On Monday, Maine Governor Janet Mills signed the Earned Paid Leave Law. While some media describe the law as a PSL law (see, for example, here and here), it is not a PSL law. As noted in my post last week, earned paid leave under this law can be used for any reason. Unlike all other PSL laws, it does not itemize the reasons for which accrued leave can be used.
To use accrued leave, an employee who works for a covered employer (more than 10 employees for more than 120 days in a calendar year), absent an emergency, must give “reasonable notice” of the intent to use earned leave and must schedule that leave time “to prevent undue hardship on the employer as reasonably determined by the employer.” The law takes effect on January 1, 2021.
The Maine law also preempts any political subdivision from enacting an ordinance or other rule regulating earned paid leave. Last month, the City Council in Portland, ME narrowly defeated a traditional PSL bill.