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On July 1, 2025, Maine Governor Janet Mills signed into law LD 55, which increases the number of hours of legally required paid time off (PTO) an employee must be able to accumulate year-over-year. Changes to the accrual cap take effect on September 24, 2025.
What does this mean for you?
Under the current law, Maine’s earned paid leave law allows employees to earn up to 40 hours of leave per year unless they carried over unused leave from the previous year. If an employee carried over 40 hours of unused leave, the employee could not accrue any additional leave. If the employee carried over less than 40 hours, the employee could earn additional hours of leave until reaching 40 hours.
LD 55 modifies the law to allow employees to continue accruing 40 hours of earned paid leave in a year even if they carried over unused leave from the previous year. This means that an employee’s earned paid leave balance may reach 80 hours (40-hour carryover plus a new 40-hour accrual) which is twice the current cap. If an employer’s policy allows a higher annual accrual limit than 40 hours, that limit applies instead, under the bill.
Employers may choose to provide additional leave, but that is not required under state law, according to the DOL.
As always, we recommend speaking with your attorney, CPA, or industry professional for further guidance.
To access the Maine PFML site for FAQ’s, Updates and General Information:
https://www.maine.gov/labor/labor_laws/earnedpaidleave/index.shtml
To access legislature LD 55:
https://legislature.maine.gov/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=HP0019&item=1&snum=132
Contact Information:
To contact the Department of Labor:
Maine DOL
Augusta Career Center
45 Commerce Drive
Augusta, ME 04330
Call: 1 (800) 593-7660 (Customer service available Mon-Fri, 8:00 am to 3:00 pm.)
To contact the Governor Janet Mills office:
1 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
Call: (207) 287-3531
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