Frequently Asked Questions

You will receive an email notification at the email address you provided at onboarding when an employee files a PFMLI claim.

If an employee knows they will need to use paid leave, they must give you at least 30 days’ notice. In emergency situations, or when providing 30 days’ notice is not possible, employees must notify employers that they plan to use paid leave as soon as possible and practicable under the circumstances. Generally speaking, it will usually be considered practicable for an employee to provide notice to an employer either the same day they learn they have a need for leave or the following business day. In all cases, however, the specific facts and circumstances will govern what is considered practicable.

The maximum allowed paid leave is 12 weeks per application year. The application year is the 12-month period beginning with the first day of a covered individual's paid leave.

However, certain types of leave are limited to 6 weeks in a 24-month period:

• Leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition and for qualifying military exigencies (6 weeks in a 24-month period)
• Leave for an employee's own serious health condition (6 weeks in a 24-month period)
• Parental leave (12 weeks in a 12-month period)
• Cumulative max per application year for any combination of qualifying reasons is 12 weeks

Employees can make a PFMLI claim through their online account at americanfidelity.com/login or AFmobile®, our mobile app. Paper applications are also available but strongly discouraged due to the delays that paper applications can cause.

Eligible employees will receive up to 80% of their own average weekly wage, subject to minimum and maximum weekly benefit amounts set by the state. The maximum weekly benefit amount is $900, and the minimum weekly benefit amount is $100 or the employee's full wage replacement amount if the employee makes less than $100 per week. Benefit amounts are determined by the Delaware Department of Labor and are subject to change.

An employer may require employees to use up to 75% of the employee's available employer-provided paid leave such as sick leave, vacation leave, or other paid time off (PTO) before accessing PFMLI benefits. The PTO used by the employee can be counted against the employee's total PFMLI allotment. Employees cannot be required to exhaust more than 75% of the employer provided PTO.

Spouses do not have to share/combine the total paid leave allotment. Each spouse eligible for PFMLI is entitled to the full amount of paid leave while eligible. Keep in mind that this is for PFMLI claims only. Other protected leave laws may apply different rules.

Yes. Employees can choose to apply for leave on an intermittent or reduced-schedule basis. The same employee notice requirements that apply to continuous claims also apply to intermittent claims, and employees must provide 30 days’ notice or as soon as practicable under the circumstances for each absence for intermittent or reduced-schedule leave.

Parental leave can only be taken on a reduced or intermittent schedule if permitted by the employer.

Employees can apply for paid leave benefits in increments of full workdays or full work weeks. If an employee claims benefits for less than a full work week, their benefit will be calculated based on the number of workdays they typically work.

Intermittent paid leave is not permitted in increments of less than a full workday.

If an employee takes at least a full work week of paid leave and a holiday falls during that week, the entire week will be counted against their paid leave time. However, if the employee is taking intermittent leave and takes less than a whole work week of paid leave, the holiday will only count against their paid leave allotment if they were scheduled to work the holiday and chose to use paid leave instead.

PFMLI benefits begin on January 1, 2026.

American Fidelity's PFMLI plan covers: 

• 12 weeks of paid leave annually to bond with and care for a new child (whether through birth, foster placement, or adoption)
• 6 weeks in a 24-month period to:
  • Address one's own serious health condition 
• 6 weeks in a 24-month period to:
  • Care for a family member with a serious health condition or address the impact of a family member's overseas military deployment

An employee is limited to 12 weeks of leave, regardless of the type of leave, in a 12-month period.

To be eligible for American Fidelity’s PFMLI private plan, the employee must meet all of the following criteria:

• The employee must work for a covered Delaware employer.
• An employee must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months.
• An employee has at least 1,250 hours of service with the employer during the 12 months before the leave (“hours of service” are hours actually worked and does not include time off for vacation, illness, or any other leave).
• The employee worked in Delaware for at least 60% of those 1,250 hours or worked out of state but is classified by the employer as eligible for Delaware Paid Leave.

You must determine how to recoup that payment, as PFMLI is the primary payer.

If this happens, you must add the employee to the census file like other employees. American Fidelity will determine eligibility for PFMLI benefits based on applicable requirements.

No, we cannot share the medical details regarding why we approved or denied the paid leave claim. This is because the information obtained to make that decision is Protected Health Information (PHI), which we cannot legally share. We can share certain general information about employees’ leave claims, such as approvals, denials, dates of approved leave, etc.

To be eligible, an employee must work primarily in Delaware (60% of their time or more), have worked for their employer for at least 12 months, and have at least 1,250 hours of service (about 25 hours a week) in the most recent 12 months.

Employees who worked more than 60% of their time outside of Delaware may also be eligible if their employer classifies them as eligible for PFMLI benefits.

Through your online account, you will manage and pay your premiums at least monthly or more frequently to coincide with your payroll cycles.

We will notify you when premiums are due. You’ll fill out an online premium worksheet every pay period and pay the required premiums. We recommend paying with electronic fund transfer (EFT) to ensure your payment is received and to speed up posting premiums.

How to Pay: To make your payment and submit your worksheet, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your online account
2. Select the Billing tab
3. Select Current Bills tab
4. Select the payroll period you’d like to pay
5. Complete the worksheet
6. Submit your worksheet and payment

Need more help? Follow these detailed instructions on how to submit your payment via check or EFT.

You will not receive a bill. You will complete a premium worksheet each pay period and send your payment by EFT or check. To help ensure your payment is received and to assist with faster posting of premiums, we suggest paying by EFT instead of checks.

If you have American Fidelity’s PFMLI plan and an employee files a claim for their own serious health condition, they have the option to withhold state and/or federal taxes for their benefits at the time of claim. An employee can notify us to change their withholding status for future benefit payments by calling 800-662-1113. Taxes cannot be withheld or refunded from benefit payments an employee has already received.

