The Partners Group’s Total Absence Management team believes this holiday season is about you: the professionals everywhere working to create satisfying leave experiences for employees. This holiday season is unique, as HR teams across the country are preparing for major Paid Family and Medical leave updates in multiple states that go live on 1/1/2026. With the stress of all these developments, our loved ones might be asking the question Buddy proposes to a raccoon in the best Christmas movie of all time, Elf: “Does somebody need a hug?”
Yes, we just might, Buddy. We just might.
Our goal is to make these last few months of the year as easy as possible. We’re here to talk about all the essential compliance information you need to know leading into the holidays. We’ll be covering hot-button issues, including a new DOL opinion letter, EEOC guidance on notice requirements, recent ADA case law, and state leave program developments in Delaware, Minnesota, Colorado, and much more. The content in this quarter’s newsletter may make you feel like we “passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly-twirly gumdrops,” and then “walked through the Lincoln Tunnel,” however, you won’t want to miss out on what we’ve got in store for you.
By the end of reading, we hope you’ll feel equipped to manage these new compliance challenges and be able to enjoy the holiday season with such calm and enthusiasm that you can’t help but say:
“I just like to smile, smiling’s my favorite.”
FEDERAL UPDATES
Department of Labor (DOL) Releases a New Opinion Letter Clarifying FMLA Calculation for Employees with Mandatory Overtime
Have you ever had difficulty figuring out how many hours of FMLA your employee with an unusual work schedule is entitled to?
Good news! The DOL has arrived with aspirin, self-massage techniques, and a cold compress to relieve the headache of calculating an employee’s FMLA entitlement for employees who work mandatory or voluntary overtime.
The question came from an employer whose employees work a “Pitman Schedule,” meaning they work 12-hour shifts over a rotating 2-week period with mandatory overtime.
An employee’s FMLA entitlement should be calculated based on their normal, regularly scheduled work week. An employee working 40 hours per week would have 480 hours of FMLA leave to use each year (40 hours per work week multiplied by 12 work weeks of FMLA is 480 hours). For employees who have variable hours worked each week, employers should look at their hours worked each week for the last 52 weeks and create an average number. The average hours worked per week will be the number used to calculate their FMLA entitlement. At the time of leave, multiply that average by 12 to get the number of hours an employee is entitled to under the FMLA.
Okay, the basics are covered, but what about this employer’s “Pitman Schedule” with mandatory overtime? If an employee works for 2 weeks and then does not work for the following 2 weeks, how do we calculate their FMLA time? How does mandatory overtime play into the FMLA calculation?
Well, I’m glad I asked myself, so I can now tell you all. Thanks, me.
The employer in question describes a situation in which their employees work 12-hour shifts for 2 weeks at a time, then don’t work for 2 weeks. The DOL opines that the employer is compliant with the FMLA by multiplying the hours worked per week (84) by the number of weeks entitled to employees under the FMLA (12), meaning the employee is entitled to 504 hours of FMLA leave in a 12-month period. The employee wouldn’t normally work for the two weeks (after their 2 weeks of 12-hour shifts), so those weeks shouldn’t be used to calculate the average number of hours worked. Only the hours an employee would normally work should be taken into consideration when calculating an employee’s FMLA entitlement.
The ”Pitman Schedule” requires mandatory overtime. The DOL confirms mandatory overtime hours an employee typically would work should be used in an employee’s FMLA entitlement calculation. On a “Pitman Schedule,” working 12 hours per day is considered mandatory overtime and thus would be used in the calculation. Voluntary overtime hours worked, which are hours employees would NOT normally work, such as one-off shift coverage, shouldn’t be used to calculate an employee’s FMLA time.
EEOC Increases Penalty Ceiling for Notice Non-Compliance
Good communication – we’re big fans. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is as well. I assume that’s why they recently increased the monetary penalty that can be handed out to employers for not following proper notice requirements for discrimination laws under their purview.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Pregnancy Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), and the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA) have notice requirements that employers must abide by. Employers are required to post notices in prominent and easily accessible areas for employees and applicants to view their rights under the previously mentioned laws. Violating notice requirements can lead to monetary fines up to $680 per instance.
As of October 1, 2025, the new fine ceiling is increased from $680 to $698. A whopping $18.
A very hard-to-say bill, The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 2015 (so glad I don’t have to say that out loud), allows for annual modifications to the amount the EEOC can fine employers for non-compliance with notice requirements.
