Maryland Paid Family and Medical Leave

Covered Employers

The law applies to all employers that employ at least one individual in the state. However, it does not cover owners of a sole proprietorship or sole owners of a limited liability company, C corporation, or S corporation who are their only employees.

People who are self-employed may opt in to the program, but their initial participation must be for at least three years.

Covered Employees

Employees who worked at least 680 hours in Maryland during the 12-month period before the leave is to begin are eligible for PFML.

Use of PFML

Notice Obligations of Employees

The law allows employers to require 30 days’ written notice of foreseeable leave; however, employee requests for PFML are submitted to and decided by the state.

For unforeseeable leave, employees must provide notice to the employer as soon as practicable and generally comply with the employer’s notice or procedural requirements for requesting or reporting other leave, as long as they do not interfere with the employee’s ability to use PFML.

Reasons for Leave

PFML is permitted for the following reasons:

• For the care of a child during the first year after the child’s birth;

• Because a child is being placed for adoption, foster care or kinship care or to care for or bond with the child during the first year after the placement;

• For the care of a family member with a serious health condition;

• For a serious health condition of the employee that prevents the employee from performing the functions of their position;

• For the care of next of kin with a serious health condition resulting from service in the uniformed services; or

• For a qualifying exigency arising from the deployment of a service member who is the employee’s family member.

Unlike some state PFML programs, the Maryland PFML does not provide safety leave for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, harassment or stalking.

Serious Health Condition: The FAQs define “serious health condition” as an illness, injury or physical or mental condition that:

• Requires inpatient care;

• Involves the donation of an organ; or

• Involves continuing treatment by a licensed health care provider, which can include incapacity due to pregnancy, a chronic condition, or a permanent or long-term condition; absences to receive multiple treatments; and a period of incapacity of three or more days that also involves multiple treatments.

Definition of “Family Member”

The law’s definition of “family member” is expansive, including:

• A biological, adopted, step- or foster child of the covered individual; a child for whom the covered individual has legal or physical custody or guardianship; or a child for whom the covered individual stands in loco parentis, regardless of the child’s age;

• A biological, adoptive, foster or stepparent of the covered individual or their spouse; the legal guardian or ward of the covered individual or their spouse; an individual who acted as a parent or stood in loco parentis to the covered individual or their spouse when the covered individual or the spouse was a minor;

• The spouse or domestic partner of the covered individual;

• A biological, adopted, step-, or foster grandparent of the covered individual;

• A biological, adopted, step- or foster grandchild of the covered individual; or

• A biological, adopted, step- or foster sibling of the covered individual.

Family Deployment Leave

The following activities in connection with a family member’s military deployment qualify for military exigency (family deployment) leave:

• Preparing for the service member’s deployment seven days before it begins;

• Attending uniformed service events;

• Arranging childcare;

• Making financial and legal arrangements;

• Attending counseling;

• Caring for the service member on rest and recuperation leave;

• Attending post-deployment activities;

• Dealing with the death of the service member;

• Arranging care for the service member’s parent; or

• Addressing any other active-duty issue that the employer agrees should be covered.

Amount of Leave

The law allows 12 weeks of leave per employee per application year, plus an additional 12 weeks if an employee needs leave in a year for both their own serious health condition and for child bonding.

Intermittent Leave

Leave may be taken intermittently in increments of at least four hours; however, the statute requires that employees make a reasonable effort to schedule the intermittent leave so it does not unduly disrupt the operations of the employer. The PFML regulations add that employees must:

• Provide their employer with reasonable and practicable prior notice of the reason, dates and duration for which intermittent leave is necessary; and

• Make a reasonable effort to schedule their intermittent leave in a manner that does not cause significant difficulty or expense in relation to the resources and specific operations of the employer’s operations.

Furthermore, under the regulations, if a recipient’s use of intermittent PFML leave is inconsistent with the leave approval, employers may request additional information about the use of the leave without being considered to have retaliated against the employee.

The regulations provide that approved intermittent leave applications expire after one year, after which the employee must reapply.

Certification and Documentation

The PFML law and regulations require certain certifications and documentation in support of claims for benefits, as set forth in the chart below. The certifications must be included in the employee’s application for PFML.

Specific certifications are also required for intermittent leave.

PFML Funding

The PFML law establishes a state fund to pay for the program. Employees and employers with at least 15 employees must contribute to the fund equally, with payroll deductions beginning Jan. 1, 2027. The contribution rate for the first year of the program—calendar year 2027—is 0.9% of worker wages. Thereafter, the rate will be set annually, by Nov. 1 of each year, for the 12-month period beginning the following January 1. The total combined rate cannot be set higher than 1.2% of worker wages up to the Social Security wage cap.

Small businesses with 14 or fewer employees are exempt from the employer’s portion of the contributions; however, employees of those small businesses will continue to contribute their 50% share.

Employee counts are based on the total number of employees (in and outside the state) to whom the employer paid any wages—at first calculated quarterly, until the employer has four quarters of PFML reports and contributions in one calendar year. After that, the employee count is made annually by averaging the number of employees to whom the employer paid wages each quarter in the previous calendar year.

Employers must deduct employees’ contributions from their wages and remit them to the state via the PFML website. Employers are liable for any employee contribution they fail to remit.

Employers may pay part or all of the employee contribution if they wish.

PFML Compensation

PFML compensation benefits are based on a formula based on the recipient’s average weekly wage (AWW) and the state average weekly wage (SAWW), as shown below.

The minimum weekly PFML benefit is $50, and the maximum weekly benefit for the first year of the program is currently set at $1,000. Increases in the maximum amount in subsequent years will be indexed to increases in the consumer price index. Every year by September 1, the state secretary of labor will set the maximum weekly benefit amount for the following year, beginning January 1.

