As covered in previous installments of the Employment Law Update, Maryland has joined a growing list of states in adopting a paid family leave program. Unlike traditional paid time off that is provided directly by an employer, the paid family leave program will be administered by the state government and will provide a system under which employees can receive reimbursement when they are absent from work for certain qualifying reasons. Qualifying reasons will include caring for a family member with a serious health condition, bonding with a new child, caring for a servicemember, and absences caused by an employee’s own health condition.

When the law establishing the Maryland paid family leave program was enacted in 2022, the statute envisioned three primary phases for implementation of the law: (1) regulations explaining the details of the program were to be issued by June 1, 2023, (2) Maryland employers with at least 15 employees would have begun making contributions into the program on October 1, 2023, and (3) employees would have been able to submit claims for benefits beginning on January 1, 2025.

By 2023, it had become apparent that the original timeframe for implementation of the program was untenable. As a result, the General Assembly passed a new statute delaying implementation of the program. Under that revised timetable, regulations were to be issued by January 1, 2023 (although to date, none have been released), employer contributions are set to begin on October 1, 2024, and employees can begin submitting claims for benefits on January 1, 2026.

Currently, bills are advancing in both the Maryland Senate (SB 485) and House of Delegates (HB 571) under which the timetable for implementation of the paid family leave program may again be delayed. The proposed legislation would postpone the start date for employer contributions into the paid family leave fund to July 1, 2025, and would postpone the date on which claims for benefits can be submitted to July 1, 2026.

With the legislative session set to end on April 8th, it will soon become clear whether Maryland employers will need to begin making payments this year into the paid family leave fund.