The Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) landscape has become increasingly complex as states propose a variety of paid leave laws across the country, even though there were no new mandatory programs enacted in 2024. Multiple states are, however, working to finalize regulations and establish their PFML programs, beginning to collect contributions in 2025, and preparing to pay benefits in 2026. In addition, while various federal programs have been proposed with the goal of aligning practices across states, there has been little movement; and we expect, with the new administration, the stalemate will continue.

Outside of New England, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Washington, and the District of Columbia have mandatory paid family and/or medical leave laws in place. Employers should be aware of all paid leave laws for the jurisdictions in which they have employees working and ensure they comply with any and all applicable regulations.

In 2025, employee benefits are in the front row for both leadership and workforce interests.  It begs the question: What’s the view from this new seat, and why has this happened? NEEBC hopes the following answers the question.

An evolving benefits landscape in 2025 is certain. It is influenced by rising healthcare costs propelled by drug expenses, GLP-1 demand for weight loss, the growing complexity of medical treatments and high-cost claims, and the prevalence of chronic health conditions.  It will be further shaped by a new federal government administration, demand for talent with specialized skills including AI, and changing workforce expectations.

Pay equity—compensating employees the same when they perform the same or similar duties while considering legitimate job-related factors—is intended to help close the wage gap that still persists among groups of workers who have been historically underpaid.

While pay equity has been regulated on a federal level for decades through the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, states are stepping up their attention to the matter with a number of laws in recent years that provide even further protections such as:

At a time when everything seems to cost a little more, employees may be hesitant to use health care services — especially if they do not know the cost beforehand. For many, cost can be a top barrier to accessing health care. In fact, 7.1% of Massachusetts adults avoided health care due to costs in the previous year, according to the 2023 America’s Health Rankings report.¹ While across the U.S., 43% of insured working-age adults with employer-sponsored health plans said it was very or somewhat difficult to afford their health care.²

People who do not pursue needed health care may run the risk of poorer outcomes that can exacerbate chronic conditions and may drive increased medical costs. Fifty-four percent of people with employer-sponsored coverage who reported delaying or forgoing care because of costs said a health problem of theirs or a family member got worse because of it.³