How Does FMLA Work in Maryland? Eligibility, Leave, and Job Protection

In Maryland, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) can give eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for qualifying family and medical reasons. State laws may provide additional protections, and Maryland’s paid family and medical leave program is scheduled to begin providing benefits in 2028. Knowing which law applies, how much notice is required, and whether leave can be taken intermittently can help employees and employers plan.

What the FMLA Provides in Maryland

The FMLA is a federal law, so its core rules apply in Maryland just as they do in other states. It gives eligible employees of covered employers unpaid leave for specified family and medical needs. During qualifying leave, the employer must generally maintain the employee’s group health insurance under the same conditions as if the employee were working.

When the leave ends, the employee is generally entitled to return to the same job or an equivalent position with equivalent pay, benefits, and working conditions. FMLA leave does not, by itself, require an employer to provide paid time off or replace lost wages.

Maryland employees may also be covered by state laws, employer policies, or collective bargaining agreements that offer other leave rights. When more than one law covers the same absence, the leave may run at the same time under each law. The facts and the specific laws involved determine how the rules interact.

Which Employers Must Follow the FMLA?

The FMLA generally covers private employers that had at least 50 employees for at least 20 workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year. It also covers public agencies, including state and local government employers, and public or private elementary and secondary schools, regardless of their employee count.

Being employed by a covered organization does not automatically make every employee eligible. The employee must also meet the FMLA’s service, hours-worked, and worksite requirements.

FMLA Eligibility Requirements

To qualify for federal FMLA leave, an employee generally must meet all of these conditions:

• Length of service: The employee has worked for the employer for at least 12 months. The months do not always have to be consecutive; special rules apply to breaks in service.
• Hours worked: The employee has worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months immediately before the leave starts. Paid and unpaid time away generally does not count as hours worked.
• Worksite size: The employee works at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles.

Some eligibility rules differ for airline flight crew employees. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) provides guidance for unusual work arrangements and questions about calculating service or hours.

Reasons for FMLA Leave

Eligible Maryland employees may take FMLA leave for several qualifying reasons. The 12-week allowance is generally a total for all qualifying FMLA reasons within the employer’s chosen 12-month period, not a separate allowance for each reason.

• Birth and bonding: Leave for the birth of a child and to care for and bond with the child during the first year after birth.
• Adoption or foster placement: Leave for the placement of a child and bonding during the first year after placement.
• Care for family: Leave to care for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition.
• The employee’s health: Leave when a serious health condition makes the employee unable to perform essential job functions.
• Military family needs: Qualifying exigency leave for certain needs related to a spouse, child, or parent’s covered active-duty military service or call to covered active duty.

A serious health condition generally involves inpatient care or continuing treatment by a health care provider. Routine minor illnesses usually do not qualify on their own, though the circumstances matter. The DOL explains qualifying conditions and certification rules on its FMLA information page.

How Much FMLA Leave Is Available?

Most eligible employees may take up to 12 workweeks of FMLA leave in a 12-month period. Employers can choose among several methods for defining that 12-month period, such as a calendar year or a rolling period measured backward from the date leave is used. Employers must apply their chosen method consistently and provide required notices.

Eligible employees may take up to 26 workweeks in a single 12-month period to care for a spouse, child, parent, or next of kin who is a covered service member with a serious injury or illness. This military caregiver leave is subject to special limits; it is not an additional 26 weeks on top of the usual 12 weeks for other FMLA reasons in that same period.

Intermittent and Reduced-Schedule Leave

FMLA leave does not always have to be taken in one continuous block. When medically necessary for a serious health condition, an employee may be able to take leave intermittently or work a reduced schedule. Intermittent leave may consist of separate periods of time off for treatment, symptoms, or care needs.

Intermittent leave for the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child generally requires the employer’s agreement, unless the employer allows it. For certain medical or military-related reasons, different rules apply. Employers may require reasonable arrangements for planned treatment to limit workplace disruption, subject to the law’s requirements.

Notice, Certification, and Employer Procedures

If the need for leave is foreseeable, such as a scheduled procedure or expected birth, employees generally must give at least 30 days’ notice when practical. If 30 days’ notice is not possible, notice should be given as soon as practical. For an unexpected emergency, employees must follow the employer’s usual call-in procedures unless unusual circumstances prevent them from doing so.

