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Covers Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave contributions for employers, including how the rate depends on covered employee count. Explains the payroll system tax codes to check and how to request a correction if setup is wrong.
Maine PFML contributions began with employee check dates effective January 1, 2025. Employers with fewer than 15 covered employees remit 0.5% of covered wages; employers with 15 or more remit 1%.
Covered wages. Covered wages are calculated in a manner similar to the Maine unemployment insurance tax:
Rates by employer size
For the purposes of determining premium liability, any employer that employed 15 or more covered employees per that employer's Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) on their established payroll in 20 or more calendar workweeks in the 12-month period preceding September 30th of each year will be considered an employer of 15 or more employees for the calendar year thereafter.
Employee count reporting to the agency. The employee count for the period covering October 1 of the previous year to September 30 of the current year is reported on the third quarter ME PFML return, to inform the agency of the employer's employee count applicable for the subsequent calendar year.
Employee contributions are reported in box 14 of Form W-2 with the label MEPFML.
For additional information and other employer requirements related to this program, see the Maine Paid Family & Medical Leave page.
CoAd assigned the ME PFML tax codes to existing employers and employees based on the assignment of the ME unemployment insurance tax payroll system code and an employee count for that code for the period from October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024.
When the ME unemployment insurance payroll system tax code is newly assigned to an employer, the payroll system automatically assigns the payroll system tax codes for the employer and employee portions of ME PFML to that employer; these tax codes must be manually added to employees.
Review the material below and confirm that you have the appropriate payroll system tax codes assigned to you and your employees, and that the appropriate payroll system selections are made for your circumstances. If your payroll system tax setup does not accurately reflect the appropriate setup based on the employee count you have determined or other factors, send a support ticket to have this setup modified.
| Tax code | What it covers |
|---|---|
| MEEEPFMLEE | Employee portion of ME PFML |
| MEERPFML | Employer portion of ME PFML |
| MEERPFMLEE | Employee portion paid by the employer |
Which tax codes you should have assigned:
MEERPFMLEE is the payroll system code used for an employer to pay part or all of the employee portion of ME PFML contributions.
If an employer has chosen to pay the entirety of the employee portion:
If an employer has chosen to pay a percentage of the employee portion:
Note: if an employer is considered a large employer for the purposes of the ME PFML program, because they had 15 or more covered employees during the lookback period, they should also have the payroll system tax code for the standard employer portion, MEERPFML, assigned to them and their covered employees under both scenarios described above.
Example: a large employer has chosen to pay 60% of the employee portion of ME PFML.
The following table outlines the appropriate tax code setup for different employer scenarios. If a cell contains text, the corresponding tax code should be assigned to the employer and their covered employees under the scenario described. The text in the cell indicates whether the Use System Rate checkbox should be selected, or whether a percentage should be entered in the Percent of Rate field, in that tax code within Tax Administration under Employer Setup.
| Scenario | MEEEPFMLEE | MEERPFML | MEERPFMLEE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fewer than 15 employees | Use System Rate | ||
| Fewer than 15 employees; employer pays a part of EE portion | Use System Rate | ||
| Fewer than 15 employees; employer pays a part of EE portion | Percent of Rate | Percent of Rate | |
| 15 or more employees | Use System Rate | Use System Rate | |
| 15 or more employees; employer pays 100% of EE portion | Use System Rate | Use System Rate | |
| 15 or more employees; employer pays a part of EE portion | Percent of Rate | Use System Rate | Percent of Rate |
If you plan to have a private plan approved beginning on April 1, 2025, or later, contact a support representative.
Enter your employee count with an effective year in the Employee Count field, in the PFML Related section under Tax Administration within Employer Setup, for any ME PFML payroll system tax code.
A standard report is being developed to assist employers with monitoring their employee count and will be available in early 2025. Additional information regarding the new report will be available for review in Q1 of 2025.
Employer and employee contributions for the Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave program began to be collected with employee check dates effective January 1, 2025.
Employers with fewer than 15 covered employees are required to remit 0.5% of covered wages, and up to 100% of that total contribution rate may be deducted from employee covered wages. Employers with 15 or more covered employees are required to remit 1% of covered wages, and up to 50% of that total may be deducted from employee covered wages.
Any employer that employed 15 or more covered employees per that employer's Federal Employer Identification Number on their established payroll in 20 or more calendar workweeks in the 12-month period preceding September 30 of each year is considered an employer of 15 or more employees for the calendar year thereafter. The count includes full- and part-time covered employees who received pay for any part of the pay period, including temporary and intermittent employees and workers on paid sick leave or paid holiday.
In general, employers with employees performing work localized in Maine are covered, and unlike the Maine unemployment insurance tax, certain religious organizations and non-profit organizations are covered and must remit contributions. Federal employment, federal work-study financial aid, employment during incarceration, certain volunteer work, and the work of an employee subject to the federal Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act are not covered.
Employee contributions will be reported in box 14 of Form W-2 with the label MEPFML.