An Act To Provide Paid Family and Medical Leave
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1185
Committee: Labor
Sponsors: STRIMLING

Legislative Document 
No. 1185 
S.P.389 
In Senate, March 6, 2003 
An Act To Provide Paid Family and Medical Leave 
Reference to the Committee on Labor suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Senator STRIMLING of Cumberland. 
Printed on recycled paper 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 26 MRSA c. 7, sub-c. 6-C is enacted to read: 
SUBCHAPTER 6 -C 
TEMPORARy DISABILITY AND FAMILY LEAVE BENEFITS 
§850-A. 
Maine Temporary Disability and Family Leave Benefits 
Program 
1. 
Definitions. 
As 
used 
in this 
section, 
unless 
the 
context 
otherwise 
indicates , 
the 
following 
terms 
have 
the 
following meanings: 
A. 
"Employer" means any public or private employer in the 
State. 
B. 
"Program" 
means 
the 
Maine 
Temporary Disability 
and 
Family Leave Benefits Program created in this subchapter. 
c. 
"Serious health condition" has the same meaning as in 
section 843. 
2. 
Program created. 
The 
Maine Temporary Disability and 
Family Leave Benefits Program is created within the Department of 
Labor. 
The 
program 
provides 
wage-replacement 
benef i ts 
to 
eligible persons who are on leave from employment for any of 
th~ 
reasons set forth in subsection 3. 
3. 
Eligibility. 
To be eligible for benefits, a person must 
have had earnings from employment in 12 of the prior 52 weeks, 
and must be on leave due to: 
A. 
A serious health condition of the employee; 
B. 
The birth of the employee's child; 
C. 
The placement of a child 16 years of age or less with 
the employee in connection with the adoption of the child by 
the employee; 
D. 
A serious health condition of a child, parent or spouse; 
or 
E. 
The donation of an organ of that employee for a human 
organ transplant. 
4. 
Benefits 
provided. 
An 
eligible 
person 
under 
this 
chapter receives a weekly benefit of 2/3 of that person's average 
Page l-LR1l46(l) 
• 
• 
weekly wage in the highest 2 guarters in the preceding 52 weeks. 
The maximum amount of the benefit is the annual average weekly 
wage, as defined in section 1043. 
Benefits are provided for up 
to 26 weeks for the serious health condition of the employee and 
up to 12 weeks for other leave purposes. 
5. 
Fund created. 
The Temporary Disability and Family Leave 
Benefits 
Fund 
is 
created 
to 
collect contributions 
and 
fund 
benefits 
under 
this 
section. 
The 
fund 
may 
be 
used to 
pay 
administrative costs of the program and to pay benefits. 
The 
fund does not lapse but must be carried forward to implement this 
subchapter. 
6. 
Contributions. 
The 
department 
shall 
determine 
the 
actuarially appropriate total contribution needed each year. 
The 
department 
shall 
collect 
1/2 
of 
the 
reguired 
amount 
from 
employers 
and 
1/2 
from 
employees. 
The 
aggregate 
employee 
contribution must be collected from individual employees on a 
sliding scale based on wages, as determined by the department. 
The 
department shall adopt rules to determine the method of 
collecting and depositing contributions in the fund created In 
subsection 
5. 
Rules 
adopted 
under 
this section are 
routine 
technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 
2-A. 
SUMMARY 
This bill creates the Maine Temporary Disability and Family 
Leave Benefits Program, to provide wage replacement benefits to 
persons who are on leave from work because of their own illness, 
the illness of a family member or the birth or adoption of a 
child. 
The 
program 
is 
funded 
by 
employer 
and 
employee 
contributions and provides 2/3 of the employee's average weekly 
wage for up to 26 weeks for the employee's own illness and up to 
weeks for other leave purposes. 
Employee contributions are 
collected on a sliding scale based on wages.