The Covered Employer’s Guide to FMLA in Maryland

Knowing when your employees are entitled to take time off is a key responsibility for any human resources team. Employees who take time to recover from an injury or deal with a family emergency have significantly better outcomes when they return to work.

But if you have employees in Maryland who may be eligible for different types of leave, it can be hard to keep track of which laws apply to you and how to stay compliant.

Here’s a complete guide to FMLA in Maryland, including how it intersects with existing and pending state laws like Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI).

What Is FMLA in Maryland?

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) applies in all 50 states, including Maryland. This federal law entitles eligible employees to 12 weeks of leave in a 12-month period for certain qualifying reasons, including:

• Personal medical reasons, such as the employee’s own serious health condition or serious injury
• A family member’s serious health condition
• The birth of a child, adoption of a child, or placement of a child in foster care
• Military reasons (which include military family leave, military caregiver leave, and qualifying exigency leave)

Although FMLA leave entitlements are guaranteed under federal law, some states, such as Maryland, have paid or unpaid leave laws of their own. This means that employers in Maryland need to be mindful of complying with FMLA, as well as with state laws.

Who Qualifies for FMLA in Maryland?

Not every employer or employee in Maryland will be bound by FMLA. To be considered a “covered employer,” an employer needs to meet one of the following three criteria as described by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL.gov):

• Have at least 50 employees during at least 20 workweeks in a calendar year (for private-sector employers)
• Be a public or private school or educational agency of any size
• Be a local, state, or federal government agency of any size

Employees need to meet all of the following eligibility criteria to qualify for FMLA:

• Have worked for a covered employer for 12 months or more (including non-consecutive periods)
• Have performed at least 1,250 hours of work in the previous 12 months
• Work at a job site with at least 50 employees in a 75-mile radius

This means that an employer with team members in multiple locations may still need to comply with FMLA in Maryland depending on their size. Since Maryland borders Virginia and Washington, D.C. — and some employees may live and work across state lines — organizations in Maryland need to be especially aware of these nuances.

FAMLI vs. FMLA in Maryland

The Maryland Department of Labor is introducing a new paid family and medical leave insurance program called Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). This program will be funded through payroll deductions, and provide eligible employees with a wage replacement of up to $1,000 per week for 12 weeks.

The two laws cover similar qualifying reasons, including medical reasons and the birth of a child. However, FAMLI has fewer eligibility restrictions and applies to employers of all sizes, as long as the employee in question works in the state of Maryland.

FAMLI covers both full-time and part-time employees who have worked “at least 680 hours in positions based in Maryland in the 4 calendar quarters reported before they need to take leave.” If an employee qualifies for both FAMLI and FMLA in Maryland, they would run concurrently for the same leave period.

As of 2025, FAMLI payroll deductions are projected to start on January 1, 2027, with eligible employees able to access benefits beginning on January 1, 2028.

4 Alternatives to FMLA in Maryland

While waiting for the FAMLI program to be implemented, Maryland employers have at least four other state leave laws they need to be familiar with.

Parental Leave

Maryland has a Parental Leave Act that provides up to six weeks of unpaid leave when an employee welcomes a new child by birth or adoption. This is less than the 12 weeks of leave provided by FMLA, but applies to employers with 15 to 49 employees, filling a gap that isn’t covered by FMLA in Maryland.

Sick Leave

The Maryland Healthy Working Families Act (also called Sick and Safe Leave) has been on the books since 2018 and provides one hour of leave per 30 hours of work. It can be used for family leave, medical leave, parental leave, and domestic violence leave.

Sick and Safe Leave is unpaid for employers with fewer than 15 employees, and paid for employers with 15 or more.

Deployment Leave

FMLA provides military leave for a wide range of scenarios, including up to 12 weeks of military family leave and up to 26 weeks to care for a covered servicemember. Maryland also provides Deployment Leave “on the day that an immediate family member … is leaving for, or returning from, active duty outside the United States.”

Flexible Leave

Maryland has a Flexible Leave Act which allows employees to use vacation leave, sick leave, and other kinds of compensatory time as “leave with pay” in order to care for an immediate family member without being discriminated against.

3 Ways to Ensure Compliance with FMLA in Maryland

Navigating FMLA in Maryland can be complex, but using a leave management system like Pulpstream does the heavy lifting for you. Comply with Maryland leave laws, honor your employees’ rights, and stay on top of pending changes with these three steps.

Track Leave Balances

A leave of absence isn’t always for a continuous period. An employee may need to take leave more than once for the same reason, such as a chronic physical or mental health condition. Use Pulpstream to handle intermittent leave requests and track FMLA leave balances so you always know the precise amount of leave an employee has left.

Respect Confidentiality

Employers are allowed to request a medical certification from a health care provider to confirm an employee’s reason for taking leave. But that doesn’t mean everyone at their workplace needs to know the details. Follow these three FMLA confidentiality rules by using a cloud-based system to request, process, and store FMLA forms securely.

Provide Reinstatement

FMLA leave is job-protected leave, which means that employers can’t fire or penalize an employee for taking it. Employees are entitled to keep their health insurance during their leave and must be allowed to return to the same role or an equivalent position.

You can use Pulpstream to streamline the return-to-work and ADA interactive process, and keep stakeholders informed every step of the way.

Make Sense of Maryland Leave Laws with Pulpstream

Employees in Maryland may be entitled to family leave, medical leave, parental leave, and military leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or under Maryland state laws. The upcoming Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program will introduce a new wage replacement program in Maryland beginning in 2017.

Understanding leave laws like FMLA can be so complex that it may leave you seeking legal advice to make sense of it. Simplify the process with Pulpstream, an automated leave management platform that does most of the hard work for your HR team.

Use our custom rule engine to automatically assess leave requests against state and federal law, and provide a self-service portal where employees can check their leave balance and upload medical documents securely.

Request a demo today to see it in action!