Flags fly outside the Maine Department of Labor in Augusta. Feb. 25, 2025. (Photo by Jim Neuger/ Maine Morning Star)
Maine’s highest court affirmed the legality and constitutionality of the rules for the state’s budding paid family and medical leave program.
On Tuesday, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court unanimously decided that the rules adopted by the Maine Department of Labor regarding the paid family and medical leave program are constitutional and a legal interpretation of the legislation that created the program.
“I appreciate the court affirming that the department’s rule was a reasonable interpretation of the act and was within our rulemaking authority granted by the Legislature,” said Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman.
This comes after the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and Bath Iron Works filed a lawsuit in January to challenge the department’s rules. The plaintiffs argued that the department’s rules constituted what’s known as a “taking” of private property for public use by requiring people to make payments into the program during the first quarter of 2025 before they could apply for a private substitute plan.
However, the court found that would not qualify for a taking claim because there was no identifiable property to form its basis.
The Maine Department of Labor finalized the program’s rules in December after an outpouring of input from workers and the business community. At the start of the year, Maine employers began withholding a portion of wages to pay into the new paid family and medical leave fund.
The state’s paid family and medical leave program will allow eligible public and private sector workers to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave for reasons such as illness, to care for a loved one or the birth of a new child.
Employees will be able to access the program starting May 2026.
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