Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Paid Family And Medical Leave topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bill would shorten PFML timeframe and remove employer-retaliation presumption
Summary
On Jan. 17, four Massachusetts representatives filed House Bill 2136 to amend section 9 of chapter 175M (paid family and medical leave), replacing references to "6 month(s)" with "3 month(s)," striking the word "presumed," and deleting a paragraph that set a "clear and convincing evidence" rebuttal standard for employer actions.
Representative Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (20th Middlesex) and three co-petitioners filed House Bill 2136 on Jan. 17, 2025, proposing amendments to section 9 of chapter 175M of the Massachusetts General Laws that govern paid family and medical leave. The bill would replace references to “6 month” and “6 months” in subsection (c) with “3 month” and “3 months,” remove the word "presumed" from subsection (c), and delete a paragraph that established a "clear and convincing evidence" standard for employers seeking to rebut an inference of retaliation.
The change would be made in four short, specific edits to subsection (c) of section 9 of chapter 175M, according to the bill text filed with the House. The petition lists Representative Bradley H. Jones, Jr. as the bill’s presenter and shows Representatives Kimberly N. Ferguson (1st Worcester), Paul K. Frost (7th Worcester), and Todd M. Smola (1st Hampden) as additional petitioners, with their respective filing dates recorded on the cover petition.
Why it matters: subsection (c) of chapter 175M concerns employer actions that follow an employee’s use of paid family or medical leave. The bill’s edits would shorten two references to a six-month timeframe to three months and would remove statutory wording that treated certain employer actions as "presumed" retaliatory and that specified a heightened "clear and convincing" standard for rebuttal. Removing that language would eliminate the statutory description of the rebuttal standard and the detailed conditions under which an employer could show an independent justification for an action, as stated in the current text.
Details from the filing: the bill text identifies four distinct edits in consecutive sections labeled SECTION 1 through SECTION 4. SECTION 1 and SECTION 2 each replace "6 month"/"6 months" with "3 month"/"3 months" in subsection (c). SECTION 3 strikes the single word "presumed" from subsection (c). SECTION 4 removes the paragraph that in current law reads that the presumption "shall be rebutted only by clear and convincing evidence" and then describes the employer showing independent justification and that the employer "would have in fact taken such action in the same manner and at the same time ... regardless of the employee's use of leave, restoration to a position or participation in proceedings or inquiries as described in this subsection." The bill text itself supplies those lines as the portion to be deleted.
Procedural status: the filing page lists "Labor and Workforce Development," indicating the bill was to be referred to that committee for consideration under the House docket. The document does not record any committee action, votes, or floor action; it is a filed bill, not an adopted amendment or enacted law.
Scope and limits: the bill text amends only subsection (c) of section 9 in chapter 175M as printed in the official 2022 edition of the General Laws; it does not state any implementing regulations, effective dates beyond the normal legislative-enactment process, or administrative guidance. The filing does not state predicted fiscal impact, enforcement mechanisms, or whether sponsors intend additional companion language elsewhere in the General Laws.
Next steps: under standard legislative procedure, the bill must be considered by the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development and, if reported, proceed through the House and Senate before becoming law. The filing document lists no schedule or public hearing information.
Presented by: Representative Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (20th Middlesex). Co-petitioners listed on the filing cover Representatives Kimberly N. Ferguson (1st Worcester), Paul K. Frost (7th Worcester), and Todd M. Smola (1st Hampden).
