What is a Paid Leave Equivalent plan?
A Paid Leave Equivalent (PLE) plan provides employees with paid leave benefits that are equal to or greater than those provided through the state’s Paid Family & Medical Leave program. Equivalent plans may be either self-funded, or a fully-funded.
- A self-funded plan - Requires a surety bond be paid to the state
- A fully-funded plan - Is purchased from a state-approved insurance company
Note: Having an internal paid leave policy, on its own, does not meet these requirements.
How PLE quarterly reporting and payments are submitted
Employers who've been approved to provide a Paid Leave Equivalent (PLE) plan to their employees will still have the same registration and reporting requirements as those paying into the state plan. The key difference is that all payments are handled by you.
For self-funded plans the state requires a surety bond. If you have a fully-funded plan, you will make payments to your PFML insurance provider.
Based on the Employer and Employee Rates you enter in OnPay, we'll calculate employer and employee contributions with each pay run, leaving employee contribution amounts (if any) in your bank account when payroll funds are drafted.
Employer and employee contribution totals are included in your quarterly wage reports, which we file with the state.
Register for your PFML ID
You must register for a PFML ID by going to The Maine Paid Leave Contributions Portal. Once you've received your PFML ID, you'll need to enter it into OnPay in order for us to report your Paid Leave Equivalent coverage to the state. You can also set the percentage of your rate that you wish to withhold and deduct from employee wages (if any), as well as indicate you're an employer of fewer than 15 employees.
Setting up a Paid Leave Equivalent Plan in OnPay
Go to Company, then Payroll Taxes.
Do you pay employees in multiple states?
If so, select Maine under "Payroll Taxes".
Scroll down to "Maine State Paid Family and Medical Insurance Setup" and enter your Maine PFML ID (ex: 123-4567890) in the specified field.
Scroll down to "Paid Leave Equivalent Plans", and check the box to set employer and employee rates.
Two new fields will appear, where you can enter your employer and employee rates. You're not required to enter an employee rate, but if you do, it cannot be higher than 0.5%.
How can this rate be split?
What rates you can enter here depend on your employee count. Employee contributions are limited, but employers can contribute as much as they want, provided they meet the minimum rate.
Employers with 15 or more employees - 1%
- The tax rate of 1% can be employer-paid, or split between employer-paid and employee withholdings
- The maximum Employee Rate is 0.5%, but can be lower
- The minimum Employer Rate is the remainder of 1% minus the Employee Rate (if any)
- Employers may choose to contribute more than the minimum rate
Employers with fewer than 15 employees - 0.5%
- The tax rate of 0.5% can be employer-paid, split between employer-paid and employee withholdings, or fully paid by employee withholdings
- The maximum Employee Rate is 0.5%, but can be lower
- The minimum Employer Rate is the remainder of 0.5% minus the Employee Rate (if any)
- Employers may choose to contribute more than the minimum rate
Our Tax Accuracy Guarantee
Bottom line: We take the accuracy of our payroll tax calculations very seriously — and our accuracy guarantee ensures we’ll always have your back.
However, because we file on your behalf using information provided by you, it's important that you provide and input accurate information about your company, its employees, and the states and districts in which they live and your business operates, including all IDs and tax rates. Our Tax Accuracy Guarantee picks up where you leave off by covering all our calculations, and the filings and payments we base on them.
In rare circumstances, OnPay may need additional information from you, or may request you take action in order for us to file and pay your taxes. If such information is requested by us, but never provided by you, any affected tax filings and payments will not be covered by our Tax Accuracy Guarantee.
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