What changed for PFML in 2026

Paid leave rates reset on 1 January, and 2026 moved more than a typical year. One state raised its premium by nearly a quarter, another cut its rate while raising its wage base by 12%, a new program reached full operation, and a fourteenth jurisdiction confirmed the rate it will start charging in 2027. This is what changed and what it costs.

The headline changes

Washington: the big one

Washington raised its premium from 0.92% to 1.13% effective 1 January 2026 — a 23% increase in the contribution, which is the largest single-year move in the dataset. The split also shifted: employers now pay 28.57% of the premium and employees 71.43%.

For an employer with 100 Washington employees on $8,000,000 of payroll, the total premium is now $90,400 a year, of which $25,827 falls on the business and $64,573 is withheld from staff. At the 2025 rate the same payroll would have produced roughly $73,600 in total.

The under-50 exemption from the employer share is unchanged, so smaller Washington employers see the increase entirely as a larger employee deduction.

Rhode Island: lower rate, higher base

Rhode Island cut its TDI/TCI rate from 1.3% to 1.1% while raising the taxable wage base from $89,200 to $100,000 — a 12.5% increase in the base.

The net effect depends entirely on what people earn. The maximum annual contribution actually fell slightly, from $1,160 to $1,100. But an employee earning between the old and new base pays more this year than last, because more of their wages are now subject even at the lower rate. A workforce clustered around $95,000 will see an increase; one clustered at $60,000 will see a decrease.

Wage bases rose almost everywhere

The federal Social Security contribution base rose to $184,500 for 2026, from $176,100. Most capped states peg directly to it — Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine and Delaware all follow it — so every one of those states quietly increased the amount of wages subject to premium, even where the headline rate did not move.

For an employer with high earners, that base increase alone raises the bill. Colorado’s rate is unchanged at 0.88%, but its maximum per-employee premium rose with the base.

Maine reached full operation

Maine began collecting contributions on 1 January 2025 and benefits became payable on 1 May 2026, so 2026 is the first year the program runs end-to-end. The rate is 1% split evenly for employers with 15 or more employees, and 0.5% — fully withholdable from employees — below that.

Delaware went live

Delaware Paid Leave reached full effect on 1 January 2026, with claims now open. The rate is 0.8% of wages up to the FICA limit, of which employers may deduct up to half from employees. Employers with 10 to 24 Delaware employees are only required to provide parental leave, at 0.32%, and those under 10 are exempt entirely.

What is already scheduled for 2027

Maryland starts collecting

Maryland confirmed in April 2026 that its FAMLI contribution rate will be 0.9%, split evenly at 0.45% each, on wages paid from 1 January 2027. Employers with fewer than 15 employees remit only the employee half. The first payment, covering the January to March 2027 quarter, is due 30 April 2027.

If you have Maryland employees, the payroll configuration work belongs in 2026 — the first pay run of January 2027 is already in scope.

Massachusetts restructures its employer contribution

Chapter 101 of the Acts of 2026 shifts the Massachusetts employer contribution from medical leave to family leave with effect from 1 January 2027. Watch the allocation rather than the headline rate — a payroll system configured against the 2026 medical and family split will produce the wrong per-component figures in 2027 even if the total happens to match.

What to do now

• Confirm your payroll system has the 2026 rate and the 2026 wage base for every state. The base is the part that gets missed.
• Re-run your annual budget for Washington specifically. A 23% premium increase on a large Washington headcount is a material variance.
• Reconcile Q1 withholding against the per-employee caps in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island — all four changed, and over-withholding is a refund obligation.
• Put Maryland registration on the 2026 roadmap, not the 2027 one.
• Diary a November check of all fourteen agencies for 2027 rates. See how we do this.

Every figure here is drawn from the state agency pages linked on each rate page, each with the date it was verified.

Estimates only. Confirm current rates with your state agency before filing or budgeting.