What does this mean for employers?
This announcement is a great reminder of the importance of displaying the correct notices for your employees and applicants, as well as the consequences that come with non-compliance. To avoid penalties, make sure all HR personnel at your organization understand their notification obligations for the ADA, PWFA, GINA, and Title VII.
New Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Commissioner – PWFA Changes to Come?
On October 7, 2025, the Senate confirmed President Trump’s nomination of Brittany Panuccio as the third EEOC Commissioner, giving the EEOC the quorum needed to make significant policy changes, such as amending or adopting new regulations and guidance. *Googles* ‘what is quorum?’ Glad you asked. In government, a quorum is the minimum number of members who must be present at a meeting for that body to conduct official business and make valid decisions.
The EEOC has been waiting until the third EEOC Commissioner was confirmed before issuing changes to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) Final Regulations. No one knows what will be included in the revised regulations; however, there are a number of predictions. Remember, friends, predicting the future is easy; getting it right is the hard part. The first ‘prediction’ is that the EEOC will take action that results in the removal of the following conditions that may require accommodation, absent undue hardship: menstruation, infertility, abortion, and menopause. Here’s why.
The EEOC Acting Chair has been vocal about her support for the PWFA. However, she indicated she does not agree with the EEOC’s interpretation in the Final Rule of the phrase “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions” and what the Acting Chair’s leadership describes as “the contrivances the Commission used to arrive at its construction of the statute.” At that time, the EEOC published a statement making it clear that “Once a quorum is re-established at the Commission, the Acting Chair intends for the Commission to reconsider portions of the Final Rule that she believes are unsupported by law.”
When the EEOC voted on the final regulations in April 2024, the Acting Chair issued a public statement explaining she believes the EEOC’s Final Rule goes too far. She outlined:
“I support elements of the final rule. However, I am unable to approve it because it purports to broaden the scope of the statute in ways that, in my view, cannot reasonably be reconciled with the text. At a high level, the rule fundamentally errs in conflating pregnancy and childbirth accommodation with accommodation of the female sex, that is, female biology and reproduction. The Commission extends the new accommodation requirements to reach virtually every condition, circumstance, or procedure that relates to any aspect of the female reproductive system.” Further, “menstruation, infertility, menopause, and the like are not caused or exacerbated by a particular pregnancy or childbirth – but rather the functioning, or ill-functioning, of the female worker’s underlying reproductive system.” Therefore, they are not subject to accommodation under the PWFA.
In addition to the Acting Chair’s stated position, a federal court in the Western District of Louisiana issued an order on May 21, 2025, vacating the portion of the Final Rule interpreting the PWFA as requiring employers to accommodate what the court refers to as “elective abortions.” The court ordered the EEOC to revise the PWFA Final Rule. At the time, the Acting Chair could not do so because the EEOC did not have a quorum necessary.
Now that the EEOC has a quorum, the agency is well-positioned to take action consistent with the court order and the Acting Chair’s stated intentions.
However, unless and until the EEOC revises the Final Rule, it remains in effect except for the portion of the Final Rule that requires accommodation of purely elective abortions. That means employers should continue to comply with the Final Rule, but be on the lookout for a revised Final Rule.
2026 Social Security Taxable Wage Base
The social security taxable wage base is in for 2026, the new limit is $184,500, up $8,400 from $176,100 in 2025. Why is this important? Many states with mandatory Paid Family and Medical Leave programs have a premium rate on wages up to the federal social security wage cap, meaning wages over that amount cannot be subject to PFML premiums. Beginning in 2026, premiums can be collected on wages up to $184,500 for the states that utilize this limit. Please see our PFML Overview Guide for more details.
CASE LAW
Employer Requiring Counseling for Employee Leads to Legal Action
Mental health therapy: some love it, some hate it, some really need it (looking at you, Uncle Ted – please come to Thanksgiving this year. We miss you.). For those who don’t partake, a recent ADA claim definition change proposes that an employer may be at legal risk if they require you to attend counseling as a condition of your job.
Alright – it’s a little more complicated than that. So, the story goes… an employee working in a hospital’s billing department had multiple performance and behavioral issues between 2014 and 2019. The employee revealed to her co-workers that she had severe mental health struggles. HR got wind of this and received notification that “talks of suicide” were mentioned. HR revised the employees’ performance improvement plan to require that they attend mandatory counseling through the company’s EAP to remain employed at the company.
