Q3 ’26: Leavin’ On A Prayer

Disability Accommodation Rights Notice

Effective 10/1/2026, Connecticut employers have new requirements for notifying employees of their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This new law requires an employer to provide written notice of an employee’s right to reasonable accommodations in the workplace to:

• new employees at the start of employment;
• existing employees within 120 days of October 1, 2026; and
• any employee who notifies the employer of the employee’s disability within ten days of the notification.

An employer may comply with the notice requirement by displaying the poster created by the state labor commissioner in a conspicuous place, accessible to employees, at the employer’s place of business.

Transportation Network Companies and Service Animals

Effective 7/1/2026, Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) operating in the state of Connecticut have new compliance obligations to prohibit their employees from discriminating against patrons needing assistance from a service animal. A TNC, which surprisingly is not a cable channel that primarily plays reruns of Gilmore Girls and Boy Meets World, is typically a rideshare company like Lyft or Uber, providing people with transportation services summoned via a mobile app.

The state’s new legislation requires TNCs to have a service animal non-discrimination policy that must:

• Prohibit a TNC driver from canceling or refusing to provide a ride on the basis that the rider is accompanied by a service animal, regardless of any allergy, fear, or religious or cultural objection the driver may have to the service animal;
• Require the TNC to display, on its app or digital network, options that potential riders may use to disclose they are accompanied by a service animal and to report any instance in which a driver cancels or refuses to provide a ride;
• Require the TNC to notify any driver who attempts to cancel or refuse a ride to a potential rider who has disclosed they are accompanied by a service animal that they are at risk of:
  • violating laws relating to the accommodation of service animals;
  • violating the company’s service animal nondiscrimination policy; and
  • a permanent ban from accessing the company’s digital network;
• Require the TNC to investigate and respond to each reported instance of a driver canceling or refusing a ride because the rider is accompanied by a service animal and maintain records of any reports, investigations, and responses for a minimum of three years from the date of the reported cancellation or refusal;
• Require the company to permanently ban a driver from accessing the company’s digital network if a driver violates the company’s service animal nondiscrimination policy; and
• Require periodic reminders to drivers regarding the rights of riders with disabilities, including laws relating to the accommodation of service animals.

Organ and Bone Marrow Donation Leave

Louisiana understands that the health of a community governing body starts at the framework, or “skeleton” if you will. Within that framework are the municipal services and the civic engagement that keep the community’s wheels turning, or “organs,” if you will. The bones of a society are what hold everything in place and define the community’s shape; the marrow gives bones the strength to uphold that shape; and organs fill in the shape to create its operational infrastructure as well as its moral fiber.

That strange metaphor was clearly what Louisiana was thinking when it recently passed SB 409, a law granting Louisiana employees leave of absence to donate organs and bone marrow. By starting at the individual level of providing organ and bone marrow leave, the state gets the point across that the larger societal bones and organs matter. That’s definitely what they were thinking, but also, maybe, perhaps, possibly… they were thinking that everyone should be entitled to job-protected time off from work to do a selfless act, like donating body parts, to save lives. Perchance.

Effective August 1, 2026, employees who have worked for their employer for 12 months can use up to 30 consecutive days of leave to donate organs and bone marrow starting immediately after the donation procedure occurs. Private and public employers have slightly different obligations under the new law. Private employers must provide unpaid leave to organ and bone marrow donors, while public employers must provide paid leave for the same purposes. The leave runs concurrently with unpaid leave under FMLA. Employers are permitted to require medical verification to approve organ donation leave; however, if a medical determination ultimately deems the employer does not qualify as an organ donor, the paid leave taken prior to the determination is not required to be paid back or nullified.

The law prohibits employers from discriminating against employees who utilize their rights to take organ or bone marrow donation leave.

PFML Self-Funded Risk Pooling

It’s been two months since Maine Paid Family & Medical went live on 5/1/2026. Boy, time really flies. There have already been some changes to the program’s rules surrounding private plan administration. Strangely enough, they remind me a bit of the Disney Channel original movie “High School Musical.”

