On April 9, 2022, Maryland became just the tenth state (in addition to the District of Columbia) to enact a paid family and medical leave law that covers private-sector workers, after overriding Governor Larry Hogan’s (R) veto.
Neighboring Delaware may soon follow—a similar bill passed the Delaware Senate in March and is pending a vote in the House.
The Maryland law creates a new Title 8.3 to the Annotated Code of Maryland and establishes the state’s “Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program.” The law covers the vast majority of employers in the state, defined as “a person or governmental entity that employs at least one individual in the state,” and will ensure that covered private sector employees—those employees who have worked at least 680 hours over the 12-month period immediately preceding the date on which the leave is to begin—have up to 12 weeks annually of paid time off for certain purposes. Benefits will replace 90% of weekly wages for an employer’s lowest-income employees (with a smaller percentage for higher-paid workers), up to a maximum of $1,000 per week.
Eligible employees may take paid leave for the following reasons:
to care for a child during the first year after the child’s birth or after the placement of the child through foster care, kinship care, or adoption;
to care for a family member with a serious health condition. “Family member” includes: (i) a biological, adopted, foster, or stepchild of the covered employee, or child for whom the...
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