Takeaways: 

• Starting October 1, 2025, Maryland employers who are covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) are no longer required to comply with the state’s unpaid parental leave law. 
• Senate Bill 785 changes the definition of “employer” under Maryland’s Parental Leave Act to exclude those already covered by FMLA, even if they have between 15 and 49 employees. 
• Because both laws determine coverage based on employee counts over a 20-week period in the current or previous year, some employers may qualify for FMLA even if they currently have fewer than 50 employees—making them exempt from the state law under the new rule. 

Effective October 1, 2025, Maryland employers covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) will no longer be subject to the state’s unpaid parental leave requirements. 

Senate Bill 785, sponsored by Senator Justin Ready, was passed by the Maryland General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Wes Moore on May 6, 2025. The bill amends Maryland’s Parental Leave Act (“PLA”) to reduce overlap with federal law and ease compliance burdens for certain employers. 

What Is the Maryland Parental Leave Act? 

The Maryland PLA requires employers with 15 to 49 employees in Maryland to provide eligible employees with up to six weeks of unpaid parental leave for the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child. To qualify, employees must have worked for a covered employer for at least 12 months and logged 1,250 hours in the prior 12 months before leave. 

This law was designed to ensure that employees at smaller companies—those not covered by the federal FMLA—still had access to job-protected parental leave. A covered employer for purposes of the FMLA is one with 50 employees.

What’s Changing? 

Senate Bill 785 changes the definition of “employer” under the PLA. Now, if an employer is already covered by the federal FMLA, they are excluded from the Maryland PLA—even if they have between 15 and 49 employees. 

This change prevents employers from being subject to both state and federal leave laws. It simplifies compliance for businesses that already meet federal requirements.

Example: When This Applies 

Let’s say a Maryland company has 48 employees in twenty or more workweeks this calendar year. Normally, that would make that employer subject to the Maryland PLA. But if that company had 50 or more employees for at least 20 workweeks in the prior calendar year, it is considered covered by the FMLA for the current year—even if their headcount has since dropped. 

Under the new law, that company would no longer have to comply with Maryland’s PLA, because they are already covered by the FMLA.