For other types of paid leave, American Fidelity cannot withhold taxes. Your employees may be responsible for paying taxes on the benefits they receive when they file their next tax return. To confirm their tax obligations, refer them to IRS Publication 505 or urge them to contact the Delaware Department of Revenue or their tax advisor. American Fidelity cannot offer tax advice or determine whether taxes should be withheld from an employee's paid leave benefits.

If an employee requested American Fidelity to withhold taxes from their benefits for their own serious health condition, this will be reported on their W-2 Form. For all other types of paid leave, employees will receive a Form 1099-MISC from American Fidelity by the end of January each year.

We are awaiting further guidance from the state of Delaware regarding annual reporting requirements. However, your private insurance plan must be renewed with the state on a yearly basis between October 1 and December 1.

All employers, including those with approved private plans, are required to submit quarterly wage and hour reports for their employees. Employers will upload these quarterly reports through the employer's Delaware LaborFirst account.

For employers with American Fidelity’s PFMLI Tax Assist service, we will prepare and mail the W-2 forms to your employees for their applicable medical leave benefits.

If you do not have our PFMLI Tax Assist service, we will provide third-party sick pay reporting for leave relating to an employee's own serious health condition.

This report will have the information needed to adjust an employee's W-2 form. It will be available monthly, quarterly, and annually through your online account.

View additional reporting information 

American Fidelity will withhold federal and state income taxes from PFMLI taxable benefits that are considered third-party sick pay to the extent required, including the employee’s portion of FICA tax. The employer is responsible for remitting any additional state, local, or federal taxes, including W-2 reporting. Please consult an attorney or tax professional regarding your specific situation.

While we cannot provide tax or legal advice, current guidance indicates that family and safe leave/personal protected leave benefits are fully taxable, and medical leave benefits for an employee's own serious health condition are taxable based on employers’ contribution ratio. As such, leave for an employee’s own serious health condition are subject to third-party sick pay reporting and the employer will report a portion of those benefits on the employee’s Form W-2. For all other types of leave that are fully taxable to the employee, American Fidelity will issue a Form 1099 and send it to each employee when applicable after the end of the calendar year.

While the premium amount owed is based on pre-tax wages, payroll deductions for PFMLI premiums are made on an after-tax basis.

Generally, the employer-paid portion of the taxable benefit is subject to FICA and reported on Form W-2, unless the employer-paid portion of the contribution is taxed as wages (imputed to the employee’s wages). Non-medical leave benefits are not subject to FICA, but the gross benefit must be documented on IRS Form 1099-MISC.

If you have paired PFMLI with Tax Assist, then you will not have to deal with Form W-2 adjustments. We will pay and remit the employer portions of FICA (Social Security and Medicare). We'll also send your employees a Form W-2 for the portion of their medical leave benefits that are considered taxable wages.

If you don’t have Tax Assist, then we will withhold FICA tax for medical leave benefits and provide you with reporting information as outlined below. We’ll also provide your employees with 1099-MISC for other benefits.

Medical leave benefits are taxable based on the ratio of employer contributions to total employer and employee contributions.

The following benefits are subject to income tax:

• Family leave benefits
• Safe leave benefits
• The portion of medical leave benefits attributed to the employer's contributions

Note: You are responsible for Form W-2 reporting. All employers and employees should consult their own tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of PFMLI contributions and benefits.

For more information on what benefits are subject to FICA, or adding PFMLI Tax Assist to your plan, contact your account manager.

Taxable PFMLI benefits are subject to federal and state income and employment taxes for the first six months of benefits. PFMLI benefits are taxable to the employee to the extent the employer pays the premiums and they are not included in the employee's wages. The regulations consider employer-paid premiums paid by the employee with pre-tax dollars.

If you have paired PFMLI with Tax Assist, we will handle the extra burden of tax filings related to PFMLI benefits. For employers, we will remit payment of the portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes due on PFMLI benefits each month to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). For employees, we will withhold and submit the portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes and complete reporting requirements for taxable PFMLI benefits made by us. We will also issue a Form W-2 and include benefits paid and taxes withheld from the employees’ PFMLI benefits.

If you don’t have Tax Assist, the reason for using paid leave will affect how American Fidelity treats an employee’s benefit payments:

• Family leave and safe leave/personal protected leave benefits are generally taxable income to the employee and will be reported on a Form 1099-MISC by American Fidelity.
• Medical leave benefits for an employee’s own serious health condition are treated like disability benefits for tax purposes. These benefits are taxable to the employee based on the ratio of employer contributions to total premium contributions. For example, suppose the employer pays the mandatory minimum contribution of 40% of the total contribution rate. In that case, 40% of the medical leave benefits an employee receives would be taxable income to the employee.

When applicable, American Fidelity is responsible for withholding the employee’s portion of mandatory FICA taxes and any voluntary taxes requested by the employee (federal and state income taxes). The employer must pay the employer portion of the FICA taxes on the medical leave benefits.

For more information about taxable PFMLI benefits, or to add Tax Assist to your plan, contact your account manager.

PFMLI benefits paid due to an employee's serious health condition will be reported to the employer through third-party sick pay reporting. These reports will show how much medical leave benefits are taxable to the employee. This allows employers to have the information to report the income on a Form W-2 and remit the employer share of FICA on the taxable portion of employees' medical leave benefits. Employers are encouraged to work with their tax advisors on the specific circumstances where it is appropriate to impute income to employees. American Fidelity does not provide tax advice. 

Yes, we will send Form 1099 to each employee when applicable after the end of the calendar year.