The buzz around Maryland’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) hasn’t even died down and here’s Delaware with their Family and Medical Leave Insurance program (FMLI). Unlike Maryland, Delaware Senate Bill 1 became law without the dramatic flair of a veto and veto override. That being said, this bill is anything but ordinary.

A few items worth noting up front. This law borrows heavily from the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). For example, it uses the FMLA’s months of service and hours worked requirements (but not the 50 employees/75 miles rule) for employee eligibility; the FMLA’s definitions of a serious health condition, family member, and military exigency; and defines the “application year” for measuring leave usage as the “12-month period as defined in the FMLA”.

In a welcome change, DE FMLI’s benefit rate is a flat 80% of the employee’s wages, not one of those mind-bending multi-layered formulas used by many other states.

However, the juiciest tidbit worth mentioning is that Delaware’s employers (not the Delaware Department of Labor) are responsible for collecting and retaining claims information, adjudicating claims, and reporting approvals to the Department of Labor. At this time, that’s the extent of what we know about this unique administrative model. Happy times for Delaware employers!

Now that we got that out of the way, here is a brief summary:

Contributions start January 1, 2025
Benefits start January 1, 2026
Covered employers: All employers with 1 or more employees in the state
Employers with 1-9 employees can opt in to Parental Leave
Employers with 10-24 employees in the state must provide employees Parental Leave only
Employers with 10-24 employees in the state can opt in to Family Caregiver and Medical Leave
Employers with 25 or more employees must provide Parental, Family Caregiver, and Medical Leave
Employee eligibility:
12 months of service and
1250 hours worked in the previous 12-month period
Leave reasons:
Bonding with a new child (Parental Leave)
Employee’s own serious health condition (Medical Leave)
Care of family member with a serious health condition (Family Leave)
Military exigencies (also Family Leave)
Amount of leave & benefits
12 weeks for Parental Leave in an application year (the “12-month period as defined in the FMLA”)
6 weeks combined for Family Caregiver Leave (including Military Exigency) and Medical leave in a 24-month period
Not more than 12 weeks total in an application year
Covered family members (all as defined in the FMLA):
Parent
Child
Spouse
Private plans will be allowed – insured or self-funded; such plans must:
Be offered to all employees
Equal or exceed the benefits and protections afforded by the PFMLI program
Be approved by the DE Department of Labor

You can review our more detailed summary of the Delaware PFML program and all state medical and family leave benefits at our statutory plans microsite on our Statutory Disability and Paid Family Leave Laws – Delaware is being added as you read this!

Matrix Can Help!

Our team is constantly tracking legislative updates to stay current on the latest and greatest when it comes to Leave, accommodations, and statutory benefit programs. Be it self-funded or fully insured, Matrix Absence Management and Reliance Standard offer a full line of absence management solutions, including private plans for statutory benefits. If you have any questions, contact us through your Matrix or Reliance Standard sales or account manager, or at ping@matrixcos.com.