The employee signed off on the amended improvement plan. But she later refused to comply with the EAP’s requirements for confirming attendance and compliance with counseling. Eventually, the employee, describing mandatory counseling as job discrimination, declined to continue counseling and was terminated by the hospital.
And that’s all that happened. The End.
Just kidding – the employee filed a lawsuit under the ADA Amendments Act and the Rehabilitation Act, citing discrimination by the employer due to her mental health disability.
Typically, an employee must demonstrate the following to succeed in an ADA lawsuit:
- They have a disability as defined under the law
- They are qualified to perform the job with or without reasonable accommodation
- They suffered an adverse employment action because of their disability
After the Tenth Circuit (Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming) dismissed the case when it was initially filed in 2019, the employee appealed, and very recently, the same court resuscitated her claim by revising its initial judgment. The case has been sent to a district court to decide if an employer can mandate an employee to participate in an EAP program.
Wait, what? They changed their minds just like that? I don’t know about you, but all this back-and-forth is making me want to talk to my therapist.
The decision reversal is a result of a 2024 Supreme Court ruling in a case called Muldrow v. City of St. Louis that lowered the threshold for what constitutes an adverse employment action.
In the initial 2019 Tenth Circuit decision, the court defined an adverse employment action to a disability as one that resulted in a major change to employment status, such as:
- firing
- hiring
- failure to promote
- decision causing changes in benefits
Given the above definition, the court argued that requiring an employee to participate in an EAP program as a condition of employment did not constitute an adverse employee action. According to the court, the employee was fired due to their refusal of a condition of their employment rather than because of their disability.
Fast forward a few years to 2024, and the Muldrow v. City of St. Louis case redefined what is considered an adverse major change to employment status. Now, for an employer’s action to qualify as adverse, it must only result in the terms or conditions of an employee’s job being worse than it was prior. A major change in employment status or benefits is no longer the minimum threshold.
The Tenth Circuit used this new ADA claim definition during the recent appeal to modify its judgment and give the case merit.
Now, who wants to see an Oscar-winning courtroom drama based on this case? *crickets*
Nonetheless, this situation is a reminder of how quickly guidance can change on navigating disability laws and the importance of staying on top of these updates. This case has not been decided yet, so it still can go in the employer’s favor. We will have an update on the decision in a future newsletter.
To summarize, here are the things you should take away from this case:
1. The bar is now substantially lower for an employment change to be considered adverse under Title VII and the ADA.
2. Mandatory counseling as a condition of an employee’s job can be used to support a discrimination claim if the employee has a disability.
3. For employees who have performance issues tied to a perceived disability, take caution if health treatment is included in their performance plan. Document all actions taken in a performance plan to reduce legal risk.
STATE UPDATES
CALIFORNIA
Paid Family Leave Expansion
California’s Governor signed Senate Bill (SB) 590, which expands eligibility for benefits under the state paid family leave (PFL) program to include individuals who take time off to care for a seriously ill designated person.
A “designated person” is defined as any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is equivalent to a family relationship.
Beginning July 1, 2028, benefits under the state-paid family leave program will be available to employees caring for a designated person. When requesting PFL benefits to care for a designated person, the worker must both identify the individual and attest under penalty of perjury to the nature of the relationship, including either how the designated person is related by blood or the worker’s association with the designated person is the equivalent of a family relationship.
Paid Sick and Safe Time and Unpaid Leave Expanded Reasons
On October 1, 2025, Governor Newsom signed AB 406 to expand the reasons employees can take leave under California’s Healthy Workplaces Healthy Families Act (HWHFA), the state’s paid sick and safe time law, and under California Government Code section 12945.8, which provides job-protected unpaid leave for various reasons. This marks the second consecutive year California has expanded leave reasons under these laws.
Last year’s amendments expanded the “safe” time reasons to include crime victim leave, allowed leave to be used for a family member who was a victim, and added new reasons connected to victim status for which leave could be used.
This year’s amendments amend both laws, effective January 1, 2026, to allow employees to use leave if they or a family member are a victim of certain crimes and are attending judicial proceedings related to that crime, including, but not limited to, any delinquency proceeding, a post-arrest release decision, plea, sentencing, postconviction release decision, or any proceeding where a right of that person is an issue. The law defines “victim” as a person against whom a violent felony, serious felony, and/or felony theft or embezzlement is committed. Additionally, it includes a person who suffers direct or threatened physical, psychological, or financial harm due to the commission or attempted commission of the following crimes or delinquent acts: vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated; felony child abuse likely to produce great bodily harm or a death; assault resulting in the death of a child under eight years old; felony domestic violence; felony physical abuse of an elder or dependent adult; felony stalking; solicitation for murder; a serious felony; hit-and-run causing death or injury; felony driving under the influence causing injury; sexual assault.
