Employment Law Update: What Maryland Employers Need to Know About the General Assembly’s 2025 Session
Date: April 17, 2025
By:
Randi K. Hyatt
- The paid family and medical leave insurance (FAMLI) program, which will cover all employers and employees in Maryland, has been delayed yet again. The law, passed in 2022, was to have contributions beginning October 1, 2023, and benefits starting January 1, 2025. After multiple delays, and with this third legislative postponement, employers and employees will now start paying into the program on January 1, 2027, and employees will be able to claim up to 24 weeks of paid leave for various reasons starting by January 3, 2028. The state will set the contribution and benefit rates each year based on the program’s costs and the consumer price index. The state has also changed how it will calculate the employee’s wage rate for the benefits and defined a new term, “anchor date,” to determine the relevant period for the calculation. The law will become effective June 1, 2025.
- The Employment and Insurance Equality for Service Members Act expands the employment protections for military members and their families under Maryland law. The law now covers all uniformed services and reserve components, not just the armed forces and the National Guard. The law allows employers to give hiring preferences to eligible veterans and their spouses, requires employers to give leave to employees whose family members are deployed or returning from active duty, and makes employees eligible for FAMLI leave (once it takes effect) for certain military-related reasons.
- The Parental Leave Act, which requires employers with 15 to 49 employees in Maryland to give up to six weeks of unpaid leave for childbirth, adoption, or foster care placement, has been clarified to exclude employers covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which applies to employers with 50 or more employees in the current year.
Whiteford’s Labor and Employment Section will continue to monitor these developments and provide updates as further information is available.
The information contained here is not intended to provide legal advice or opinion and should not be acted upon without consulting an attorney. Counsel should not be selected based on advertising materials, and we recommend that you conduct further investigation when seeking legal representation.