“High School Musical” hits all the right notes with its message that people’s uniqueness is their strength and that everyone is worthy of respect. Brings a tear to my eye, really. The fact that one Coloradan high school, with so much social diversity and so much unusual musical talent (like, why is everyone breaking out into song and dance all the time and NOT acknowledging it?), can come together is inspiring. Heck, the climactic song is so on point that it’s literally called “We’re All in This Together,” tells us “we’re not the same, we’re different in a good way,” and really overstays its welcome by emphasizing “together’s where we belong.”

I assume the Maine Department of Labor agrees “we’re all in this together.” That is, unless you’re a Maine employer wanting to pool the risk of your self-funded Maine PFML private plan with multiple other self-funded employers. In that case, we’re sorry to inform you, but you must bear the brunt of that risk all on your own.

Recent amendments to the Maine PFML program indicate that employers with self-insured private plans are permitted to share the cost of legal, accounting, and third-party administrator expenses with multiple employers. However, employers are prohibited from pooling their individual risks together. Pooling risk allows individual employers who would have expensive insurance premiums due to higher incidence rates to share their risk with employers that have inexpensive insurance premiums and lower incidence rates. Sharing the risk with many “safer” employers can lower the costs for employers that are deemed “unsafe” from an insurance standpoint.

The amendment goes on to list self-insured employers’ pooling risk as a reason that the state may withdraw its approval of an employer’s private plan. In addition, it is clarified that an employer seeking to self-insure a private plan must provide a bond to the state from a surety company authorized to do business in Maine.

The changes here are effective retroactively to April 1, 2025.

Wow – all this talk about pools makes me think of the iconic dance number from “High School Musical 2” called, very fittingly, “All For One,” where the characters celebrate the first days of summer at the poolside. All I can think about now is that dancing on the wet concrete by the pool is irresponsible and an accident just waiting to happen. I wouldn’t let those poolside dancers pool their risk with people who don’t dance at the pool; that’s for sure.

FAMLI Registration Details and Employer Registration “Soft Launch”

The Maryland FAMLI division puts on a monthly educational series of webinars designed to inform employers about the essential aspects of the program and their responsibilities under it. The content presented is typically the same each month, but as we incrementally inch our way towards the contribution go-live of 1/1/2027, new information continues to trickle into these sessions.

Our team attended the session for April to snuff out any newly announced tidbits about the program. Below we’ve compiled a list of findings we deemed worthy for Maryland employers to know about. Many of the notes here highlight the process for an employer to register themselves for the program.

As of this newsletter’s publication, the FAMLI division is doing a “soft launch” of the Maryland PFML registration process where employers can register themselves for the program prior to the official registration launch in September 2026. This “soft launch” gives Maryland employers the opportunity to get their registration obligations for the program out of the way in advance; however, the soft launch’s intent is for the FAMLI division to receive feedback on any inefficiencies or errors, so the process may have some hiccups that won’t be present during the official launch in September. Find details on how to participate here.

• An Authorized Officer will need to be assigned for each employer for FAMLI registration. The Authorized Officer needs to be the person who registers their employer with FAMLI.
  • Authorized Officer is a person who is legally permitted to act in an official capacity on behalf of the employer, such as a CEO, CFO, etc.
• Authorized Officer will need to enter the employer’s Employer Identification Number (EIN) when registering with FAMLI.
• FAMLI registration is only permitting one registration per EIN for an organization.
  • All sub-agencies and divisions with the same EIN will be registered together.
  • After registration, employers will be able to grant access to colleagues and/or a TPA, so they can interact with FAMLI on their behalf.
• Private plan employers will be required to submit quarterly claims data to the state along with wage and hour reports.
• FAMLI Division uncertain of whether FAMLI benefits could be paid in a lump sum amount or spread out through the life of the claim event.
• Application year/leave year type for FAMLI: measured forward beginning on the Sunday of the first week of leave.
• Employer notice templates are estimated to be available in late summer/early fall 2026.
• TPA’s cannot register employers for FAMLI; employers need to register themselves. TPA’s can upload a contact list for their clients in FAMLI portal. FAMLI will invite TPA’s listed employer clients to register for FAMLI if they haven’t done so and have them complete a power of attorney that allows a TPA to take actions on behalf of the employer in the portal, such as filing wage and hour reports.