In addition to new reasons for leave under both laws, the amendments – effective on October 1, 2025 – revise the paid leave law to incorporate by reference covered uses that already exist under the unpaid leave law:
- An employee (including one who is a victim of any crime) is appearing in court as a witness to comply with a subpoena or other court order; and
- An employee is serving on an inquest jury or trial jury
COLORADO
Neonatal Care Leave under FAMLI Coming January 1, 2026
Neonatal Care Leave is a 12-week bank of FAMLI leave for parents whose newborn requires care in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or a higher level of care immediately after birth. It can be combined with the 12 weeks of FAMLI leave available for other claim types.
Neonatal Care Leave is separate and distinct from bonding. Bonding Leave is meant for time with an infant or new child while at home. Neonatal Care Leave will provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave from the time an infant enters intensive care to the time that infant leaves intensive care.
Parents will be able to take both Neonatal Care and Bonding Leave, even back-to-back, by filing separate claims within the My FAMLI+ portal (for employers with a state plan; employers with private plans should have their employees file with their carrier).
FAMLI will accept admittance paperwork as a form of documentation, but the state also created a new “Neonatal Care Certification Form” that verifies the information needed to process the claim.
Neonatal Care Leave will be claimable as a leave type starting December 2025. This means parents with newborns in intensive care before the new year begins can file their Neonatal Care Leave claim in December, to begin taking Neonatal Care Leave immediately beginning January 1, 2026, if their infant is still in intensive care. Otherwise, this new leave will be available to parents on January 1, 2026.
Annual Private Plan Maintenance Fee
There are new details on the annual private plan maintenance fee. If you’re with the state plan, this won’t apply to you, but if you’re a private plan employer, here’s a summary of the details.
- Employers with approved private plans must pay a maintenance fee of $142 (per FEIN) by the end of December. If your private plan was put in place on or after October 1st, 2024, you are exempt from this year’s fee.
- If your plan incurred non-routine costs, such as requiring appeals or investigations, the Colorado Department of Labor & Employment (CDLE) may assess a discretionary amount on top of the flat $142 base fee.
- The CDLE will issue invoices by November 30th, 2025, with payment due by December 31st, 2025.
- Failure to pay by the deadline may result in plan termination. If terminated, you’d be required to stay with the state plan for at least three years before pursuing a private plan again.
- The fee will be due annually along the same timeline. The base amount can change each year, but can’t increase more than 10% year over year.
- As a reminder, the fee is designed to offset costs incurred by the CDLE for oversight and regulation of private plans.
- Starting in 2026, the annual fee amount will be announced by July 31st each year.
Private Plan Attestation
Each year, private plan employers must attest that their plan complies with the FAMLI Act and rules.
- The attestation task is made visible to users with administrator-level access in the MyFAMLI+ employer account beginning in November and is due by the end of November.
- Failure to complete timely attestation may result in plan cancellation by the FAMLI Division.
- Self-funded plans only: Along with the attestation, you must submit an updated surety bond with supporting documentation. Review and renew the bond each year to ensure coverage of one year of premiums.
Premium Rate Change Reminder
Effective January 1st, 2026, the FAMLI premium rate will decrease from 0.90% to 0.88% of wages as a result of Senate Bill 25-144. For employers that split the total premium rate evenly with employees (i.e., employees pay .45% of wages and employees pay .45% of wages), it’s critical that you work with your payroll vendor/team to ensure the employee contribution is decreased to 0.44% of wages beginning in 2026. This is because employees can’t be made to contribute more than 50% of the total premium rate.
Tax Changes Coming In 2026
Following recent IRS guidance on how statutory PFML taxation should function, the Director of the Colorado FAMLI program provided an update outlining upcoming changes to CDLE’s taxation approach. It’s important to note that the IRS guidance was specific to benefits through the state plan and did not extend to private plans. To summarize:
- Today, the CDLE doesn’t treat FAMLI benefits as wages for federal employment tax purposes. Employers are not responsible for employer FICA or FUTA on those benefits.
