Paid Medical Leave Act
Information and resources for supervisors and HR professionals.
On Dec. 18, 2018, the governor signed into law the Michigan Paid Medical Leave Act (PMLA), requiring that certain employees start accruing paid leave to be used for sick and family sick time. While most MSU employees already earn more paid time off than required by the act, MSU does have a limited number of eligible employees who will start accruing paid time off. As a supervisor or HR administrator, you may have eligible employees. The following information and resources are meant to assist you in overseeing the appropriate use and tracking of this time.
Who is eligible
The new paid medical leave policy applies to non-union employees hired in a temporary capacity, including the following:
- Service maintenance temps
- Operating engineer temps
- Skilled trades temps
- Professional temps
- Clerical technical temps
- Extension Program Associate temps
- A limited number of Visiting Scholars, specifically those who earn less than $23,660 from MSU within a year
- Nurse temps
- Other non-union hourly temps
Employee types not listed above are likely already covered by the Support Staff Policy & Procedure for Sick Time.
As a supervisor or Unit Time Administrator, you will be responsible for determining whether your employee(s) are eligible for paid medical leave and notifying them of this benefit. You can pull the Paid Medical Leave Report in EBS; find instructions for pulling the report in EBS Help.
Tracking paid medical leave
In the meantime, Supervisors will be responsible for tracking eligible employees' quota balances outside EBS for the time being. You may use the following template (XLS) to assist you.
How much paid medical leave do eligible employees get?
New employees have a 90-day waiting period after they start employment before they can use the paid medical leave.
Paid medical leave will be available at the start of the fiscal year on July 1. If an eligible employee has already completed the 90-day waiting period by July 1, they will receive 40 hours of paid medical leave to use during the fiscal year (July 1 - June 30).
Employees who have completed the 90-day waiting period will be credited with leave on the following pro-rated basis:
| 90 Day Waiting Period Falls Within | Hours Earned |
| July 1 - Dec. 31 | 40 |
| Jan. 1 - March 31 | 20 |
| April 1 - May 31 | 10 |
| June 1 - June 30 | 0 |
What paid medical leave can be used for
It can be used for the employee or a family member 's mental or physical illness, injury or health condition; medical diagnosis, care or treatment or preventative medical care. It can also be used if the employee or a member of their family is a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault. Review the full policy on how employees can use the paid medical leave.
Questions
Contact MSU HR with further questions at 517-353-4434 or SolutionsCenter@hr.msu.edu.
