Maryland Enacts Small Business Parental Leave Law

Under a new Maryland law, employees of small businesses with soon benefit from parental leave similar to the family leave that larger businesses must provide to their employees under federal law. The Maryland Parental Leave Act (MPLA) requires businesses that employ 15 to 49 employees in Maryland to provide employees 6 workweeks of unpaid leave for the birth of an employee’s child or the placement of a child with an employee for adoption or foster care.

The MPLA is similar to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in that both provide employees with unpaid, job-protected leave for the birth, adoption and foster placement of a child. Under both the MPLA and the FMLA, the employee requesting leave must have worked for a covered employer for a 12-month period, and worked 1,250 hours prior to the requested leave. FMLA-covered employers are those with at least 50 employees working within 75 miles of the work site of the employee requesting leave.  Covered MPLA employers have less than 50 workers but at least 15 workers working within 75 miles.

MPLA differs in the duration of leave. FMLA leave is 6 weeks longer than MPLA leave. Also, FMLA leave can be used for purposes other than parental responsibilities, such as attending to the employee’s own health or that of a family member. Like the FMLA, MPLA requires employers to restore a returning employee to the same position the employee held before parental leave or place the employee in an equivalent position with equivalent benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment.

FMLA-covered employers are also required to post a notice in the workplace to notify employees and applicants of FMLA rights. At this point, the MPLA does not require posting a notice for employees. Employers still need to wait for Maryland’s Commissioner of Labor and Industry MPLA to draft regulations to implement the law. The law is effective October 1, 2014.