Family and Medical Leave in Maryland
Family and Medical Leave in Maryland: A Major Change Is Coming
Maryland currently has a narrower unpaid leave law filling specific gaps left by the federal FMLA. But the far bigger story is Maryland’s new Family and Medical Leave Insurance program (FAMLI) — a significant paid leave program now rolling out, with real deadlines arriving soon. For how this fits alongside federal FMLA rights, see our Family and Medical Leave overview and federal FMLA page.
The Maryland Parental Leave Act: A Narrow, Existing Gap-Filler
The Maryland Parental Leave Act provides up to 6 weeks of unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child, specifically for employees of employers with 15 to 49 employees — covering a gap that the federal FMLA leaves open, since federal law only applies to employers with 50 or more employees. As of October 1, 2025, a legislative change removed a previous compliance overlap: employers with 50 or more employees, who are already covered by federal FMLA, are no longer required to separately comply with the Maryland Parental Leave Act on top of it.
FAMLI: Maryland's New Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program
This is the significant development to understand. Maryland enacted the Time to Care Act in 2022, creating a first-of-its-kind paid family and medical leave insurance program for the state. The rollout has been delayed multiple times since then, but under the most recent legislation, the timeline is now:
- Payroll contributions begin January 1, 2027. This is fast approaching — employers must register with the FAMLI Division starting in fall 2026, and the first quarterly contribution payment (covering wages paid January through March 2027) is due April 30, 2027.
- Benefits become payable starting January 2028. There’s a full year of contributions collected before any employee can actually draw a benefit — a gap worth understanding if you’re trying to plan around a future leave need.
How FAMLI Will Be Funded
FAMLI is funded through contributions from both employers and employees, at a combined rate of 0.9% of covered wages (up to the Social Security wage base) for 2027, split evenly — 0.45% from the employer, 0.45% from the employee, generally collected through payroll withholding. Employers with fewer than 15 employees (counting employees both in and outside Maryland under the same federal Employer Identification Number) only owe the employee’s 0.45% share; the employer contribution is waived for small employers, though they must still collect and remit the employee’s portion.
What FAMLI Will Actually Cover
Once benefits become available in January 2028, eligible employees will generally receive up to 12 weeks of paid, job-protected leave per application year, with wage replacement of up to $1,000 per week, for:
- Caring for a newborn child, or bonding with a child newly placed through adoption, foster care, or kinship care, during the first year after birth or placement
- Caring for a family member with a serious health condition
- The employee’s own serious health condition that makes them unable to perform their job
- Caring for a service member with a serious health condition, or needs related to a family member’s military deployment
A notable expansion available in some cases: if you qualify for both your own medical leave and bonding leave with a new child within the same application year, you may be entitled to an additional 12 weeks — up to 24 weeks total in that year.
Who Will Be Eligible
To qualify, you generally need to have worked at least 680 hours in the applicable base period, for any employer (not necessarily your current one), with work “localized” in Maryland — meaning where the work is physically performed, not where you live. This threshold is intended to capture full-time, part-time, seasonal, and other nontraditional workers, not just traditional full-time employees.
Notably excluded: federal employees working in Maryland will not be eligible for FAMLI benefits and will not contribute to the program. Self-employed Maryland residents will have the option to opt into the program later, though details of that process aren’t yet fully available.
Notice Requirements
If your need for FAMLI leave is foreseeable, you’ll generally need to provide your employer 30 days’ notice; if it isn’t foreseeable, notice as soon as practicable will be required. For intermittent leave, you’ll need to make a reasonable effort to schedule it in a way that doesn’t create significant difficulty for your employer.
How FAMLI Will Interact With Other Leave
Once available, employers will not be permitted to require you to use other paid time off (like vacation or sick leave) before using FAMLI — though employers can require any unpaid leave balance to run concurrently with FAMLI leave. If your leave also qualifies under the federal FMLA, expect the two to run concurrently rather than stacking, similar to how DC’s paid and unpaid leave laws interact.
What Employers Are Required to Do Before Launch
Maryland employers must register for FAMLI starting in fall 2026, and must provide formal notice to employees about their FAMLI rights and benefits no later than July 3, 2027 — even though benefits themselves won’t be payable until January 2028. Employers may also use a private, self-funded, or fully insured plan instead of the state plan, as long as it provides benefits at least as generous as what the state program offers.
Talk to a Maryland Family and Medical Leave Attorney
Whether you’re trying to understand your rights under the existing Maryland Parental Leave Act or want to get ahead of the upcoming FAMLI program, Wilkenfeld Law Office can help you understand what’s changing and when it actually takes effect.
Or call 301.245.3035 · Intake@WilkenfeldLO.com
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Reviewed by Ari Wilkenfeld, Esq. (DC Bar No. 461063; MD Bar No. 9806240300). Ari has over 27 years of experience litigating in federal and state courts, and before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), and various arbitration panels. Ari has been recognized by Esquire Magazine as “a famously determined Civil Rights lawyer” and by the New York Post as “a high powered DC Lawyer.” Last updated: August 28, 2026.