- For employers with the state plan: Starting in 2026, when FAMLI pays medical leave benefits that are funded by employer contributions, those payments will be treated as wages. Employers with 10+ employees will owe employer FICA and FUTA on those amounts. Family leave benefits remain excluded from employer FICA and FUTA liability. The CDLE will continue to withhold the employee share of FICA and will provide semiweekly notices and year-end statements to support employer reporting.
- For employers with private plans: The same IRS rules may apply, though the approach to taxation may vary by carrier. Employers are urged to confirm with their carrier contact how employee and employer tax withholding, reporting, and year-end statements will be handled to avoid reconciliation issues.
No changes are required in 2025. We suggest employers align with payroll tax advisors (and carrier partners if utilizing a private plan) and, if applicable, consider budgeting for added payroll tax costs in 2026, where medical leave benefits funded by employer contributions become wages.
DELAWARE
Maintaining compliance with new PFML laws can be tough. As tough as that steak that got cooked too long at the one nice steakhouse downtown. You know, the one with the comfy leather seats and the famous molten lava cake that comes out with lit sparklers on top.
When the steak is set in front of you, it looks pretty charred. Disappointment settles in. But you’re an open-minded person and give it a shot anyway. Your suspicions are confirmed after you take the first bite, and you’re chewing for ages. Your jaw starts to hurt. You eventually get to a point where you think: “Should I spit this out somewhere? I can’t eat this or I’m definitely getting TMJ.” And then you start overthinking where to spit it out because you’re in a public setting.
With Delaware’s Paid Leave program going live on 1/1/2026, it’s crucial for employers with Delaware employees to keep track of the program’s rules and requirements. Delaware employers – if Delaware Paid Leave is your tough steak, this newsletter can be your Uber driver to a better steakhouse and, subsequently, a perfectly cooked steak.
Recently, Delaware adopted new amendments for Paid Leave called the Healthy Delaware Families Act (HDFA). The Act has been amended several times since its inception in June 2023. You can find a summary of the changes below:
- Notice of Change in Coverage
- All employers with 25 or more employees must provide benefits for all leave reasons listed under the program, including parental, family caregiving, medical, and qualifying exigency. Employers with 10 to 24 employees must only provide parental leave.
- The amendment removes a rule stating an employer must begin administering paid leave within 5 days of crossing the threshold of having 10 or more employees. The new amendment requires employers to maintain parental leave coverage for the next four calendar quarters once they cross the 10-employee threshold.
- Employers can stop providing parental leave coverage if they fall below 10 employees for four consecutive quarters.
- For employers losing or gaining leave coverage, they must provide an employee with 30 days’ notice of a change in coverage within 10 days of the actual change.
- Coverage will officially begin or end in the quarter after the 30-day notice requirement expires.
- The same notice requirements for employers crossing 10 employees apply to employers crossing 25 employees.
- Once an employer drops below or rises above 25 employees for four calendar quarters, they must stop or begin providing the full Delaware Paid Leave coverage to their employees.
- Leave Duration Specification
- Employees are only entitled to 6 weeks of leave for each reason per year during a 24-month period, even if they have more than one qualifying event occur simultaneously.
- Employee contribution split
- The program now allows employers to split contribution amounts differently for employees depending on their class.
Crazy enough, Delaware’s program will be live by the next time we release a new edition of this newsletter. We will continue to keep you up to date on future changes to the program post go-live. But most importantly, enjoy your new non-charred steak, or meat alternative steak, if that’s what you’re into.
ILLINOIS
Expanded State Leave Reason: Employees with Children in the NICU
Look out, Illinois employers! Expanded leave protections for your employees are coming on June 1, 2026. Illinois Governor, JB Pritzker (are we sure this is the name of a governor rather than a classic American novelist from the 20th century? I mean, he fits right in. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, J.D. Salinger, and then finally, JB Pritzker), has just signed the Family Neonatal Intensive Care Act into law. This Act requires Illinois employers with 16 or more employees to provide job-protected, unpaid leave if an employee has a child admitted to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
The length of leave is dependent on employer size. Employees with a child in the NICU are entitled to:
- 10 days of unpaid leave if their employer has between 16 and 50 employees
- 20 days of unpaid leave if their employer has more than 50 employees
This Act does not apply to employers who have fewer than 15 employees.
Employees may take this leave on an intermittent or continuous basis. Employers can determine the minimum increment of leave taken as long as it’s no less than 2 hours. If an employee is eligible for FMLA, they must exhaust their leave entitlement under that program before utilizing this state leave benefit.
