• The law applies to employers with just one employee in Maryland.
• Employees will qualify if they work 680 hours for any employer in the state in the 12-month period prior to the start of a leave.
• They will be eligible to receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave for parental, family care, medical, military service member care, and qualifying exigency leave. Plus, an additional 12 weeks of paid leave when an employee requires both medical and parental leave. A birthing parent, for example, who is disabled due to their pregnancy could receive up to 12 weeks of medical leave and have an additional 12 weeks to bond with their child.
• Leave is generally job-protected, and maintenance of group health insurance benefits is required.
  There is an expansive list of family members covered under the law: child, parent, parent-in-law, spouse, grandchild, grandparent, and sibling.
• Benefit amount: 90% for those earning 65% or less of the state average weekly wage; for those earning greater than 65% of the state average weekly wage, 90% of the employee’s average weekly wage, up to 65% of the state average weekly wage plus 50% of the employee’s average weekly wage that is greater than 65% of the state average weekly wage. The maximum benefit for the first year of the program is $1,000 per week.
• Private plans are allowed as long as they meet or exceed the requirements of the law.

Update (05/10/23) There has been an update to the Time to Care Act, with the passing of Senate Bill 828:

• The law rollout is delayed and benefits under the program will become available to covered employees on 01/01/2026 (previously the date was expected to be 01/01/25).
• Employee and Employer contributions are now delayed until 10/01/2024.
• The state has now confirmed rates would be 50/50 between employer and employee, and would remain the same from 10/01/2024 through 06/30/2026. The total contribution rate (the percentage of wages up to the social security wage base) will be determined by the Maryland Department of Labor by 10/01/2023 and will not exceed more than 1.2% of an employee’s wages.
• Employees will not be required to exhaust employer-provided accrued paid leave prior to claiming benefits under MD FMLI (this was previously a requirement under the law). However, employees and their employer can agree to use employer-provided accrued pay (e.g. vacation, sick, PTO) to top up benefits received.
• Employers can still manage benefit coordination with their own employer-provided pay (such as salary continuation and STD).

We will continue to monitor any updates regarding the law and will keep our clients updated.

Link to bill SB 275. Once the state website and other resources become available, we will provide further resources.

Link to bill SB 828