Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave—Updates from the Department

In its quarterly briefing, the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (the “Department”) recently updated its Employer Portal, issued a reminder for the private plan reporting deadline of August 31, 2025, and summarized tax guidance concerning the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave law (“MAPFML”). We explore each of these updates in more detail below. You can find our prior posts—here, here, and here—detailing the MAPFML law and employer responsibilities.

Employer Portal Updates

The Department enhanced its MAPFML employer portal to improve use and accessibility for leave administrators. Among other updates, the employer portal now provides a timeline of milestone dates; a ‘to do’ column for action items; access to an employee’s individual average weekly wage and weekly benefit amount for easier calculation of top-off payments; and an option to download a CSV file of leave data.

Exempt Private Plan Employer Reporting Deadline

As we are already into late July, employers who are self-insured, third parties who administer private plans, and private plan insurance carriers should be prepared to submit the required private plan data to the Department by August 31, 2025. The Reporting Templates for 2025 are available on the Department website at the Employer Private Plan Reporting Obligations page. The type of data required includes information about employee demographics, approved and denied claims, and benefit amounts paid. The Department uses the data to evaluate MAPFML program goals and promote integrity of private family and medical care plans. The Department may withdraw its private plan approval if an employer (or the party responsible for submission) fails to submit the report by the deadline.

Updated Tax Guidance

In January 2025, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued new guidance, Revenue Ruling 2025-4, explaining the federal income tax implications of mandatory state administered paid family and medical leave programs like MAPFML. In addition to providing tax relief to states and employers and illustrative scenarios clarifying the tax treatment of MAPFML contributions, the Department and the IRS clarified the process around withholding taxes from a weekly benefit payment under MAPFML. The guidance states that, at the time of applying for MAPFML, employees have the option to have state and federal taxes withheld from their weekly benefit. If elected, the Department will withhold 5% of the weekly benefit for state taxes and 10% of the weekly benefit for federal taxes. These percentages are established by the Department, not the IRS. Once the MAPFML application is approved, these percentages cannot be adjusted.

We will continue to provide additional guidance on MAPFML as issued by the Department. Mintz’s Employment, Labor, and Benefits practice stands ready to assist with MAPFML questions or compliance concerns.

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