Maryland lawmakers have taken a step to reduce employer confusion surrounding parental leave obligations. On May 6, 2025, Governor Wes Moore signed Senate Bill 785, amending the Maryland Parental Leave Act to exclude employers covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act from state parental leave requirements.
The amendment addresses a long-standing issue of overlapping legal obligations that could arise when employers hovered near the 50-employee threshold, an issue that left some Maryland businesses unsure which law applied to them, or whether both did.
Background: What is the Maryland Parental Leave Act?
The MPLA, codified as Section 3-12 of Maryland’s Labor and Employment Code, was enacted to provide parental leave rights to employees at smaller businesses not covered by the FMLA. Specifically, the MPLA requires covered employers to provide eligible employees with up to six weeks of unpaid parental leave for the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child. To be eligible for unpaid parental leave under the MPLA, an employee must: (1) apply for leave; (2) be an employee of a covered employer; and (3) have worked for that employer for at least 12 months and at least 1,250 hours in the past 12months. The statute applies to Maryland employers with at least 15 but fewer than 50 employees for each “working day during each of 20 or more calendar workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year.”
The FMLA, conversely, applies to employers with 50 or more...
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