Maryland has a leave law called the Maryland Parental Leave Act (MDPLA), which provides unpaid, job-protected leave for parental leave reasons. Where an employee is eligible for each law, MDPLA will generally run concurrently with federal FMLA. As part of our leave of absence service, The Larkin Company will track MDPLA leaves.

Additionally, Maryland is scheduled to implement a new paid and job-protected leave law. Employers will be required to remit (employee/employer) contributions to the program beginning July 2025 (delayed from October 2024). Employees will be able to access leave benefits under the program from July 2026 (delayed from January 2026). We recommend seeing the above “Leave Highlights”. If you wish to learn more about this law and we also have some resources below. We will continue to keep our clients posted on any updates concerning this law.

Some leave laws require that you notify your employees about their rights under the law, such as, by providing a prescribed notice to new hires, displaying a poster in the workplace, and/or including information about that leave law in your company handbook. Below you will find a summary of the requirements for each law.

Where the law requires that a leave poster/notice must be provided to the employee when they request leave, The Larkin Company will provide the applicable document within our introductory leave packets (see “Larkin Enclosures” within this resource).

Employers may be required to complete employer forms (as part of an employee’s claim for benefits) for certain state income replacement programs, so they must be prepared to look up employee information and respond within the given timelines. However, currently, the state leave income replacement benefit program in Maryland is still in development. Once the state provides clarification on the employer statements process for the new MD FAMLI program, we will provide this information.

State Website(s)

Maryland Parental Leave Act – MDPLA (Leave Law)
Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (MD FAMLI)

State Law and Regulation(s)

MDPLA Regulations
MD FAMLI Bill

Contribution Registration (Paid Leave) – no details available yet for FAMLI. For general information regarding contributions for this state, please see here.