Department of Family and Medical Leave has two plans to gather public input on its latest update to the rules for the new paid family and medical leave program, one involves a virtual hearing and the other calls for two in-person hearings in mid-June if state regulations allow for them.
The department has scheduled a virtual hearing via WebEx for June 11 and said interested parties will have a chance during that session to orally present testimony on the amendments to the new benefit program, for which a payroll tax is already being collected.
Written testimony can be submitted any time until 5 p.m. on June 12, DFML said. If the state's reopening plan advances to the point where an in-person hearing would be feasible, the department said it plans to host two.
"If social distancing restrictions permit an in-person hearing, the Department will issue additional information on any applicable restrictions for a session in Boston on June 12, 2020. If in-person hearings can be held, the Department will also conduct a hearing in Springfield on June 11, 2020," DFML said in an email announcing the hearing plan.
Part of the June 2018 "grand bargain," the paid leave law calls for up to 12 weeks of job-protected paid leave to care for a seriously ill or injured family member, to care for a new child, or to meet family needs arising from a family member's active-duty military service. It also authorizes up to 20 weeks of job-protected paid leave to recover from a worker's own serious illness or injury, or to care for a seriously ill or injured service member.
The program is to be funded through a 0.75 percent payroll tax that the state began collecting from employers last summer. Though some have called on the state to make the paid leave benefits available to workers as soon as possible to help ease pandemic-related financial stress, Gov. Charlie Baker has said it would not be feasible to make benefits available sooner than Jan. 1, 2021.
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