Notice Obligations of Employers

The PFML statute requires employers to provide written notice of the law to each employee at the time of hire and annually thereafter. In addition, employers must notify employees of their eligibility for PFML, and of specified employee rights and obligations under the PFML law (including PFML claims procedures) within five days of the employee requesting PFML or the employer’s knowledge that an employee’s leave may qualify for PFML. The state department of labor will develop standard notices for employer use.

Under the regulations, employers must also provide employees with notice of PFML leave and benefits six months before the commencement of benefits and 30 days before any changes to the employer’s PFML procedures or plan take effect.

The regulations also added the requirement that employers notify employees in writing of the start of contribution withholding and any changes to employee contributions, at least one pay period before the commencement or change.

The regulations state that employees are considered notified if the employer collects an electronic or physical acknowledgment of receipt by the employee.

Private Plans

Employer private plans may satisfy employers’ PFML obligations if the plan is provided to all PFML-eligible employees and meets or exceeds the employee rights, protections and benefits provided by the PFML law. Private plans may consist of employer-provided benefits or insurance, and they must be filed with the state department of labor for approval. Self-insured private plans are permitted only for employers with at least 50 employees and are subject to special requirements mainly having to do with surety bonds.

Employers and employees with approved private plans are not required to make PFML contributions, but they must participate in the state plan until the private plan’s approved effective date.

Employers that intend to apply for a private plan in 2027 and wish to be exempt from contributions during the “seeding period” for the program (calendar year 2027) must submit a declaration of intent between Sept. 1, 2026, and Nov. 15, 2026. Private plan applications will be available in 2027.

Applications for plan approval may be submitted at any time, with application fees ranging from $100-$1,000, depending on employer size. Once a plan is approved, the employer must stay in it for at least a year; employers must reapply for private plan approval every year.

Interaction With Other Leave

PFML runs concurrently with leave taken under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), if taken for a qualifying reason under both laws. This is true even if the employee declines to apply for PFML benefits while on FMLA leave, as long as the employer:

1. Designates the leave as FMLA leave; and

2. Informs the employee of their eligibility for PFML benefits.

Employees may not be required to use employer-provided leave such as paid vacation, paid sick leave or paid time off before receiving PFML benefits. However, employers may coordinate PFML with leave benefits they provide for parental care, family care, military leave or disability. Additionally, if the employer agrees, employees may use paid vacation, paid sick leave or other paid time off while on PFML to bring their compensation while on leave up to their full average weekly wage.

AFPL Leave

The PFML regulations expanded on the employer’s ability to coordinate PFML with PFML-like benefits by defining a new category of “Alternative FAMLI Purpose Leave” (AFPL), which is employer-provided leave specifically designated as a separate bank of time off for medical leave, family leave, qualified exigency leave or under a disability policy, and that is not leave provided under a private plan.

An employer may require an employee to use AFPL concurrently or in coordination with PFML, as long as the AFPL is:

1. Specifically designed to fulfill a purpose of PFML;

2. Paid;

3. Not accrued;

4. Not subject to repayment if the employee leaves their position;

5. Not available for general purposes; and

6. Available without a requirement to exhaust another form of leave.

Under the regulations, employers that require employees to use AFPL concurrently or in coordination with PFML must provide the requirement to employees in writing and in advance.

The regulations further specify, with respect to AFPL, that:

Employees’ PFML eligibility is reduced by the amount of AFPL time taken; and

• PFML benefits are primary and AFPL benefits may be used to supplement the recipient’s wage up to 100% of the recipient’s average weekly wage.

• An employee’s decision to use AFPL concurrently or in coordination with FAMLI does not negate FAMLI job protection or retaliation provisions.

Job Restoration

With some exceptions, leave for a qualifying reason under the PFML law is job-protected.

Employers may terminate an employee on PFML leave only for just cause, and they may deny job restoration for an employee returning from leave only if:

• The denial is necessary to prevent substantial and grievous economic injury to the employer’s operations;

• The employer notifies the employee of its intent to deny restoration when it makes the determination the economic injury would occur; and

• The covered individual elects not to return to employment after receiving notice of the employer’s intention to deny restoration, if PFML leave has already begun.

Maintenance of Benefits

The PFML law requires that health benefits be continued during PFML leave in the same manner as required under the FMLA. This means employers must maintain an employee’s group health plan coverage under the same terms and conditions that would have applied if the employee had not taken leave. The continuation of benefits requirement extends to cases where the employee is exhausting employer-provided leave first as required by the law.

Claims Administration

Workers file claims for PFML with the state department of labor, which must notify the worker’s employer of the claim within five business days. The department then approves or denies the claim and notifies the worker and employer of its decision. If the claim is approved, payment begins five days later and continues every two weeks until the end of the benefit period. Claim denials may be appealed.

Prohibited Actions and Enforcement

Employers that fail to pay their required PFML contributions are subject to penalties.

Employers may not discharge, demote or otherwise discriminate or take adverse action against an employee because they:

• Inquired about, filed for or took PFML leave;

• Communicated their intent to file a PFML claim, complaint or appeal; or

• Testified or assisted in PFML enforcement proceedings.

The state secretary of labor may investigate employee complaints about violations of the PFML law and may order payment of wages, reinstatement and civil penalties of up to $1,000 for each violation. The PFML law allows workers to bring a civil suit to enforce the secretary’s orders. These suits may result in treble damages, punitive damages, counsel fees and injunctions, among other remedies. Complaints may be brought against insurers as well as employers.

More Information

Contact Hodge, Hart & Schleifer for more information on employee leave laws in Maryland.

This guide is not intended to be exhaustive nor should any discussion or opinions be construed as legal advice. It is provided for general informational purposes only. Readers should contact legal counsel for legal advice. © 2025-2026 Zywave, Inc. All rights reserved.