Maine has amended the state’s Earned Paid Leave law to allow employees to continue accruing up to 40 hours of leave in addition to any accrued, unused leave that the employee carried over from the previous year. For example, an employee with 10 hours of carried over leave will be able to accrue up to 40 hours of additional leave, giving them a total balance of 50 hours of leave.
Current law only allows employees to accrue up to 40 hours of leave per year, so an employee with 10 hours of carried over leave can only accrue up to 30 hours of additional leave.
Despite the change, it appears employees will still only be able to use up to 40 hours of leave per year.
The change is effective September 24, 2025. You can access the enacted bill here.