Time off - Maryland

Accrued paid leave (Flexible Leave Act)

Maryland private employers with 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year who provide paid leave must allow employees who are primarily employed in Maryland to use any type of accrued paid leave to care for an ill family member under the same conditions and policy rules that would apply if the employee took leave for his or her own illness.

The law requires employers to allow employees to choose the type of leave they want to use, as long as it has been earned and is provided under a collective bargaining agreement or an employment policy. There are no eligibility criteria, but the employee would need to have accrued the paid leave and have it available.

Employees may take time off to care for an immediate family member, defined as a parent, a child, or a spouse, with an illness. Unlike the FMLA, there is no definition of “illness.”

Employees may also take the leave for bereavement purposes related to the death of an immediate family member. For this, immediate family members include the employee’s spouse, parent, or child (which includes an adopted, biological, or foster child or parent, a stepchild or stepparent, a legal ward or guardian, or a person standing in loco parentis).

The law indicates that it does not affect leave granted under the federal FMLA.

Attend proceeding

Under Maryland law, employees cannot be deprived of employment solely because of job time lost to attend a proceeding that the employee has a right to attend.

Employers may not deprive employees of their jobs because of job time lost by the employee as a result of the employees' response to a subpoena requiring them to appear as a witness in any civil or criminal proceeding, including discovery proceedings; or the employee's attendance at a proceeding that the employee has a right to attend.  Employers in violation of this law may be fined up to $1,000.

Civil Air Patrol leave

Employers with 15 or more employees are to allow employees who are members of the Civil Air Patrol up to 15 days’ leave to respond to missions. Employees are eligible if they have been working for the employer for at least 90 days. Employees are to provide as much notice as possible regarding the beginning and end dates of leave. After arriving at an emergency location, employees must notify the employer with an estimate of the amount of time needed to complete the mission. Employees must also report any necessary changes in the time required.

Employers may require verification of the eligibility of the employee for the leave. If the employee fails to provide such verification, the employer may deny the leave. Employers may not require employees to exhaust all other available leave before using Civil Air Patrol leave.

Employees and employers may negotiate who is responsible for paying for benefits during leave. However, employees are entitled to benefits accrued prior to leave upon return from leave.

Employees taking state military leave may not concurrently use Civil Air Patrol Leave.

At the end of leave, employees are entitled to return to their position or an equivalent one, unless unable to do so because of circumstances unrelated to the leave.

Jury duty

Maryland law doesn’t require private employers to pay employees on jury duty. Effective October 1, 2012, employers may not require an employee to work during a certain time period on a day in which the employee is expected to perform jury service or acts related to jury service, or on a day after the employee performs jury service or acts related to jury service. Employers are also prohibited from requiring employees who are summoned and appear for jury duty for four or more hours, including traveling time, to work a shift that begins on or after 5 P.M. on the day of the employee’s appearance for jury duty or before 3 A.M. on the day following the employee’s appearance for jury duty. (2012 Laws of Maryland, Chapter 159, Senate Bill 16)

Military family leave

Employers with 50 or more employees will be subject to the Deployment of Family Members in the Armed Forces provisions, and need to allow employees to take leave from work on the day that an immediate family member is leaving for, or returning from, active duty outside the U.S. as a member of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Employees are eligible if they have worked for an employer for the previous 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours in the last 12 months.

Immediate family members include spouses, parents, or domestic partners.

Employers may require an employee to provide proof verifying that the leave is being taken under this provision.

Employers may not require employees to use compensatory, sick, or vacation leave when taking leave under this provision.

Paid time off (PTO)

Maryland law does not require vacation pay. However, if an employer chooses to provide paid time off benefits, it must follow the terms and conditions established in its policy.

Parental leave

Employers with 15 to 50 employees in the state for each working day of 20 or more calendar workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year must allow eligible employees to take unpaid parental leave.

Employees are eligible if they worked for your company for at least 12 months, worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before leave is to begin, and work at a site with at least 15 company employees within 75 miles. Independent contractors are not employees.

Eligible employees may take up to six workweeks of job-protected unpaid parental leave during any 12-month period for the birth of their child or the placement of a child for adoption or foster care.

You may deny the leave if the denial is necessary to prevent substantial and grievous economic injury to your organization’s operations. If so, you must notify the employee of the denial before leave begins.

Employees may choose to (or you may require employees to) substitute accrued paid time off for unpaid leave.

You may require employees to give written notice of the need for leave at least 30 days in advance.

During leave, group health coverage must be maintained in the same manner as if the employee had not taken leave.

