Paid Family Leave (PFL) and Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML) are benefits that currently exist in several states to give partial pay to employees for their time off work taken for qualified family or medical leave.
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If PFL/PFML in a state is funded by employee-paid and/or employer-paid taxes that are paid to a state agency, Gusto will generally make these payments on your behalf. In some states (like MA and WA) employers can cover some, or all, of their employees' portion of the PFML tax.
To learn if a state's PFML tax deductions and payments are handled by Gusto (and get all other related information about the program):
If PFL/PFML is funded through private insurance carriers, Gusto will not make the premium payments to the insurance carriers on your behalf.
If you need to reduce your employee’s salary while they are on PFL or PFML, schedule a compensation change in their employee profile.
PFL/PFML coverage and claims are handled exclusively through state agencies—Gusto cannot advise on the amount of coverage an employee may or may not receive from the state.
The table below provides a brief summary of the PFML requirement, an agency-specific resource about the program, or both.
| State agency resource | Additional information |
| California | The California State Disability Insurance (SDI) program provides short-term Disability Insurance (DI) and Paid Family Leave (PFL) wage replacement benefits to eligible workers who need time off work. The city of San Francisco has additional requirements for employers. |
| Colorado | Starting January 1, 2023, contributions to Colorado’s FAMLI program will be shared between employers and workers. Beginning on January 1, 2023, employers may begin deducting up to 0.45% of an employee's pay to cover the employee-portion of the FAMLI premium—some employers may choose to cover some or all of an employee share as an added benefit. Learn more about FAMLI, and how to handle deductions in Gusto. |
| Connecticut | Employers are responsible for withholding and submitting payroll deductions for each employee—these deductions must be submitted to the CT Paid Leave Authority quarterly. |
| Delaware | Beginning Jan 1, 2025, the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program will be funded by employer and employee contributions. |
| Maryland | Maryland's General Assembly is currently considering legislation, proposing that contributions begin July 2025—this slightly differs from the original (earlier) timeline. For updates on the evolving legislation, head to Maryland's dedicated Family and Medical Leave Insurance page. |
| Massachusetts | Employers with 25 or more covered individuals in last year's workforce are responsible for making employer contributions for covered individuals in the current workforce. Employers with less than 25 covered individuals in last year's workforce do not need to make an employer contribution this year. However, you still need to send the employee portion of the contribution to the agency on their behalf. |
| Michigan | Covers employers who employ 50 or more individuals. Paid medical leave is accrued at a rate of 1 hour for every 35 actual hours worked. More info can be found here. |
| Minnesota | Starting with the third quarter of 2024, unemployment insurance (UI) tax returns will also be sent to the Paid Leave Department to collect information. Employers will meet the Paid Leave wage reporting rules by reporting their Q3 2024 wages in October, following the usual UI process.
Starting January 1, 2026, both employees and employers will begin making deductions and contributions. Get additional information here. |
| New Jersey | Workers can collect Family Leave Insurance benefits for a maximum of twelve consecutive weeks in a 12-month period, or up to eight weeks (56 individual days) in a 12-month period, if taking leave in a non-continuous manner. |
| New York | Most private employers with one or more employees are required to obtain Paid Family Leave insurance. Employers must:
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| Oregon | On Jan 1, 2023, if a business has 25 or more employees, they'll start paying into the program—learn more about how Gusto handles this in the Oregon registration article. |
| Rhode Island | Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) and Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI) are financed entirely by payroll deductions. TDI is income support for individuals out of work for non-work-related illness or injury. TCI is income support (up to 4 weeks) for individuals out of work to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, or grandparent, or to bond with a newborn child, adopted child, or foster child. |
| Washington D.C. | DC Paid Family Leave is for all private-sector workers in DC, including people who work in DC but live in another state. Paid Family Leave benefit payments are funded by a quarterly payroll tax based on the immediate past |
| Washington | Employers of every size are required to:
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