Employers Need to Know the Facts on Paid Family and Medical Leave
Avoiding the Pitfalls
Tim Netkovick calls it the “kicker” in the law — and it’s a kick that could bruise an unsuspecting employer.
The law in question is the state’s new Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) law, portions of which went into effect on Jan. 1, with others to follow on July 1. The law essentially makes Massachusetts the most generous state in the country when it comes to allowing workers to take leave for medical and family-care reasons.
And employers need to be careful how they respond to claims, said Netkovick, an attorney with the Royal Law Firm in Springfield.
“If somebody has utilized PFML, there is what I call a kicker in that statute that says, if there’s any adverse action taken against the employee within a certain period of time, then it’s presumed to be in retaliation,” he told BusinessWest.
Indeed, if an employee challenges an employer’s actions following leave taken under the PFML law, the burden is on the company to prove there was some justifiable reason for taking the adverse action that had nothing to do with the leave request.
Click here to read the full article published by BusinessWest.
Please contact the attorneys at The Royal Law Firm if you have any questions about PFML, or any other employment law topics at 413-586-2288.
