Maine Expands Family and Medical Leave, and More Legislation News for Insurers

Insurance carriers need agile absence management software in order to adapt in real time when new leave legislation goes into effect. In this blog, you’ll learn about recently passed legislation on paid family leave in Maine and other states and how FINEOS is helping carriers remain in compliance.    

On June 14, the Governor of Maine signed Maine House Bill 27, expanding the ability of an employee to take leave under Maine’s Family and Medical leave law. Employees will now be able to take leave to care for a grandchild or the grandchild of a domestic partner with a serious health condition.  

The change goes into effect 90 days after adjournment of the session. The legislative session has not yet adjourned, so we await a final effective date.  

Some other notable bills recently enacted: 

Oregon House Bill 2474: Effective 1/1/2022. Relaxes the eligibility requirement for leave under Oregon’s Family Leave Act during a period of time covered by a public health emergency; Allows an employee to maintain eligibility under OFLA in certain circumstances after a job separation and reemployment or temporary cessation of work. 

Nevada Assembly Bill 190: Effective 10/1/2021.  Requires that an employer that provides paid or unpaid sick leave allow employees to use such leave to assist a member of the immediate family of the employee who has an illness, injury, medical appointment or other medical need under the same terms as apply to the employee when taking such leave. 

Nevada Senate Bill 209: Effective 6/09/2021. Requires an employee to provide paid vaccination leave: 2 hours of paid leave for one-dose vaccines and 4 hours of paid leave in two allotments of 2 hours each for two-dose vaccines. 

Louisiana House Resolution 118: Establishes the Paid Family and Medical Leave Task Force to study and make recommendations for implementing a state-mandated paid family and medical leave program. 

Massachusetts House Bill 3702: Effective May 28, 2021. Providing for COVID-19 emergency paid sick leave. More information here: COVID-19 Temporary Emergency Paid Sick Leave Program 

Maryland House Bill 56: Effective October 1, 2021. Requires employers allow employees to use earned leave under an existing paid leave policy for leave needed for bereavement leave of their child. 

FINEOS helps insurance carriers remain in compliance by making changes to our product to support new legislation when it’s passed. Learn more about how a modern, integrated disability and absence management solution can provide tangible benefits for your organization here. You can also learn more about the benefits of FINEOS IDAM and the cloud-based FINEOS Platform in this session from the 2021 FINEOS Virtual Exchange 

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