MD FAMLI Illustrative Private Plan Quoting

Would you like to potentially save money on the required contributions under Maryland’s PFML program or offer a better experience for employees? Does fear snuggle up in your heart at night, thinking about the potential deluge of claim errors that may be caused by the state’s administration of Maryland PFML? Overwhelmed by all these questions? My bad.

If you said yes to any of those questions, well, we may have some news to help evaporate that thick cloud of anxiety lounging over your head.

Insurance carriers can now offer illustrative quotes for Maryland PFML private plan coverage.

In early June, the Maryland Insurance Agency (MIA) released a bulletin providing guidance to carriers on issuing illustrative quotes for Maryland PFML fully insured and self-funded private plans. An illustrative quote means that the quoted plan is merely an estimate of the insurance product cost being proposed and not final. As of the release of the bulletin, authorized insurance carriers are only permitted to provide illustrative private plan quotes to employers. Additionally, MIA states that “insurers must provide clear disclosure that such preliminary illustrative quotes are not actual quotes, and that the final rates are subject to approval by the Administration and may be higher or lower than the illustrated rates.”

A common practice for insurance carriers is to require an employer to bundle a PFML private plan with another line of coverage, such as basic life insurance. The MIA’s bulletin announces that insurance carriers are permitted to do this for Maryland PFML private plans as long as the coverages are two distinct contracts. So, if you want a Maryland PFML private plan, purchasing an additional line of coverage may be a condition, depending on the quoting carrier.

Virginia Paid Family & Medical Leave

You know when you eat a whole large pizza all by yourself, are unbelievably full, and realize you still have a whole bag of breadsticks left to eat?

Oh… you don’t know what that’s like? Guess that’s just me. Cool.

My point is it’s overwhelming to have more when you’ve had enough. That’s true with most things. Employers can probably understand this with the various state PFML laws that have gone live in the past few years.

Employers have been munching on their own extra-large Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML) pizza smothered in every conceivable topping. Each of the 14 PFML states has added its own piece to the PFML pizza. The employers are full, but thankfully, the pizza is seemingly close to being devoured. In the aftermath, digestion commences, and a relaxing stillness hangs in the air of the employer rec center (where these metaphorical employers hang out and eat PFML pizza, logically; think YMCA for employers).

Suddenly, a crash causes the door to fly right off its hinges. Someone forcefully kicked it in. The empty door frame reveals the state of Virginia standing powerfully with pulled back white hair that is rolled into single curls on each side of its head, Revolutionary War-style. In Virginia’s hands is a bag of PFML breadsticks to add to the employer’s meal.

All this is to say that Virginia has officially passed legislation to implement a Paid Family & Medical Leave program with contributions set to begin on 4/1/2028 and benefits available on 12/1/2028. The program will be funded via a 50/50 split of payroll contributions between employees and employers. The contribution rate has yet to be announced; however, it will be established no later than October 1, 2027. A new contribution rate will be set annually thereafter for each subsequent year.

The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) will be responsible for the state’s administration of the program. Starting 4/1/2028, employers with 10 or more employees must deduct 50% of the contribution rate from employee wages and pay the remaining 50% themselves. Employers may pay a larger share than 50%; however, they may not charge employees more than 50%. Employers with 10 employees or fewer must only contribute the employee portion of the contribution rate.

Employers may opt for a fully insured or self-funded private plan for Virginia PFML that is compliant with the statutory requirements and approved by the VEC. A private plan employer must reapply to the commission every two years to renew the approval of their plan.

On 12/1/2028, employees will be eligible to receive up to 12 weeks of Virginia PFML benefits for the following reasons (other than safety leave, which is limited to 4 weeks):

• To care for a new child during the first year after birth, adoption, or placement through foster care;
• To care for a family member with a serious health condition;
• For an individual’s own serious health condition that makes the individual unable to perform the functions of their position of employment;
• To care for a covered service member who is the covered individual’s next of kin or other family member;
• Qualifying exigency leave arising out of a family member of the covered individual on active duty, or an impending call or order to active duty, in the Armed Forces; or
• To seek safety services for a covered individual or family member related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

A Virginia PFML leave that also qualifies for unpaid leave under FMLA will run concurrently with it.

