Maryland Family Leave Act: Eligibility, Benefits, and Payroll Contributions

The Maryland Family Leave Act, formally the Time to Care Act of 2022, created a state insurance program called FAMLI that will pay eligible Maryland workers up to $1,000 a week when they take time off for a new child, their own serious illness, a sick family member, or certain military family needs. Payroll contributions begin in January 2027, and benefit payments to workers start no later than January 2028.¹

When You Can Actually Claim Benefits

You cannot file a FAMLI claim or receive a payment before January 2028. The year of payroll deductions that starts in January 2027 is a ramp-up period that builds the fund.¹ If you need leave before the benefit phase opens, the state program is not available, though federal FMLA job protections may still apply if your employer is large enough to be covered.

Who Qualifies

To draw benefits, you must have worked at least 680 hours in Maryland over the four most recently completed calendar quarters before your leave begins.² That is roughly 17 hours a week across a year, so most part-time workers on a steady schedule will clear the bar.

Almost every employer in the state is in the program. Any business or government agency with at least one employee in Maryland participates, with no minimum company size.² That is a wider net than federal FMLA, which only reaches employers with 50 or more workers, so many Marylanders will have state leave coverage even when they would not qualify for federal leave.

Self-employed residents, including sole proprietors and single-member LLCs, can elect into FAMLI voluntarily. The statute directs the Secretary of Labor to adopt regulations setting the enrollment procedures and contribution amounts for self-employed workers by July 1, 2028, and those terms are not yet finalized.³

Reasons You Can Take Leave

FAMLI authorizes paid time off for five categories of life events:⁴

Bonding with a new child during the first year after birth, or during and after placement through foster care, kinship care, or adoption.
Caring for a family member with a serious health condition.
Your own serious health condition when it prevents you from performing your job.
Caring for a service member when you are their next of kin.
A qualifying exigency arising from a family member’s military deployment, such as arranging childcare or finances.

“Family member” is defined broadly. It covers a spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling, and includes biological, adoptive, foster, and step relationships, legal guardians, and anyone who stood in a parental role.

You do not have to take leave in one solid block. Under the state plan, intermittent leave must be taken in increments of at least four hours unless your scheduled shift is shorter. You cannot take more intermittent hours in a week than you typically work, and the Division measures your average weekly hours from your highest-earning quarter in the previous four.⁵

How Much FAMLI Pays and for How Long

Eligible workers can receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave in a 12-month period. If you both welcome a new child and experience your own serious health condition in the same year, you can qualify for up to 12 weeks for each event, for as much as 24 weeks total.⁵

Your weekly check depends on how your average weekly wage compares to Maryland’s statewide average weekly wage. If your wage is 65 percent or less of the state average, you get 90 percent of your wages replaced. If you earn more than that, the formula is tiered: 90 percent of the portion up to the 65 percent threshold, plus 50 percent of the portion above it.⁶ The weekly benefit tops out at $1,000.¹

Your benefit amount is set based on the state average weekly wage and maximum in effect when your approved leave begins, and it holds steady for the length of your claim.⁶ There is no waiting period. Benefits begin the first day of leave.⁷

What Comes Out of Your Paycheck

FAMLI is funded by payroll contributions shared between employers and workers. The Department of Labor announced an initial total rate of 0.9 percent of wages, split evenly at 0.45 percent each.⁸ The Department must publish an updated rate by May 1, 2026, covering calendar year 2027, based on a new actuarial analysis. The statute caps the combined rate at 1.2 percent of wages.⁹

Contributions apply only to wages up to the Social Security taxable wage base, which is $184,500 for 2026.¹⁰ Earnings above that line are not subject to FAMLI deductions.

If you work for a small business with fewer than 15 total employees, your employer does not owe the employer share. You still pay the employee half, and your eligibility for benefits is unaffected.⁸

Your Job When You Return

Your employer must hold your position while you are on FAMLI leave and return you to the same job or an equivalent one. Health benefits continue during your leave, so your coverage does not drop.¹¹ Retaliation against workers who use or request FAMLI leave is prohibited.

If you also qualify for federal FMLA, the two generally run concurrently rather than stacking. FAMLI supplies the paycheck replacement FMLA does not, and FMLA’s job-protection rules apply alongside it for workers covered by both.

Are FAMLI Benefits Taxable?

The IRS answered this in Revenue Ruling 2025-4, and the answer depends on which kind of leave you took.¹²

Family leave benefits, such as bonding with a new child or caring for a sick relative, are fully included in federal gross income. They are not treated as wages, so no Social Security or Medicare tax is withheld, and the state reports them on a Form 1099.¹²

Medical leave benefits, paid when you are out for your own condition, get a split treatment. The share attributable to your employer’s contributions is included in your gross income; the share funded by your own payroll contributions is excluded.¹² With an evenly split contribution rate, roughly half of your medical leave benefits would be federally taxable. The ruling does not address state income tax, and Maryland has not issued separate guidance on whether FAMLI benefits are subject to state tax.

How to File a Claim

Give your employer 30 days’ notice if your leave is foreseeable. For unforeseeable situations like an emergency hospitalization, notify your employer as soon as practicable. Your employer can waive the notice requirement, and is treated as having waived it if they do not invoke it when the FAMLI Division contacts them about your claim, or if they never told you notice was required.¹³

For medical, caregiving, and military-related leave, you must submit a certification from a healthcare provider. The certification has to show the date your leave begins or is expected to begin, when the serious health condition started, how long it is expected to last, and the relevant medical facts within the provider’s knowledge.¹⁴ If you are caring for a family member, add a statement that care is needed and an estimate of time required. If you cannot work because of your own condition, the provider must confirm you cannot perform your job functions. For intermittent leave, include the expected frequency and duration of each absence.

Bonding leave does not require medical certification, though you will need to verify the birth, adoption, or placement. Claim forms and the online application portal are expected through the FAMLI Division’s website once the benefit phase opens in 2028.

If Your Claim Is Denied

You can challenge a denial or an underpayment. Start by requesting reconsideration through the FAMLI Division. Only after reconsideration is complete can you file a formal appeal.¹⁵

The appeal must be filed within 30 days of the adverse determination unless you can show good cause for the delay. The Division will notify your employer and other parties, and a hearing is generally held within 30 days of filing. The Division may also offer an informal conference before a full hearing.¹⁵ Mark the date on any denial notice and move quickly; missing the 30-day window without good cause will likely end your appeal.

1
Maryland FAMLI. Paid Family and Medical Leave Is Coming to Maryland
2
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Labor and Employment 8.3-101 – Definitions
3
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Labor and Employment 8.3-201
4
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Code Labor and Employment 8.3-302 – Purpose
5
Maryland FAMLI. For Employees
6
Library of Maryland Regulations. COMAR 09.42.04.06 – FAMLI Benefit Calculation
7
Maryland FAMLI. FAMLI Frequently Asked Questions – April 2026
8
Maryland FAMLI. Contributions
9
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Code Labor and Employment 8.3-601 – Contributions
10
Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base
11
Maryland FAMLI. For Employers
12
Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Ruling 2025-4
13
Library of Maryland Regulations. COMAR 09.42.04.08 – Notice Requirements
14
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Code Labor and Employment 8.3-403 – Duties of Secretary
15
Library of Maryland Regulations. COMAR 09.42 – Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program