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. Given the changes will take effect on September 24, 2025, some employers might need to respond quickly.
Among the dozens of state and local laws in the United States that mandate employers provide paid sick and safe time or paid time off employees can use for any reason, the way in which Maine’s accrual cap and carryover currently work together is unusual (only Colorado and Allegheny County/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania take a similar approach). Under the statute, employees are entitled to accrue “up to 40 hours in one year of employment.” Although the statute does not expressly address the carryover of unused hours from one year to the next, the regulations dictate: “Covered Employees with accrued and unused hours of earned paid leave from the previous year of employment will have those hours available for use by the employee in the current year of employment, up to a maximum of forty hours.” Where things get unique is the regulation’s next sentence: “Hours are only required to continue to accrue up to forty hours in the current year of employment.” As explained by the Maine Department of Labor in its FAQs: “If the employee rolls over 40 hours of unused accrued Earned Paid Leave from one year to the next, the employee will not accrue any additional hours.” Accordingly, any unused...
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