An employer may request medical certification for leave related to a serious health condition. It may also request certification for military caregiver leave or qualifying exigency leave. Employees generally have at least 15 calendar days to provide requested medical certification, unless it is not practicable despite diligent, good-faith efforts. The employer must explain what information is needed and allow an opportunity to correct an incomplete or insufficient certification.

Employees do not need to share a diagnosis simply to request leave, but they must provide enough information for the employer to understand that the absence may qualify. Employers must provide required eligibility and rights-and-responsibilities notices and notify employees when an absence is designated as FMLA leave.

Is FMLA Leave Paid in Maryland?

Federal FMLA leave is unpaid. However, an employee may be able or required to use accrued paid leave—such as vacation, personal leave, or sick leave—during some or all of the FMLA absence. Whether paid leave runs at the same time as FMLA depends on the employer’s policies, the applicable law, and the reason for leave.

Using paid time off does not necessarily create additional weeks of job-protected FMLA leave. If the absence qualifies under the FMLA and the employer properly designates it, paid leave and FMLA leave commonly run concurrently.

Maryland Leave Laws That May Also Apply

Maryland Parental Leave Act

The Maryland Parental Leave Act applies to certain employers with 15 to 49 employees and provides eligible employees up to six weeks of unpaid leave for the birth of a child or the placement of a child for adoption. Eligibility generally includes at least 12 months of employment and 1,250 hours worked during the preceding 12 months. The law has its own coverage and notice rules, so employees should confirm whether their employer and situation qualify.

For an employee who is also eligible for FMLA leave, parental leave for the same event may count toward both laws’ leave limits rather than providing six additional weeks. The details depend on employer size, eligibility, and the reason for the absence.

Maryland Flexible Leave Act

The Maryland Flexible Leave Act applies to employers with 15 or more employees. It requires covered employers that provide paid leave to allow employees, under specified conditions, to use accrued paid leave to care for an immediate family member’s illness. The covered family members include a child, spouse, or parent. This law does not generally require employers to create a paid-leave benefit or grant a separate amount of leave.

Maryland’s Upcoming Paid Family and Medical Leave Program

Maryland has enacted a state Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program that is designed to provide paid benefits for qualifying family and medical leave. Under the current implementation schedule, contributions are expected to begin July 1, 2027, and benefits are scheduled to become available July 1, 2028. Program rules and timelines can change, so employees and employers should check the Maryland Department of Labor for current information.

FAMLI benefits are separate from federal FMLA job protection. Paid benefits and protected leave are not automatically the same thing: an employee may need to meet the eligibility rules of each program, and leave may run concurrently when applicable. Until benefits begin, employees should not assume Maryland’s FAMLI program will pay for a current absence.

Health Insurance, Job Restoration, and Protection From Retaliation

During FMLA leave, an employer generally must continue group health coverage on the same terms as when the employee was working. The employee remains responsible for their usual share of premiums. Employers should explain payment arrangements, particularly if payroll deductions stop during unpaid leave.

At the end of qualifying leave, the employee generally must be restored to the same job or an equivalent one. An equivalent position has substantially similar pay, benefits, and working conditions. Some exceptions apply, including limited rules for certain highly paid “key employees” when restoration would cause substantial and grievous economic injury to the employer.

An employer may not interfere with an employee’s FMLA rights or punish an employee for requesting or using protected leave. Employees who believe their rights were violated can contact the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division, which administers the federal FMLA. State-law concerns can be directed to the appropriate Maryland agency.

Practical Steps for Requesting Leave

1. Review the reason for leave. Identify whether the need relates to the employee’s health, family care, a new child, or a military-related circumstance.
2. Contact human resources promptly. Ask whether the employer is covered, whether the employee meets eligibility rules, and how the employer measures the 12-month leave period.
3. Provide notice and forms. Give advance notice when possible, follow call-in rules, and return requested certification by the stated deadline.
4. Clarify pay and benefits. Ask whether accrued paid leave can or must be used, how health insurance premiums will be paid, and whether any Maryland program applies.
5. Keep records. Retain notices, forms, and communications about leave dates, pay, benefits, and return-to-work arrangements.

Where to Get Reliable Help

For federal FMLA questions, employees can consult the U.S. Department of Labor’s FMLA resources or contact the Wage and Hour Division. For Maryland parental leave, flexible leave, and FAMLI updates, consult the Maryland Department of Labor. Because eligibility and overlapping leave rules can be fact-specific, official agency guidance is especially useful when an employer’s policy or a leave decision is unclear.