The documentation you can request is minimal. Employers can only request a “reasonable verification” of the employee’s child’s length of stay in the NICU. Requesting confidential medical information is off limits.
As for notice requirements, employers are MOSTLY off the hook for now. The Act does not require employers to provide notice to their employees. IDOL has the authority to modify the program and may address this at some point.
Like many other job-protected leave programs, employees are granted the following protections under this Act:
- Employers cannot require employees to use their company-provided paid leave; however, employees can choose to substitute any available paid leave.
- Employees must be reinstated to their former or an equivalent position
- Employers must maintain employee health benefits while they’re on leave
- Employees cannot be required to provide a replacement worker while on leave
- Employers cannot retaliate against an employee for exercising their rights under this new leave benefit or opposing non-compliant employer practices in administering the benefit
That’s all for now, folks. If you want to find me, I’ll be reading a book written by one of the most prestigious authors in America’s literary canon, JB Pritzker.
Expanded Organ Leave Provisions
Illinois has amended the Employee Blood and Organ Donation Leave Act to expand its coverage to make paid leave for organ donation available to part-time employees. The effective date of the amendment will be January 1, 2026. The Act affords full-time employees up to 10 days of paid leave in any 12-month period to serve as an organ donor.
This amendment permits part-time employees to take up to ten days of leave in any 12-month period to serve as an organ donor. Although full-time employees may use paid leave to donate blood, the amendment does not extend paid blood donor leave to part-time employees.
Under the amended law, both full-time and part-time employees may use this paid organ donation leave only after obtaining approval from their employer.
Paid Lactation Breaks
The Illinois Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act requires employers of five or more employees to provide reasonable break time for an employee to pump breast milk for her nursing infant child, and the employer cannot reduce an employee’s compensation for time used for the purpose of expressing milk. Under this amendment, effective January 1, 2026, an employer must pay the employee for the lactation break time at the employee’s regular rate of compensation. The employee cannot be required to use paid leave during the lactation break time. The employer must provide the paid lactation break unless doing so would impose an undue hardship.
Paid Military Funeral Honors Leave Update
The Illinois legislature has amended the Family Military Leave Act to establish paid leave for participation in a funeral honors detail. The amendment requires employers with 51 or more employees to provide paid leave to participate in a funeral honors detail, as that term is defined by federal law and regulations.
Qualified employees may use up to eight hours per calendar month for funeral detail leave, up to a total of 40 hours per calendar year, unless more leave is authorized by the employer or an applicable collective bargaining agreement. An employee qualifies for paid funeral honors leave if they are trained to participate in a funeral honors detail at the funeral of a veteran, and if they are either (1) a retired or active member of the armed forces of the United States or a member of a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States, including the Illinois National Guard, or (2) an authorized provider, or a registered member of a nonprofit or other organization that is an authorized provider, including a member of a veterans service organization.
An employee seeking to use this leave must provide reasonable notice to the employer. The employer can require proof of the employee’s participation in the funeral honors detail, either through the official notice to the employee or confirmation from the relevant veteran’s service organization.
An employee who takes leave can do so in lieu of, and without having exhausted, existing vacation, personal, compensatory, or any other leave that may be granted to the employee, including sick and disability leave. In addition, existing employee benefit protections for military leave apply equally under the amendment to funeral honors detail leave.
MINNESOTA
Employer Preparation for Minnesota Paid Leave Going Live 1/1/2026
A high school gym teacher once advised my class before running the mile, “Get Crackin’… or Get Packin’.”
As you can imagine, my high school brain was perplexed. Now, as an adult, I think I can truly apply their corny choice of words to something important: Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) laws. The saying, Get Crackin’ or Get Packin’, is a nugget of wisdom we should all keep in our minds as we navigate the ever-evolving world of PFML programs.
This advice should be especially relevant to Minnesota employers right now, as Minnesota’s Paid Leave program goes live in under three short months on 1/1/2026. To quell any panic attack symptoms caused by the prospect of complying with a new leave law, Minnesota recently distributed a newsletter notifying employers of their responsibilities prior to the 1/1/2026 effective date. We’ve outlined the guidance below for your reading pleasure.
Prior to 1/1/2026, employers must:
1. Set up their accounts
- Register for or log in to your Employer Account at uimn.org. Then, designate a Paid Leave Administrator in your Employer Account.