The Parental Leave Act does not govern requesting documentation supporting the need for leave.

Pregnancy disability

Employers with 15 or more employees are to provide a reasonable accommodation for an employee’s disability caused or contributed to by pregnancy. If an employee requests a reasonable accommodation, employers must explore with the employee all possible means of providing the accommodation. Reasonable accommodations could include the following:

• Changing the employee’s job duties,
• Changing the employee’s work hours,
• Relocating the employee’s work area,
• Providing mechanical or electrical aids,
• Transferring the employee to a less strenuous or less hazardous position, or
• Providing leave.

Employers may require an employee to provide a certification concerning the medical advisability of a reasonable accommodation. Such a certification must include the following:

• The date the accommodation became medically advisable,
• The probable duration of the accommodation, and
• An explanatory statement as to the medical advisability of the accommodation.

Employers need to post a notice regarding employee rights under the law.

Sick and safe leave (Healthy Working Family Act)

Effective February 11, 2018, employers with 15 or more employees are to provide accrued paid sick/safety leave to employees. Employers with under 15 employees are to provide accrued unpaid sick/safety leave.

Employees are eligible if they work 12 or more hours per week. The provision does not, however, apply to employees:

• In the construction industry,
• Covered by a collective bargaining agreement that waives the leave requirements, or
• Called to work on an as-needed basis in a health or human services industry.

Employees begin accruing leave February 11, 2018, or upon hire. They accrue one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked. They need not accrue leave during:

• A two-week pay period in which an employee worked fewer than 24 hours,
• A one-week pay period if the employee worked fewer than a combined total of 24 hours in the current and immediately preceding pay period, or
• Pay periods in which an employee is paid twice a month regardless of the number of weeks in a pay period and the employee worked fewer than 26 hours in that pay period.

Employers are not required to allow an employee to

• Earn more than 40 hours of leave in a year,
• Use more than 64 hours of leave in a year, or
• Accrue a total of more than 64 hours at any time.

Employers may have a waiting period of 106 calendar days after hire, during which an employee may not use leave.

Employers may front load the leave at the beginning of the year rather than awarding leave as it accrues. If so, the employer need not allow an employee to carry over unused leave.

Employees may carry over unused leave at the end of the year into the next year, but employers may limit the carry over to 40 hours. Unused leave need not be paid out upon termination.

Employees may take leave for the following reasons:

• To care for or treat the employee’s mental or physical condition,
• To obtain preventive medical care for employee of family member,
• To care for a family member with a condition,
• For maternity or paternity, or
• When necessary due to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking committed against the employee or family member.

Family members include the following:

• A biological, adopted, foster child, stepchild, a child for whom the employee has legal or physical custody or guardianship, or a child for whom the employee stands in loco parentis regardless of the child’s age;
• A biological, adoptive, foster parent, stepparent, legal guardian of the employee, someone who stood in as a parent to the employee or employee’s spouse when the employee/spouse was a child;
• A spouse;
• A sibling;
• A biological, adopted, foster, or stepgrandparent;
• A biological, adopted, foster, or stepgrandchild; and
• A biological, adopted, foster, or stepsibling.

If the need for leave is foreseeable, employees are to provide reasonable advance notice of not more than seven days before the leave begins. If the need for leave is not foreseeable, employees are to provide notice as soon as practicable. Employees are generally expected to comply with the company notice or procedural requirements for requesting other leave, assuming those requirements do not interfere with the employee’s ability to use earned sick and safe leave.

Employers may, however, deny a leave request under the following situations:

• An employee fails to provide notice,
• The employee’s absence will cause a disruption to the employer, or
• The employer provides services to developmentally disabled or mentally ill individuals and the need for leave is foreseeable and the employer cannot find a replacement, and the employee’s absence will cause a disruption of service.

Employees may choose to make up the absence instead of using accrued leave. Otherwise, they may take leave in the smallest increment your payroll system uses to account for other absences. Employees may not be required to take leave in an increment exceeding four hours.

Employers may require employees to provide verification that the leave was used appropriately.

When wages are paid, employers are to provide a written statement of the amount of leave available for use by the employee. This may be done electronically. Employers are to retain records related to the leave for at least three years.

Employers are to post a notice regarding the law’s provisions.

The law includes special provisions for tipped employees in the restaurant industry.

Voting

Maryland law allows employees two hours off to vote. There is no deduction in pay if employee furnishes the employer proof of voting. This time off for voting doesn’t apply if there are two consecutive nonworking hours during the time the polls are open.