Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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Vermont program

Paid family leave insurance

Vermont offers family leave insurance that can replace some wages while you care for your child.

What it is

Vermont offers family leave insurance that can replace some wages while you care for your child.

This insurance pays only when you have coverage and meet the policy’s rules. Human resources or The Hartford can check your enrollment and waiting periods. A work change alone does not establish coverage.

Eligibility rules
  • Coverage can come through state employment, an employer that bought a policy, or the individual pool. Employers with at least two employees can buy into the optional pool.
  • Most covered state employees meet the tenure requirement at their most recent one-year hire anniversary.
  • If you buy the individual policy yourself, you must wait six months before it pays, and then seven more days before family-care pays, so buying it now will not cover an absence that has already started.
What you get
  • For state employees, 60% of wages, up to about $2,129 a week.
  • Up to six weeks in a 52-week benefit year under that state-employee plan.
What the help includes
  • The employer or the individual pays an insurance premium. Private-employer policy benefits can differ from the state-employee amounts.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask human resources which family leave insurance policy, if any, covers you.
  2. Ask for the claim instructions and the separate rules that protect your job while you are away.

The Hartford administers Vermont FMLI. State-employee claims: 866-432-6744. · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • The Hartford decides claims under the policy.
  • Your social worker can help you ask The Hartford and human resources for the policy’s claim form, medical certification, filing deadline and decision schedule. The 2026 state-employee plan has no family-care payment wait and does not pay FMLI and accrued employer leave for the same hours. Employer and individual policies can differ, and insurance approval does not replace a separate protected-leave determination.
Good to know

This insurance does not itself hold your job. An employer's policy can differ from state-employee coverage.

Other details
  • FMLA or another leave protection is a separate question from receiving an insurance payment.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Does any family leave policy cover me, and what would it pay? What would protect my job, and could you help me compare the options before requesting leave?”

Why I’m asking: I need to understand both income during leave and whether my job will be there afterward.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Ask human resources in writing whether the employer bought in, then file a claim if so.

Your social worker

Human resources says which plan, if any, the employer holds.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The Hartford, as the administrator.
Ask HR
“Did we buy Vermont family and medical leave insurance, and which plan? And separately, what holds my job while I am off, since that benefit does not?”

How to apply

First step: Your social worker can help you ask human resources or the insurer which leave policy covers you and what the enrollment, waiting and claim rules require.

  1. Ask human resources in writing whether the employer bought family and medical leave insurance.
  2. Ask separately what holds the job, because this benefit does not.
  3. If employer coverage is absent, your social worker can help check individual-policy enrollment and waiting rules without assuming a current caregiving need will be covered.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Ask human resources whether the employer bought family and medical leave insurance, and which plan. State employee claims: 866-432-6744.

What to gather

  • Your hire date
  • The employer's answer in writing
  • Recent pay stubs

How long: The formal claim deadline was not published. Ask when you file.

What a yes looks like

A named plan, a weekly amount and a start date.

What a no looks like, and the next move

If the employer did not buy in, ask about the individual pool and about unpaid leave that holds the job.

Watch out

  • It pays money but does not hold the job. Ask separately what does.
  • The published figures are the state employees' terms. A private employer's plan can differ.
  • The individual policy has a six-month eligibility wait and a separate seven-day family-care claim wait. Enrollment does not guarantee coverage for a current caregiving need.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

Up to 60 percent of wages, capped at $2,128.85 a week in 2026, for up to six weeks a year. State-employee terms; other employers set their own.

  • $60/week — Share of pre-leave wages, state-employee product
  • $2,128.85/week — Weekly maximum for leaves beginning in 2026, state-employee product
  • $6/year — Weeks in a 52-week benefit year, state-employee product
  • $2 — Smallest employer that can buy into the optional pool

Covers: Wage replacement while caring for a seriously ill family member

Legal protection: No payment waiting period for family care leave on the state-employee product

What it costs the family: A premium, paid by the employer or by the individual in the open pool.

The eligibility facts, as published

Employment
employed by an employer that bought in, a state employee, or enrolled in the individual pool
Tenure
most covered state employees qualify at their most recent one-year hire anniversary

The trap: This pays money. It does not hold the job. The administrator says in writing that the benefit pays a wage replacement benefit but does not provide job protection. Federal job protection is a separate thing to ask about.

Where I read this

← Back to your options