The MA PFML deduction on your paycheck (2026)

It is your contribution to Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave, a state-run insurance program created by the 2018 "Grand Bargain" law. Payroll deductions started October 1, 2019 and benefits began in 2021. For 2026 the employee share is 0.46% of gross wages (0.28% medical + 0.18% family), up to the $184,500 Social Security wage base. It appears as "MA PFML", "MAPFML", "MA PFL/PML" or split into "MA PFL" and "MA PML" depending on the payroll system. It is mandatory, comes out after tax, and is not deductible on your federal or state return.

Multiply gross wages by 0.46%. On $60,000 a year that is $276.00 a year, or $10.62 per biweekly check. On $100,000 it is $460.00. The most anyone pays in 2026 is $848.70, because contributions stop once wages pass $184,500, the same cap as Social Security. Bonuses, commissions and overtime are all PFML wages; 401(k) contributions do not reduce them.

It depends on headcount. The total 2026 rate is 0.88% of wages: 0.70% for medical leave and 0.18% for family leave. Employers with 25 or more covered individuals must pay at least 60% of the medical contribution (0.42%) and may pass the rest (0.28% medical + all 0.18% family = 0.46%) to employees. Employers with fewer than 25 covered individuals are not required to pay the employer share at all, but still withhold and remit the employee's 0.46%. Some employers choose to cover the employee share as a benefit, in which case nothing appears on your stub.

Up to 12 weeks of family leave (bonding with a new child, caring for a family member with a serious health condition, military exigencies), up to 20 weeks of medical leave for your own serious health condition, and up to 26 weeks of family leave to care for a service member, with a combined maximum of 26 weeks in a benefit year. The weekly benefit replaces 80% of your wages up to half the state average weekly wage, then 50% above that, capped at $1,230.39 a week in 2026. Claims are filed with the Department of Family and Medical Leave, not your employer, unless your employer has an approved private plan. Benefits are taxable at the federal level; Massachusetts does not tax the portion funded by employee contributions.

The Department of Family and Medical Leave resets the rate every October 1 for the following calendar year, based on the fund's balance. The total has moved between 0.63% and 0.88% since 2019, and the employee share between 0.318% and 0.46%. The 2026 rates are unchanged from 2024 and 2025. The wage cap also rises each year with the Social Security wage base, so high earners see the deduction stop later in the year than they used to.

Not as an individual employee. The only way a worker is outside the program is if the employer has a DFML-approved private plan that provides equal or better benefits, in which case the deduction (if any) goes to that plan instead. Self-employed people are the reverse: they are outside the program unless they opt in, in which case they pay the full rate. Employees of the federal government, and municipal employees of cities and towns that haven't opted in, are also not covered.