On July 1, 2025, Governor Mills signed into law L.D. 55, An Act to Amend the Law Governing the Accrual of Earned Paid Leave. The amended law takes effect on September 24, 2025. As a result, employers must allow employees to carry over earned and unused Earned Paid Leave (“EPL”) accruals and the carry-over from a prior year cannot reduce the amount of additional EPL an employee is eligible to earn in the current year.
Overview of Current EPL Law
At this time, EPL law allows employees to earn up to 40 hours of paid leave per year to be used for any reason, including illness, injury, or personal matters. Employers are permitted to cap accruals at 40 hours, and to the extent that an employee’s unused hours carry over from the prior year into the current year, an employer may condition that the carry-over amount reduces the total amount an employee can earn within the current year.
Example: If an employee carries over 10 unused hours, an employer may condition that the employee can only accrue 30 more hours in the current year.
Key Changes Under L.D. 55
Effective September 24, 2025, while employers may continue to cap EPL accruals to be earned at 40 hours per year, employees must be permitted to carry over unused EPL from one year to the next without reducing the current year accruals they stand to earn.
Example: Where an employee carries over 10 unused hours from the prior year, the employee must be allowed to earn and accrue at least 40 additional hours in the current year, thereby allowing the employee to potentially have a total of 50 hours of EPL in the current year.
Potential Complications
While some employers provide an express EPL benefit, other employers offer PTO accruals or a combination of vacation and sick leave accruals that otherwise satisfy the current requirements of Maine’s EPL law. The extent to which the new EPL accrual and carryover provisions apply to and/or impact PTO policies or a combination of vacation and sick leave policies that otherwise satisfy current EPL requirements is currently unclear.
Next Steps
In order to ensure compliance with the new law, employers are encouraged to review their current paid leave policies and seek legal review to ensure continued compliance with the carry-over and accrual provisions Maine’s EPL law.
Paige is a dedicated labor and employment attorney who brings both public and private sector experience to her work. Known for her ability to cut through complexity, she delivers practical, people-centered solutions—whether advising on employee discipline, disability accommodations, leave matters, FLSA compliance, collective bargaining, or municipal labor issues. For more information, or if you have questions compliance with the amended law, please contact Paige at peggleston@bernsteinshur.com.