What benefits can servers get in Maine?

MaineVerified September 23, 2026

The short answer

Paid leave for time off from May 1, 2026. Maine’s Paid Family and Medical Leave covers up to 12 weeks a benefit year if you earned six times the state average weekly wage in your base period. The state’s chart shows $25,000 in base-period earnings paying about $433 a week. Separately, earned paid leave gives up to 40 hours a year for any reason.

The rule in Maine

Paid Family and Medical LeaveUp to 12 weeks of paid time off in a benefit year for medical, parental, family care, military family, or safe leave, for time out of work on or after May 1, 2026. Apply through the Aflac Employee Portal after telling your employer.
Earnings testSix times the state average weekly wage, earned in the first four of the last five completed quarters. Earnings from all your employers count.
Weekly benefit (state estimate)About $174 a week on $10,000 of base-period earnings, $347 on $20,000, $433 on $25,000, and $520 on $30,000, capped at the state average weekly wage (about $1,250).
Cost and job protectionEmployers can deduct no more than 0.5% of your wages. Your job is protected after 120 consecutive days with your employer.
Earned paid leave1 hour per 40 worked, up to 40 hours a year, usable for any reason after 120 days, at employers with more than 10 employees.
Maine Earned Income CreditRefundable: 25% of your federal EITC, or 50% with no qualifying children. ITIN filers and workers 18 and older without children may also qualify.
MaineCareMaine’s Medicaid program. Adults 21 to 64 qualify with monthly income up to $1,836 for one person. Apply through My Maine Connection; CoverME.gov is the marketplace.
“Benefits will only be paid for time out of work occurring on or after May 1, 2026.” (Maine Department of Labor: Paid Family and Medical Leave)

What’s different in Maine

The chart from the Maine Department of Labor is the most useful thing here for a server. It turns base-period earnings into a weekly amount: $20,000 over the year works out to about $347 a week, and in the chart the share of pay replaced shrinks as earnings rise. Premiums have come out of paychecks since January 2025.

At tax time, Maine’s credit favors workers without children. It doubles to 50% of the federal amount when you have no qualifying children, and it reaches workers from 18. Earned paid leave can cover a planned day off, not only a sick one. Plus the federal programs.

Official sources

Last verified

. Checked the agency pages linked above.

Still open: The PFML pages we read don’t say whether tips count in reported earnings, and they don’t state the 2026 state average weekly wage used for the earnings test. Weekly amounts in the chart are the department’s estimates.

Related

TipMax Answers explains public government guidance on pay and workplace rules in plain English for tipped workers. It is not legal, tax, or accounting advice. Rules change and local rules can add to them. Confirm with the agency linked on this page or a qualified professional. TipMax the app helps you track tips and pay; it doesn’t enforce wage law or decide disputes.