Maine Paid Leave Calculator: Maine PFML Benefits (2026)

How much does Maine PFML pay in Maine?

Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave pays 90 percent of your average weekly wage up to half the state average weekly wage ($624.56 from July 1, 2026), plus 66 percent of the rest, capped at the state average weekly wage of $1,249.12. A worker on $1,500 a week receives about $1,139.89, 76 percent of pay. Benefits run for up to 12 weeks in a benefit year for all reasons combined. Waiting period: 7 consecutive calendar days, unpaid, for medical leave only. None for family leave. To qualify you need Maine wages of at least six times the state average weekly wage in the base period, with no minimum tenure. The program is funded by a 1 percent premium split evenly at employers with 15 or more employees, or 0.5 percent, all employee-paid, at smaller ones. The state average weekly wage resets every July 1 and sets the band, the cap, and the earnings test. Figures effective July 1, 2026, checked September 14, 2026.

How is the Maine weekly benefit calculated?

Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave pays 90 percent of your average weekly wage up to half the state average weekly wage ($624.56 from July 1, 2026), plus 66 percent of the rest, capped at the state average weekly wage of $1,249.12. The state works out your average weekly wage from the wages your employers reported for the base period, not from your current pay stub, so a recent raise or a change of hours may not be reflected yet.

Three examples with the current figures. A Maine worker earning $800 a week receives about $677.89, which is 85 percent of pay. At $1,500 a week the benefit is $1,139.89, or 76 percent. At $3,000 a week it is $1,249.12, because the $1,249.12 weekly maximum applies, or 42 percent. Anyone earning about $1,670 a week or more in Maine receives the maximum, so the share of pay replaced keeps falling as wages rise above that. There is no weekly minimum.

How many weeks does Maine PFML pay?

Up to 12 weeks of medical leave and 12 weeks of family leave (parental, family care, military, safe leave), but no more than 12 weeks combined in a benefit year. The calculator caps the weeks you enter at the limit for the leave type you choose and shows the total, so you can see at a glance what 12 weeks would be worth at your wage.

Waiting period: 7 consecutive calendar days, unpaid, for medical leave only. None for family leave. Where a program has an unpaid first week, most employers let you cover it with sick leave or PTO, and several states require them to allow it if you ask.

Who qualifies for Maine PFML?

At least 6 times the state average weekly wage in Maine wages during the base period (the first four of the last five completed quarters). No minimum tenure; all private employers with employees in Maine are covered.

Who pays for it: 1 percent of wages for employers with 15 or more employees, split 0.5 percent employee and 0.5 percent employer; 0.5 percent, fully deductible from employees, for employers with fewer than 15. The benefit itself comes from the state fund or an approved private plan, not from your employer's payroll, which is why it continues if you change jobs during the base period and why it is separate from any company parental or sick leave you also have.

Is your job protected while you receive Maine PFML?

Maine PFML protects the job of an employee who has worked for the employer for at least 120 consecutive days before the leave.

The state job-protection law that applies in Maine: Maine Family and Medical Leave: 10 weeks per 2 years, employers with 15 or more at one site (26 M.R.S. 843 ff.). The federal FMLA adds 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for employees with 12 months of service and 1,250 hours at an employer with 50 or more employees, and where both apply the paid benefit and the FMLA run at the same time rather than back to back.

When do the Maine figures change?

The state average weekly wage resets every July 1 and sets the band, the cap, and the earnings test; the figure published on the July 1 before your application or leave start, whichever is earlier, applies. The figures on this page took effect on July 1, 2026 and were checked on September 14, 2026 against the amounts published by Maine Department of Labor, Paid Family and Medical Leave Program. Statute: 26 M.R.S. 850-A to 850-N.