Maryland announces statewide program for paid leave
Salisbury, Md. – On Tuesday, the Maryland Department of Labor announced a new program to enable employers to provide paid leave for Maryland employees.
Secretary of Labor Portia Wu said employers are now eligible to register through the new FAMLI insurance program. She said the program will benefit about 2.5 million workers who will be able to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave and can qualify for up to $1,000 in partial wage replacement. Qualifying life events include welcoming a child, having a serious health condition or caring for a family member with a serious health condition or preparing for a family member’s deployment.
“In a time where there are a lot of economic pressures, families’ economic security is vital,” Wu said in an interview with WMDT. “We can’t control often when these life events happen. They’re unpredictable. But making sure that workers have job protection, and also get some part of their wages back while they deal with these family medical emergencies is really important.”
Wu said employers will not have to be responsible for paying wages and have the option of joining the state family insurance program. If they join the state’s program, Wu said 0.45% will be taken out of the employee’s and employer’s paychecks and employers will have have to make that contribution each year.
“It’s just like any other kind of insurance. For the average worker in Maryland, it should be less than a dollar a day that they’re looking at. Employers can also cover that part of a contribution if they want to,” she said.
Wu said employers can also offer their own benefits or purchase insurance on a private market, “as long as they meet the basic requirements of the state’s program, they will comply with the law.”
She said nearly 4,000 employers have already signed up for the program, which has a special benefit for small businesses in Maryland.
“Those with fewer than 15 employees, they only have to submit the employee-side contribution, they don’t have to do the other half for the business side contribution,” Wu said. “That was done really intentionally, because we know we want to support Maryland small businesses and help them manage the cost of any program like this and be able to bear the benefits.” She added that over 80% of employers in Maryland would qualify for the benefit.
She said the program was launched to keep the state as an economically competitive place to work.
“Family insurance is already a trend across the country. There are 14 states that either have it fully implemented or about to, including in our region,” Wu said. ” it’s really a regional phenomenon, and we know that businesses are always looking to compete for and retain workers, so making sure that as a region, we’re not falling behind our sister states, that are nearby, in terms of the attraction of talent is really important.”
Department of Labor officials said employer and TPA registration is open and withholding is set to begin in January, with the first quarterly wage and hour
reports and contributions reported in April of 2027 and benefits expected to begin on Jan. 1, 2028.
