Maryland Flexible Leave Act

The Maryland Flexible Leave Act requires employers to allow employees to use “leave with pay” for an illness in the employee’s immediate family.

Under this law, “leave with pay” includes vacation, PTO, sick leave, and personal leave. It also includes compensatory time, or “comp time” for those agencies or employers that provide it. Employees can only use paid leave that has been earned. Employers are not required to grant leave that has been accrued but not earned, under this law.

The act defines immediate family as a child, spouse or parent.     .

The new Maryland law does not require that employers offer paid leave of any sort. However, when a Maryland employer does offer such leave, he  or she must permit  employees to use it when a family member is sick.

Under new FMLA or Family and Medical Leave Act regulations that go into effect on January 17, 2009 employers must permit workers to use sick time and vacation time while on FMLA leave for an immediate family member with a serious health condition. This law extends that coverage to smaller Maryland employers. The Maryland law also requires employers to permit employees to use personal leave or PTO, as well as comp time, for this purpose. Neither of those are required under FMLA.

The Maryland Flexible Leave Act applies to employers with 15 or more employees, who provide leave with pay.

Employees are free to decide which type of leave they will use under this plan. If Sarah’s mother is ill, Sarah can decide to use her 2 weeks of sick leave to take paid time off to care for her mother. This will permit Sarah to save her 2 weeks of vacation, for a family trip during the summer. Or, if Sarah preferred, she could use her vacation to care for her mother, and still have vacation time.

According to the Maryland Division of Labor and Industry, employers can still require that employees follow usual company policy, including advance notice prior to taking leave.