Last month, the Maryland legislature voted to override a veto by Governor Larry Hogan to enact the “Time to Care” Act — providing nearly all Maryland workers with up to 12 weeks of job-protected paid family and medical leave each year. Maryland becomes the latest state to join 9 others and Washington, DC to pass this legislation covering paid family and medical leave.
As longtime Workers’ Compensation attorneys in Maryland, we see this as a positive development for working families and individuals. The Time to Care Act of 2022 (S.B. 275) will provide for paid family and medical leave for private-sector workers statewide. The Act requires employers to offer up to 12 weeks of paid time off for any of the following circumstances…
- For the employee’s own serious health condition (including an injury, illness or impairment, and other conditions described in the Act)
- To tend to the serious health condition of a family member
- To care for a new child within the first year after birth or placement through foster care, kinship care, or adoption
- For qualifying needs related to a family member’s military service (for both active duty and former military members, including the U.S. Armed Forces, Reserves and National Guard)
Employees must have worked at least 680 hours over 12 months immediately before the date on which leave is to begin. Weekly benefits will range from $50 to $1,000, based on the employee’s average weekly wage, indexed to inflation.
Workers and employers will share the cost of the paid leave, which will be funded through a combination of employee and employer contributions to the State’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance Fund at rates to be determined by the Maryland Department of Labor. (Employers with fewer than 15 employees will not be required to pay the employer portion.) These payroll taxes will begin on October 1, 2023. The Act takes effect June 1, 2022 — however, employees may begin taking leave pursuant to the Act on January 1, 2025.
At the Law offices of Butschky & Butschky, we have advocated for injured workers for more than two decades. We make sure that our clients receive the maximum Workers’ Compensation benefits to which they are entitled under Maryland law. We are pleased the State of Maryland has passed legislation in favor of hard-working individuals who become injured or ill, or who need to take leave to care for sick family members or bond with a new child. We will watch to see how the new Time to Care Act rolls out and goes into effect in the coming months and years.
Until then and going forward, we will continue to work hard on behalf of injured workers in the state of Maryland, on both the personal injury and Worker’s Compensation sides of the law. If you are injured at work, please contact the Law Offices of Butschky & Butschky for a free consultation to discuss your case. Thank you!
Sources:
Maryland Enacts Paid Leave Law
National Law Review April 18, 2022
Maryland Becomes Latest State to Enact Paid Family and Medical Leave
A Better Balance April 1, 2022
Comparative Chart of Paid Family and Medical Leave Laws in the United States
A Better Balance Updated April 26, 2022
Labor and Employment – Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program – Establishment
(Time to Care Act of 2022)
Maryland Senate Bill 275