FMLA in Maryland: Federal Rules, State Leave Laws, and an Eligibility Calculator (2026)

How does FMLA work in Maryland?

The federal FMLA applies in Maryland exactly as it does everywhere: up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for employees with 12 months of service, 1,250 hours worked in the prior 12 months, and 50 or more employees within 75 miles of their worksite, at a private employer with 50 or more employees or any public agency or school. Maryland adds Parental Leave Act, which covers employers with 15 to 49 employees and gives 6 weeks in a 12-month period. No state program pays during the leave, so pay comes only from substituted PTO or employer disability benefits, paid sick leave is mandated by the Healthy Working Families Act, and there is a bereavement leave rule. Checked September 15, 2026.

Does the federal FMLA apply in Maryland?

Yes, and identically to every other state. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act gives an eligible employee up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for a serious health condition, a new child, care for a spouse, parent, or child with a serious health condition, or a military exigency, and up to 26 weeks to care for a seriously injured servicemember. To be eligible you need 12 months of service with the employer, 1,250 hours actually worked in the 12 months before the leave, and a worksite with 50 or more employees within 75 miles. Private employers are covered at 50 or more employees on the payroll in 20 or more workweeks; public agencies and schools are covered at any size.

The three employee tests are measured on the day the leave starts, and the third one is the one that surprises people in Maryland: a covered employer with a small branch has a worksite where nobody is eligible if fewer than 50 employees work at that branch and at other sites within 75 road miles. Hours actually worked in the prior 12 months decide the 1,250-hour test; paid time off and holidays do not count. The calculator on this page runs all three tests and, when one fails, names the date or the hours that would satisfy it.

What Maryland leave laws add to the FMLA

One state statute sits on top of the FMLA in Maryland. Parental Leave Act (Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. 3-1201 ff.) applies to employers with 15 to 49 employees and gives 6 weeks in a 12-month period for birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child. Eligibility: 12 months of employment and 1,250 hours. Fills the gap below the FMLA's 50-employee threshold; employers covered by the FMLA are exempt from it.

Is FMLA leave paid in Maryland?

The FMLA itself pays nothing. Whether the 12 weeks are paid depends on the state program, any disability insurance, and the employer's own paid leave, which may be substituted for the unpaid leave under 29 CFR 825.207. Maryland has no state paid family leave program and no state disability insurance; enacted; contributions start January 2027, benefits start January 1, 2028. FMLA leave in Maryland is therefore paid only to the extent of the employer's own benefits: accrued PTO or sick leave substituted for the unpaid leave (which the employer may require), employer-provided short-term disability for the employee's own condition, or a company parental leave policy.

Paid sick leave is mandated statewide by the Healthy Working Families Act, accruing at 1 hour per 30 hours worked up to 40 hours accrued/year (64-hour balance cap). Those hours can be substituted for unpaid FMLA leave. When short-term disability pays, the leave is no longer unpaid and neither side may insist on PTO substitution, though they may agree to a top-up; the arithmetic is in the supplementing guide linked below.

Bereavement, sick leave, and the smaller Maryland statutes

Bereavement: Flexible Leave Act (Lab. & Empl. 3-802): employers with 15 or more that provide paid leave must let employees use it for a family member's illness and for bereavement of an immediate family member. The federal FMLA does not cover bereavement at all, though it does cover the serious health condition that precedes a death.

The smaller statutes a multi-state employer has to carry in Maryland, one line each.

How the 12-month period and the calculator work in Maryland

The federal entitlement in Maryland is 12 workweeks in the 12-month period the employer has chosen: calendar year, a fixed leave year, 12 months forward from first use, or a rolling 12 months measured backward from each day of leave. The method must be applied to everyone, disclosed in the rights and responsibilities notice, and changed only on 60 days' written notice. Under the rolling method every hour returns 12 months after the day it was taken; under the other three the full entitlement returns on one date. With no general state statute in Maryland, the federal method is the only clock to track.

The calculator on this page is preset to Maryland. Run the eligibility panel as of the leave start date, convert the schedule into hours (480 for a 40-hour week), then enter the leave taken and the employer's method to see the hours available today, the hours available on a future date, and, under the rolling method, the dates on which used hours come back.

Sources and last check

This page was checked on September 15, 2026 against Maryland Department of Labor; Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. 3-802, 3-1201 ff., 3-1301 ff., Title 8.3. The federal rules are 29 U.S.C. 2601 ff. and 29 CFR Part 825. State thresholds and programs change, most often on January 1; the paid leave figures on the linked calculator carry their own effective dates.