Claimants may receive up to 80% of their average weekly wages during the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters. If the employee has not completed four calendar quarters at the company, they will receive 80% of their average weekly wages in the quarters they have worked. The program has a weekly benefit cap of 100% of the state’s average weekly wage, which is planned to be updated by September 30th of each year and officially applied to benefits on January 1 of the following year. Additionally, the program benefit cannot be lower than $100 per week unless the claimant’s average weekly wage is less than that.

Employers are required to provide notice to employees upon hire, on an annual basis, and when an employee explicitly requests leave under Virginia PFML or when the employer knows that an employee’s leave may be eligible for the program benefits. The notice must include the terms under which the employees may use benefits; the amount of benefits available; the procedure for filing a claim for benefits; a statement of the right to job protection and benefits continuation; a statement that discrimination and retaliation are prohibited; and a statement that the employee has a right to file a complaint for a violation of the statute.

Additionally, a poster for the program must be displayed in English, Spanish, and any language that is the first language spoken by at least 5% of the employer’s workforce.

Virginia Paid Sick Leave

Paid Sick Leave is being expanded in Virginia.

Back in 2021, the state enacted a paid sick leave law that was exclusive to home health workers. That was maintained until April 2026, when the state passed a bill that expands coverage to all employers and local governments. The Paid Sick Leave implementation will be rolled out to all employers over a nearly 3-year span of time:

• On July 1, 2027, employers with at least 50 employees are covered
• On January 1, 2028, employers with at least 25 employees are covered
• On January 1, 2029, all employers with at least 1 employee are covered

Employees, starting upon hire, must accrue at least 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Unused paid sick leave must be carried over to the following year; however, employers can cap annual accrual at 40 hours per year. Additionally, employers may frontload the full 40 hours of paid sick time at the beginning of a benefit year rather than using an accrual-based approach.

An employee is required to notify their employer of their intent to use paid sick time if they know in advance. If possible, the employee must make an effort to schedule their paid sick usage at a time that doesn’t disrupt their employer’s operations.

Employers can only require notice of the use of paid sick leave if they provide employees with a written policy outlining the procedures for providing notice. Employers cannot deny an employee’s usage of paid sick time if they have not given the employee a written policy outlining the notice requirements.

Further, employers must give employees notice of their rights under the Paid Sick Leave law in writing and by displaying a poster. Reasonable documentation may be requested for absences exceeding 3 consecutive workdays.

An employer’s obligations under Virginia’s paid sick leave may be satisfied if an employer’s paid time off policy allows employees at least 40 hours of leave per year for the same purposes and conditions of the law.

An employer is not required to pay out an employee’s unused sick time upon their termination.

Healthy Starts Act

Word has it that Washington state recently used dark magic to enchant the title of its Washington Healthy Starts Act to cause Washingtonians, like me, to impulsively engage in healthy behaviors upon reading the title. Washington Healthy Starts is going to start healthy habits for someone, whether they like it or not. For example, as soon as I wrote that sentence, I realized I was eating a bowl of cut-up fruit. I have no recollection of preparing these fruits for myself.

The Washington Healthy Starts Act’s scope of coverage is expanding to include employers of any size. Effective January 1, 2027, SB 5217 requires all employers to allow scheduling flexibility for postpartum appointments, mandates paid lactation accommodation breaks, and imposes civil penalties.

Importantly, the Act prohibits employers from asserting that it is an undue hardship to provide more frequent, longer or more flexible breaks, to modify a no-food-or-drink policy, to provide seating or allow an employee to sit more frequently if the employee’s job requires the employee to stand, or to impose limits on lifting over 17 pounds.

Finally, while the Act previously did not require lactation accommodation breaks to be paid breaks, the amendment provides that lactation break time must be “paid to the employee at the employee’s regular compensation rate.” This pay requirement also applies to travel time to the location where the employee expresses milk, even if the travel may be to an off-site location. Further, employees cannot be required to use paid leave during lactation breaks or travel time, and lactation accommodation breaks are in addition to mandatory meal and rest periods.