Washington, D.C., October 2, 2024 – The ERISA Industry Committee (“ERIC”) this week, submitted public comments on proposed regulations (Proposed Rules) from the Maine Department of Labor aimed at implementing the state-administered paid family and medical leave insurance program enacted last year. ERIC’s public comments focus on the need to streamline state program requirements, provide clarity to help employers comply, and protect employers’ ability to design and provide generous paid leave benefits.
“ERIC member companies often voluntarily offer a wide range of high quality, cost-efficient paid leave benefits for their nationwide workforces. Not only are these private benefits important to attracting and retaining a high-quality workforce, but they are critical to ensuring that employees have the flexibility to address their medical and family care needs,” said Dillon Clair, Director of State Advocacy, ERIC. “As drafted, the Proposed Rules would create compliance complications for these employers, ultimately reducing the availability and quality of paid leave benefits across the state. The Department should avoid this outcome and ensure that its final rules do not inadvertently interfere with valuable employer-provided benefits.”
The Proposed Rules cover a range of key topics such as family member definition, employee eligibility, benefit application, employer penalties, and equivalent private benefit plan substitution. In its comments ERIC urged the Maine Department of Labor to amend its Proposed Rules to:
- Ensure determinations of leave schedules integrate input from all affected parties fairly – including the employee, their employer, and state program administrators.
- Permit employers to have adequate notice and clarity about which family members or other individuals have a close enough relationship with the employee that leave obligations could be triggered.
- Avoid counterproductive and punitive penalties for employers attempting to comply with state program requirements.
- Remove barriers and streamline the process for how employers can replace state benefit program participation with a private paid family and medical leave plan.
ERIC is a national advocacy organization exclusively representing the largest employers in the United States in their capacity as sponsors of employee benefit plans for their nationwide workforces. With member companies that are leaders in every economic sector, ERIC is the voice of large employer plan sponsors on federal, state, and local public policies impacting their ability to sponsor benefit plans. ERIC member companies offer benefits to tens of millions of employees and their families, located in every state and city across the country.
The full text of ERIC’s comments can be found here.