State Launches Multilingual Enhancements to Paid Family and Medical Leave Program
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BOSTON — Recently, the Healey-Driscoll Administration launched accessibility and equitability enhancements to the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program.
The new enhancements allow applicants for PFML benefits to now select Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole or Chinese, in addition to English, when applying for benefits, and further communication from the Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) will also be in the individual's preferred language.
"Massachusetts is proud of our strong Paid Family and Medical Leave Program, and we want all our residents to access information about the benefits available to them in their primary language. These new multilingual enhancements to PFML are part of our administration's commitment to breaking down language barriers and gaps across state government," said Governor Healey. "Together, we can help more residents access these important programs and allow them to take the leave they need when they need it most."
The PFML program is administered by the Department of Family and Medical leave, which falls under the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. PFML benefits provide temporary income replacement and job protection to eligible workers who are welcoming a new child into their family, are struck by a serious illness or injury, need to take care of an ill or ailing relative, and for certain military considerations.
Since the passage of the paid family and medical leave legislation in 2018, DFML has engaged stakeholders including employers, employees, medical providers, chambers of commerce, legislators, government officials, insurance providers and bar associations to ensure the effective and accessible implementation of the law. These stakeholder engagements have covered topics such as general program overview, trainings on DFML's interactive user experience features, and individualized stakeholder concerns. Through its outreach efforts, DFML has seen increased claimant participation. Most notably, in FY23, DFML saw a 38 percent increase in benefit payments and a 26 percent increase in the number of approved claimants from what DFML experienced in FY22.
"The Healey-Driscoll Administration is committed to increasing equity in our service delivery of programs and benefits for Massachusetts residents, and this enhancement increases accessibility for PFML applicants," said Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Lauren Jones. "Workers are often faced with caregiving for themselves or a loved one and we want to ensure all workers understand the benefits available to support their needs."
Removing language barriers will make the program more accessible to residents whose first language is not English. The accessibility and equability enhancements were done in two phases, with the first phase providing applicants with ability to select either English, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole or Chinese when applying for benefits. When an applicant applies, the entire online application is translated as well as the web pages that provide each applicant with status information and updates on their application. This includes any conditional text, error text, or other prompts that an applicant might encounter during their application experience.
The new enhancements are in line with Governor Healey's recent Executive Order 615, aimed at making the delivery of services and resources more accessible and equitable for residents with limited English proficiency.
