Take It Or Leave It Podcast Episode 48: Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave Has Arrived – A Discussion with Sarah Brydon

Take It or Leave It is the only law firm podcast focused exclusively on workplace leaves, absence management, and accommodations. Host Josh Seidman, Employment attorney and leader of Seyfarth’s Leave of Absence Management & Accommodations team, explores the latest legal developments, forecasts new laws, identifies workplace trends, and offers practical, business-oriented considerations within the leave, absence management, and accommodations space.

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Episode 48: Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave Has Arrived – A Discussion with Sarah Brydon

Host Josh Seidman welcomes Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) Claims Administration Division Director, Sarah Brydon, for a timely conversation on the rollout of Maine’s PFML program, which went live and began paying benefits to eligible employees in May 2026. Drawing on her experience helping build the program from the ground up, Sarah walks through key milestones and operational decisions, as well as early lessons learned since the program launched.

Josh and Sarah’s discussion – the first of a two-part series – breaks down a number of notable substantive topics, including employee eligibility, amount of leave, covered reasons for use, wage replacement calculations, how PFML benefits are funded, and what employers and employees need to know to navigate the application process. In addition, this episode offers practical insights into Maine PFML claims administration and processing and outlines publicly available resources issued by the Maine Department of Labor.

Read the full transcript here.