Paid family and medical leave (PFML) is a program designed to help people in Massachusetts take paid time off of work for family or medical reasons. Massachusetts’s PFML law is funded through employer and employee contributions, and is different from the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, and from any benefits an employer might already offer.
If an employee needs to take paid leave, the first thing s/he needs to do is inform the employer. Once the employee has done this, s/he is legally protected against changes in pay, losing benefits, and retaliation.