TL;DR: Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) is wage-replacement leave that covers both caring for a family member and your own serious health condition, unlike narrower "Paid Family Leave" (PFL) programs, which only cover family care and route your own medical leave through a separate disability program. Among the 13 states with any form of paid leave, most now run a combined PFML-style model, Washington, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon, Colorado, Delaware, Minnesota, and Maine all pay for both. California, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island instead split family and medical leave into two separate programs. Federal FMLA, by contrast, is unpaid no matter which type of leave you're taking. Here's exactly how PFML works and which states have it.
"Paid family leave" and "paid family and medical leave" sound like the same phrase with an extra word tacked on, but the difference actually matters for what you're covered for. PFL, in its narrower original form, only pays you when you're caring for someone else, a new baby, a sick parent. PFML folds in a second category: your own serious health condition, paid at the same rate through the same program. That distinction decides whether you file one claim or two, and whether your own surgery or chronic illness gets any wage replacement at all. This guide breaks down what PFML actually covers, which states run a true combined program, which states keep family and medical leave separate, and how all of it stacks up against unpaid federal FMLA.
PFL vs. PFML: What's the Real Difference?
Feature | PFL (Paid Family Leave) | PFML (Paid Family and Medical Leave) |
|---|---|---|
Covers caring for a family member | Yes | Yes |
Covers bonding with a new child | Yes | Yes |
Covers your own serious health condition | No, separate disability program required | Yes, under the same program |
Example states | California, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island | Washington, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon, Colorado, Delaware, Minnesota, Maine |
The states in the PFL-only column aren't leaving workers without medical coverage, they just handle it through a second, older program instead of folding it into the family leave law. California pairs its PFL with State Disability Insurance (SDI), which shares the same wage-replacement formula. New Jersey pairs its Family Leave Insurance (FLI) with Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI), a separate program covering the employee's own condition. New York pairs its PFL with the state's Disability Benefits Law (DBL), an older program with no job-protection component of its own. Rhode Island runs both Temporary Caregiver Insurance (family) and Temporary Disability Insurance (your own condition) under the same agency and payroll tax. Functionally, workers in these four states can usually get paid for both family care and their own medical needs, it just requires understanding that you may be filing with two different program names rather than one.
States With True Combined PFML Programs
Eight states run genuinely combined PFML programs, where family leave and medical leave draw from the same statute, the same wage-replacement formula, and often a shared annual weeks cap.
State | Program | Family Leave Weeks | Medical Leave Weeks | Combined Annual Max | Wage Replacement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Washington | WA Paid Family and Medical Leave | 12 | 12 | 16 (18 with a serious pregnancy complication) | 90% (tiered) |
Massachusetts | MA PFML | 12 | 20 | 26 | 80% (tiered) |
Connecticut | Connecticut Paid Leave | 12 | 12 | 12 | 95% (tiered, 60% above cutoff) |
Oregon | Oregon Paid Leave | 12 | 12 | 12 | 100% (tiered) |
Colorado | Colorado FAMLI | 12 | 12 | 12 | 90% (tiered) |
Delaware | Delaware Paid Leave | 12 | 12 | 12 | 80% |
Minnesota | Minnesota Paid Leave | 12 | 12 | 20 | 90% (tiered) |
Maine | Maine PFML | 12 | 12 | 12 | 90% (tiered) |
Notice that most states cap family and medical leave at the same 12-week ceiling whether taken separately or combined, meaning you don't automatically get 24 weeks by using both categories in one year. Massachusetts and Minnesota are the exceptions, extending the combined ceiling to 26 and 20 weeks respectively, which gives workers dealing with both a personal health issue and a family caregiving need in the same year meaningfully more total time. Maryland has also enacted a combined PFML-style program (Maryland FAMLI), but it isn't paying benefits yet, payroll contributions begin January 2027 under a 2025 delay, with payments possibly not starting until 2028.
How PFML Differs From Federal FMLA
Federal FMLA covers essentially the same three categories every PFML program does, your own serious health condition, a new child, and caring for a family member, but with one enormous difference: it pays nothing. FMLA is unpaid, job-protected leave, available only to employees who've worked 12 months, logged 1,250 hours in the past year, and work at a location with 50 or more employees within 75 miles. See our FMLA eligibility guide for the full test.
PFML programs, by contrast, pay real wages, typically 80% to 100% of pay for lower earners, tapering down for higher earners, and generally use far more forgiving eligibility tests. Massachusetts and Minnesota use wage-based eligibility with no tenure requirement at all. Washington and Colorado use a simple 180-day employment test. When both federal FMLA and a state PFML program apply to the same leave, they typically run concurrently: the same weeks count against both entitlements, rather than giving you a separate paid block after your unpaid federal leave runs out.
Do PFML States Also Provide Job Protection?
Yes, in every combined-PFML state, though the mechanics differ slightly. In Oregon, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Colorado, and Maine, job protection is built directly into the same statute that pays the benefit. In Washington and Connecticut, job protection technically comes from a companion or predecessor statute rather than the wage-replacement law itself, but in practice both apply together for most workers. Delaware requires roughly a year of tenure (matching the federal 12-month, 1,250-hour test) before job protection kicks in, even though the wage-replacement benefit itself may be available sooner. If you're not sure whether your specific leave is job-protected, check your state's dedicated page, for example, our Washington Paid Family Leave guide or Colorado FAMLI guide.
Filing a PFML Claim: What to Expect
While the specific portal and forms differ by state, the general shape of filing a PFML claim looks similar across every combined-PFML program: you notify your employer that you'll need leave (with as much advance notice as the situation allows), create an account with your state's paid leave agency, submit your application within that state's filing window, and provide supporting documentation, a medical certification for your own health condition, proof of birth or placement for bonding leave, or documentation of a family member's condition for caregiving leave. Filing deadlines vary meaningfully by state: Washington and Colorado generally expect claims within 30 days of the start of leave, Connecticut allows 45 days, and Massachusetts allows a longer 90-day window. Missing your state's specific deadline can delay or reduce your benefit, so confirm the current window with your state's program as soon as you know leave is coming, rather than assuming the rules match a different state's timeline.
Most PFML programs also include a short unpaid waiting period between when your leave begins and when your first payment arrives, this is standard across most state programs, though the exact length is set (and occasionally adjusted) by each state agency, so check your specific state's current rule before you budget around a particular payment date.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is PFML?
Paid Family and Medical Leave, a wage-replacement program that pays you for both caring for a family member and your own serious health condition, under one combined statute. It's different from narrower Paid Family Leave (PFL) programs that only cover caring for others and route the employee's own medical leave through a separate disability program.
Which states have PFML programs?
Eight states run a genuinely combined PFML program: Washington, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon, Colorado, Delaware, Minnesota, and Maine. Maryland has enacted a similar program, but it's delayed and not yet paying benefits.