- Create a Paid Leave Administrator Account at paidleave.mn.gov.
2. Notify employees about Paid Leave by December 1, 2025.
- Hang the Paid Leave workplace poster (PDF).
- Provide individual notices (Word Doc) to your employees.
3. Set up workplace policies
- Learn more about employer decisions such as premiums, leave policies, and more on the Paid Leave website.
Want Minnesota Paid Leave updates in a webinar format monthly? Well, you’ll be happy to know that webinars are being conducted by the state to educate employers on all aspects of the program. You can find the archive of past webinars here: Public engagement events / Minnesota Paid Leave.
Remember: Minnesota requires all participating employers to give their employee population notice of the program’s launch and their rights under it by December 1, 2025. To fully satisfy this notice requirement, employees must acknowledge that your notice communication was received.
We hope this has been helpful preparation for Minnesota’s new program because, let’s face it, no one wants to get packin’.
MN Paid Leave Employer Training Session Insights
In early October, DEED hosted an in-person Employer training session on MN Paid Leave, and our team had the opportunity to attend. Here are some helpful takeaways for employers in the state!
- Translated posters are VERY close to being done
- Employers will be allowed to dispute whether the employee provided timely notice. That could delay an application. Disputing the claim does not mean the employee cannot take the leave. During a live Q&A on this topic, DEED representatives outlined that, although the employee’s claim will be delayed if an employer disputes timely filing, the claim will ultimately be approved back to its effective date (basically giving no teeth to the state’s timely filing/timely notice to employer rules). Further, employers cannot issue attendance points in this scenario. If an employee is ultimately granted the leave, the employer must protect and not retaliate.
- The determination notice to the employer and the portal will communicate the weekly and hourly benefit amount
- If the employer chooses to pay the employee’s contribution share of .44%, this counts as wages and needs to be added to an employee’s W2.
- Employees have 14 days to complete a request for additional information to perfect their claim.
OREGON
New Paid Leave Oregon Portal Claim Reporting
For Oregon employers who have been praying to the PFML Gods for visibility into their employees’ Paid Leave Oregon claim data, the PFML Gods have finally delivered a response:
They said, in a deep and all-powerful voice, “Sure.”
In mid-September, the Oregon Employment Department (OED) sent out a communication to Oregon employers explaining that claim data for their employees can now be viewed in their newly updated Employer Portal.
The new portal allows employers to see leave details such as their:
- Benefit year
- Potential weekly benefit amounts
- Weeks eligible
- Remaining weeks
- Which days were claimed by week
OED provided the following instructions on how to access the reporting:
1. Log into Frances Online for Employers, Self-Employed, and Third-Party Administrators (you must have administrator or benefit and tax access to view the Employer Portal).
2. Navigate to the Paid Leave Oregon panel.
3. Click the Search Employee Leave Details hyperlink.
4. Use the search functions to search by begin and end date or first and last name.
a) If you do not know the specific start and end date or name of an employee you want to search for, enter a date range (e.g., one-year period) to pull up all claims that are within that date range.
5. Click the Search button to show results.
a) Search results can be exported to a spreadsheet by using the Export hyperlink
b) Only approved claims will be displayed.
6. Click on the employee’s name hyperlink to review their claim details.
a) Weekly claim results will display which days were claimed by the employee, even if they claimed more days than allowed (shown on their approval letter). The Employer Portal does not show which specific days are allowed per week or was paid. Please contact your employee if there is a discrepancy in days claimed.
If you have any more questions about the new functionality, you can reach the Paid Leave Oregon team at 833-854-0166.
WASHINGTON
Amendments to Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave Program – January 1, 2026
As we outlined in our Q3 newsletter, there are significant changes coming to Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (WAPFML) program.
Effective January 1, 2026, these amendments extend job protection, address leave stacking, expand rights to health benefits continuation, impose notice requirements, and provide grants to small employers.
Expanded Job Protection (Phased for Smaller Employers)
Current rule: Job protection is only available to employees who work for an employer with 50+ employees, have worked for the employer for 12 months, and have clocked at least 1,250 hours in the previous year, mirroring federal FMLA requirements.
New rule: The amendment eliminates the hours of work requirement, reduces the length of service requirement to 180 calendar days as of the start of leave, and will expand employment restoration requirements to smaller employers in phases:
- 2026: Applies to employers with 25+ employees
- 2027: Applies to employers with 15+ employees
- 2028: Applies to employers with 8+ employees
Reduced Claim Duration
Current rule: WA PFML claims must be at least eight consecutive hours of leave.
