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An amendment to the Massachusetts Maternity Leave Act (MMLA), effective April 7, 2015, extends leave to males as well as females. Further, the MMLA now also covers leave for the placement of a child with an employee pursuant to a court order. We have updated our model handbook with a new Massachusetts Parental Leave Policy.
This policy, which is only applicable if the company has or recently had six (6) or more employees nationally, must be applied to Massachusetts employees. Additional leave may be required as a reasonable accommodation. The company may wish to incorporate language regarding procedural issues, such as notice of leave.Eligibility is separate and distinct from eligibility for FMLA leave.
The amendment makes the following other critical modifications to the MMLA:
- The law makes employees eligible for parental leave if they have completed the initial probationary period set by the terms of employment, not to exceed three months, or, if there is no such probationary period, have been employed by the same employer for at least three (3) consecutive months as a full-time employee.
- Under the amended MMLA, eligible employees shall be entitled to eight (8) weeks of parental leave for the purpose of giving birth or for the placement of a child under the age of 18, or under the age of 23 if the child has a mental or physical disability, for adoption with the employee who is adopting or intending to adopt the child. Although the new law is not explicit on this point, it is clear that parental leave now extends to the non-birth parent for the purpose of bonding with the child after birth. That said, as amended, the MMLA limits the amount of leave that parents working in the same company can obtain, stating that any two employees of the same employer are entitled only to eight (8) weeks of parental leave for the birth or adoption of the same child.
- The amended law continues to require employees to provide at least two (2) weeks' notice to the employer of the employee's anticipated date of departure and the employee's intention to return, but it now allows an employee to provide notice "as soon as practicable" if the delay in providing notice is for a reason beyond the employee's control.
- The amended law does not change the protected nature of the parental leave. Employers must restore the employee to his or her previous, or a similar, position with the same skills, pay, length of service credit and seniority as of the date of the leave. In addition, parental leave shall not affect the employee's right to receive vacation time, sick leave, bonuses, advancement, seniority, length-of-service credit, benefits, plans or programs for which the employee was eligible as of the date of the leave or any other advantages or rights of employment.
The amended law provides additional protection to employees who take leave in excess of eight (8) weeks. Under the law, if an employer agrees to provide parental leave for longer than eight (8) weeks, the employer may not deny the employee job restoration unless it clearly informs the employee, in writing, prior to the commencement of the parental leave and prior to any subsequent extension of that leave, that taking more than eight (8) weeks of leave may result in the denial of reinstatement or the loss of other rights or benefits under the statute. Employers granting additional parental leave, therefore, must ensure that there is a written communication with the employee about what will not be guaranteed after the eight (8) weeks of leave.
We recommend that clients distribute and that employees acknowledge receipt of the new policy in writing. The acknowledgement should be maintained in the employee’s personnel file. The new policy may be accessed on FormSource under the New Hire section and is titled "Massachusetts Handbook Update – Parental Leave."
As always, feel free to contact your Human Resource Business Partner if you have any questions.
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