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E-ALERT!!!
Massachusetts Maternity Leave Law Set to Become Parental Leave
 
 
 
E-Alerts are just one of the many benefits of EANE membership.
 
For more information on other EANE's benefits so that you can get the most out of your membership, contact Kathi Brown, toll-free at (877) 662-6444.
Changes Takes Effect for Massachusetts Employers on April 7th 2015

 

Among an onslaught of final enactments by departing Governor Deval Patrick was the signing into law of a bill that was originally filed back in 2013; that now will expand the state's Massachusetts Maternity Leave law to male employees as well.

 

The law extends to male employees, the features of Chapter 149:105D that were previously afforded to female employees exclusively under the old law such as:

  1. The right to take up to 8 weeks of leave for the purpose of birth or for place of a child under the age of 18 (or under 23 of the child is mentally or physically disabled) for adoption or placement of a child with an employee pursuant to a court order;
  2. Provide for eligibility to such leave if the employee has completed their probationary period (which as clarified is to be no longer than 3 months); or if no probationary period has been established - been merely employed for 3 months;
  3. Provides for job protection and benefits to be preserved that the employee was eligible for as of the date of the leave.

 

While the law re-writes Massachusetts General Law Chapter 149:105D and retains many of the features of the original law (and in doing so merely extends those rights to male employees), there are some key changes as well.  Most notably the new version of the law:

 

  1. Restricts the total amount of leave to eight weeks in total in the event that two parents are employed by the same employer;
  2. Provides an exception to the two week advance notice requirement to allow for notice "as soon as practicable" if the delay in providing notice is "for reasons beyond the individual's control"; and
  3. If the employer agrees to provide leave for longer than 8 weeks, the employee employer shall not deny job reinstatement or other rights and benefits unless the employer clearly informs the employee in writing PRIOR to the commencement of the leave AND prior to any extension that taking longer than 8 weeks will result in denial of reinstatement or loss of other rights and benefits.

Impact: 

  • Employers are strongly encouraged to review existing leave policies and make changes to comport with the new law's features;
  • Posters will also have to be changed and updated as well (EANE will be updating its all-in-one posters as model language becomes available).

 

To view the bill that was signed into law in its entirety - click here.

 

While this revised law does alleviate some concerns legal analysts and HR professionals have always had about a law that was originally drafted to extend a leave benefit to a certain gender of employees (and thus arguably running afoul of the protections afforded under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act if employers merely offered such benefits only to the letter of that law alone), the additional changes incorporated into the revised law and the resulting policy and poster changes that will arise from those changes, will inevitably create confusion for some employers.

 

If you have any questions regarding these changes as to how they apply to your organization, contact EANE's HR Information/Hotline at 877-662-6444.

 

 

Mark R. Adams, SPHR 
Director, HR Services
877-662-6444, ext. 3005
EANE's mission is supporting our members' business success by delivering the best Human Resource and Training solutions. 
 
For more information regarding EANE's HR and Training solutions, please go to www.eane.org or call us at 877-662-6444.