© 2025 Seyfarth Shaw LLP Massachusetts Wage & Hour Peculiarities, 2025 ed. | 147 An employer may not discriminate or retaliate against an employee for taking leave under ARDV.869 In addition, when an employee returns from leave, the employee must be returned to their original job or an equivalent position.870 ARDV also requires employers to notify employees of their rights under the statute.871 Although the statute does not specify the type of notice required, employers are advised to provide employees with a policy covering ARDV leave. C. Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave 1. Overview The Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave law (MPFML) provides for temporary income replacement and a job-protected leave of absence to employees on a qualifying family or medical leave.872 The law is administered by the Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) within the Commonwealth’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.873 MPFML applies to employers with one or more employees working in Massachusetts and covers full-time, part-time, temporary, seasonal, per diem, and former employees.874 Eligible Massachusetts workers are entitled to up to 12 weeks of paid family leave and up to 20 weeks of paid medical leave, with a maximum of 26 total weeks per benefit year.875 Family leave is available for the following reasons: To bond with a child within 12 months of birth or adoption; To care for a family member with a serious health condition; For any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that a family member is on active duty or notified of an impending call to active duty; and To care for a family member who is a covered service member.876 869 M.G.L. ch. 149, § 52E(i). 870 Id. 871 M.G.L. ch. 149, § 52E(k). See also A.G. Advisory Concerning ARDV, supra note 860. 872 M.G.L. ch. 175M. The MPFML also covers eligible contract workers and former employees for up to 26 weeks at the start of the former employer’s family or medical leave. 458 CMR 2.02, 2.03. 873 M.G.L. ch. 175M, § 8. 874 M.G.L. ch. 175M, § 1. 875 M.G.L. ch. 175M, § 2. 876 Id. A covered service member is a member of the armed services, including the National Guard with a serious health condition that was sustained in the line of active duty or a pre-existing serious health condition that was aggravated by service in the line of active duty. M.G.L. ch. 175M, § 1.
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