/>iMaryland has amended its parental leave law to clarify that, effective October 1, 2025, employers covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) are exempt from the Maryland Parental Leave Act (“MPLA”).
The MPLA, codified as Section 3-12 of Maryland’s Labor and Employment Code, requires covered employers to provide eligible employees with up to six weeks of unpaid parental leave for the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child. The statute applies to Maryland employers with at least 15 but fewer than 50 employees for each “working day during each of 20 or more calendar workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year.” The FMLA, conversely, applies to employers with 50 or more employees and allows qualified employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for qualifying events, which also include birth, adoption or foster placement of a child, among others. Similar to the MPLA, the FMLA measures how many employees a company employs by looking at how many were employed in 20 or more workweeks in the preceding or current year.
The MLPA was intended to apply to smaller employers not covered by the FMLA in order to provide parental leave to employees of such smaller companies. However, there have been occasions of overlap, where both laws apply to companies that change in size. For example, currently, if a Maryland employer has 47 employees for part of the year (or the preceding year) but later expands and exceeds the 50-employee threshold in the same or following year, it may fall under both the MPLA and FMLA. This can create confusion in complying with both laws. To address this overlap, Governor Wes Moore signed SB 785, which amends the definition of “employer” under the MPLA to exclude those covered by the FMLA in the current year, effectively exempting FMLA-covered employers from Maryland’s parental leave requirements.
The amendment serves to help employers avoid potential confusion regarding dual leave coverage for their employees if an employer is subject to the FMLA.
Actions for Employers
In light of the recent clarification to Maryland’s parental leave law, employers in the state should confirm their total employee headcount and review their current leave policies in order to ensure compliance with the amended statute.