New rule: The claim duration is also lowered to four consecutive hours.
Coordination of FMLA and WA PFML Leave
Current rule: WA PFML and FMLA can run separately, even if the leave qualifies under both programs.
New rule: Starting in 2026, unless expressly permitted otherwise by the employer, employers are given a mechanism to count FMLA leave towards the total amount of leave entitled to the job protection under WAPFML.
For employers to be able to count FMLA toward WA PFML job-protected leave, they must give employees written notice, including:
- Confirmation that the leave is being designated and counted against FMLA entitlement (including how much FMLA leave is used and remaining);
- The 12-month FMLA leave period used by the employer;
- Notice that the unpaid leave is also being counted toward WA PFML job protection, with estimated start/end dates and total amount of leave counted (based on information from the employee and the Employment Security Dept); and
- A statement that this does not affect the employee’s eligibility for WA PFML benefits.
The challenge here is that employers must provide this notice within five business days of the employee’s request for or use of FMLA leave, and monthly thereafter for the remainder of the 12-month FMLA leave period.
This change allows employers greater control to prevent leave stacking while preserving the employee’s access to WA PFML wage replacement benefits.
Expanded Employer Notice Poster Requirements
Current rule: Employers are required to provide an employee a written notice of their WA PFML rights using the Department’s template notice if the employer becomes aware that the employee is taking WA PFML for more than seven consecutive workdays. They are also required to post a notice prepared or approved by the Department that summarizes WA PFML and provides information regarding the filing of a complaint.
New rule: The Department must develop a notice that, at a minimum, explains eligibility requirements, possible weekly benefits, application processes, employment protection rights, and nondiscrimination rights and provides avenues for obtaining additional information. The employer’s notice poster is also required to address eligibility requirements, possible weekly benefits, application processes, employment protection rights, nondiscrimination rights, and other protections.
Employees Right to Reinstatement, Notice, and Return to Work
Current rule: Employees eligible for job protection under WA PFML are entitled to reinstatement to the same or equivalent position, but the law has not clearly required employees to take any action to preserve that right. There has also been no formal employer obligation to notify employees of the reinstatement timeline or consequences of inaction.
New rule: Employees must now affirmatively exercise their right to reinstatement following WA PFML leave, or they risk forfeiting that right. Unless a written agreement provides otherwise, an employee loses their right to job restoration if they do not return to work on or before the earlier of:
- The first scheduled workday after their WA PFML leave ends;
- The first scheduled workday after unpaid FMLA leave (during which they were eligible for but did not use WA PFML);
- A combined total of 16 weeks of leave (or 18 weeks if pregnancy incapacity is involved) within a 52-week period.
To help employees comply with this rule, employers must now also provide advance written notice of the expiration of job restoration rights. Specifically:
- For any continuous leave longer than two typical workweeks, or intermittent leave totaling more than 14 typical workdays, employers must give at least five business days’ written notice before the leave ends.
- The notice must include the estimated expiration of the employee’s right to reinstatement and the date of their first scheduled workday after leave.
- Notice must be delivered in a language the employee understands and by a method reasonably likely to be received promptly.
Health Benefits Continuation
Current rule: WA PFML requires employers to provide health insurance continuation only if there is at least one day of WA PFML running concurrently with FMLA.
New rule: The amendment requires benefits continuation during any period of WA PFML unless:
- The employee is not employed by the employer at the time they filed for WA PFML;
- The employee is not entitled to employment protection; or
- The employee did not exercise their right to employment protection.
Financial Support for Small Employers
Current rule: Small employers with fewer than 50 employees working in WA are not required to pay the employer portion of premiums and can apply for grants to offset the impact of employees taking leave under WA PFML.
New rule: The state will offer expanded grant opportunities to small employers to offset costs associated with employees taking leave under WA PFML. As a trade-off for receiving a grant, however, small employers that receive a grant will be assessed WA PFML premiums for three years from the date of the grant forward.
UPCOMING EVENTS
A podcast about total absence management? YES. And it is highly entertaining (not to mention informative). Absence Minded is out now, hosted by two of TPG’s leave management experts, Christine Hinnerichs and Brycie Wasson.
Find all episodes on the TPG website, along with other platforms like Spotify, Vimeo, and Apple Podcasts. Like and subscribe!
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