Maryland PTO Laws 2026: The Healthy Working Families Act and What It Means for Your Sick Leave

Maryland passed the Healthy Working Families Act (HWFA) in 2018 (Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. §§ 3-1301 to 3-1311). It requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide paid sick and safe leave, and smaller employers to provide the same leave unpaid. Maryland's Wage Payment and Collection Law adds a second layer: its definition of "wage" expressly includes fringe benefits, so accrued vacation is owed at termination unless the employer's written policy, notified at hire, says otherwise.

What makes Maryland distinctive is the "safe leave" component built directly into the law: the same leave bank that covers illness also covers absences related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Maryland designed HWFA as a single, unified leave entitlement rather than separate sick leave and safe leave buckets.

Who HWFA Covers

The Healthy Working Families Act applies to all employers in Maryland, including state and local government units (§ 3-1301(f)). The 15-employee threshold determines whether the leave is paid or unpaid — not whether the law applies. An employer with 5 employees must still provide leave; it just doesn't have to be paid. An employer with 15 or more employees must provide paid sick and safe leave (§ 3-1304(a)(1)).

The employee count is "the average monthly number of employees employed by the employer during the immediately preceding year," counting full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees alike (§ 3-1304(a)(2)). Some workers are outside the law entirely: anyone who regularly works fewer than 12 hours a week, employees under 18 at the start of the year, agricultural workers, certain temporary-agency and employment-agency placements, construction workers whose collective bargaining agreement expressly waives the law, and as-needed health and human services workers who can refuse shifts and aren't guaranteed work (§§ 3-1301(e), 3-1303(a)).

How Maryland Sick and Safe Leave Accrues

Leave accrues at at least 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, beginning on the employee's first day of employment (§ 3-1304(b), (f)). An employer may bar use during the first 106 calendar days of employment (§ 3-1304(c)(4)); it is not required to, and may also let employees use leave before they have accrued it.

Key accrual mechanics:

• Caps an employer may set: the employer need not let an employee earn more than 40 hours a year, use more than 64 hours a year, or hold more than 64 hours at any time (§ 3-1304(c)(1)–(3))
• Carryover: unused leave carries over to the next year, but the employer may cap the carryover at 40 hours (§ 3-1304(g))
• Front-loading option: an employer may award the full year's leave at the start of the year; if it does, it need not allow carryover (§ 3-1304(d), (g)(3))
• Low-hours pay periods: an employer need not credit accrual in a two-week pay period with fewer than 24 hours worked, or a semimonthly period with fewer than 26 (§ 3-1304(c)(5))
• Rehire: unused leave must be reinstated if the employee is rehired within 37 weeks, unless the employer paid it out (§ 3-1304(h))

What Maryland Sick and Safe Leave Covers

HWFA leave can be used for a broader range of situations than traditional sick leave laws. Employees may use it for:

• The employee's own mental or physical illness, injury, or condition — including preventive care
• Care for a family member who is ill, injured, or needs preventive care (family members are the employee's children, parents, parents-in-law, legal guardians or wards, spouse, grandparents, grandchildren and siblings, including step, foster and adoptive relationships — § 3-1301(g))
• Maternity or paternity leave (§ 3-1305(a)(4))
• Safe leave: Time away related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking experienced by the employee or a family member — including obtaining legal or medical help, relocating, or attending legal proceedings

The "safe leave" integration is meaningful: Maryland employees draw from one leave bank for all qualifying purposes (§ 3-1305(a)). If the need is foreseeable, an employer may require up to 7 days' notice; if not, the employee must give notice as soon as practicable. An employer may deny leave only if the employee failed to give the required notice and the absence would disrupt the business (§ 3-1305(b)), and it may not require the employee to find a replacement.

Maryland FAMLI: Paid Family and Medical Leave Starts in 2028

Maryland's second major leave law is the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program, created by the Time to Care Act of 2022. It works nothing like HWFA. Sick and safe leave is an accrual your employer provides directly; FAMLI is a state-run insurance fund, financed by payroll contributions and paid out by the Maryland Department of Labor — structurally closer to unemployment insurance than to a PTO bank.

The launch date has moved twice, which is why older guides disagree about when it starts. The current schedule was set by House Bill 102, signed May 6, 2025 (Chapter 363), which pushed the program back by 18 months: payroll contributions begin January 1, 2027, and benefits become payable starting January 2028 (the statute sets January 3, 2028 as the outer date). If you have seen "FAMLI effective 2026" anywhere, that was the pre-HB 102 timeline and is no longer accurate.

Once benefits are live, an eligible Maryland employee can take up to 12 weeks of partially paid, job-protected leave in an application year to bond with a new child, recover from their own serious health condition, care for a family member with a serious health condition, or handle qualifying needs arising from a family member's military deployment. An employee who takes parental leave and also has a separate qualifying reason in the same year can receive up to 24 weeks combined. The benefit replaces a portion of the employee's wages, capped at $1,000 per week when the program opens, with the cap indexed in later years. Eligibility is based on work history in Maryland — at least 680 hours over the 12 months before leave begins — not on how long you have been with your current employer.

For employers, the obligations are administrative and financial rather than benefit-payment. Every Maryland employer will withhold and remit the employee share of the contribution starting with 2027 payroll; employers with 15 or more employees also pay an employer share, while those with 14 or fewer are exempt from the employer portion. Employers will need to post the state notice, hold the job open for employees on approved leave, and continue health coverage during it. FAMLI does not replace HWFA — the two laws stack, and an employee may use sick and safe leave for a short absence while FAMLI covers an extended one.

Vacation Pay and Termination Payout Under the Maryland WPCL

HWFA sick leave does not need to be paid out at termination (§ 3-1304(j)). Vacation and general PTO are different. Maryland's Wage Payment and Collection Law defines "wage" to include "a fringe benefit" (§ 3-501(c)(2)(iii)), and § 3-505(b) lets an employer withhold accrued leave at termination only if all three conditions hold: it has a written policy limiting payout, it notified the employee of its leave benefits at hire under § 3-504(a)(1), and the employee is not entitled to payment under that written policy. Otherwise, accrued leave is owed.

Maryland WPCL Penalties: Triple Damages Are Real

Under § 3-507.2, once 2 weeks have passed since the wages were due, an employee may sue. If the court finds the employer withheld the wage "not as a result of a bona fide dispute," it "may award the employee an amount not exceeding 3 times the wage, and reasonable counsel fees and other costs." The award is discretionary and capped at triple; a genuine dispute over whether leave was owed defeats the enhancement.

HWFA violations have their own remedies. On a complaint, the Commissioner must investigate and try mediation within 90 days; if that fails, it issues an order for the full value of the unpaid leave and any economic damages, may add up to three times the employee's hourly wage for each violation, and may assess a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per affected employee. An employee can sue to enforce an unpaid order within 3 years and may recover three times the value of the leave, punitive damages and counsel fees (§ 3-1308). Retaliation and counting protected leave under an absence-control policy are prohibited (§ 3-1309).

For Maryland Employers: HWFA Compliance Checklist

• ☐ Confirm whether you have 15 or more employees (determines paid vs. unpaid obligation)
• ☐ Update employee handbook with HWFA-compliant leave policy: accrual rate, any 106-day waiting period, permitted uses, notice rules, carryover and caps
• ☐ Post the required HWFA notice in the workplace (available from the Maryland Department of Labor)
• ☐ Configure payroll/HR system to track accrual from day one and keep accrual and use records for 3 years (§ 3-1307)
• ☐ Decide: per-hour accrual or front-load method?
• ☐ Put any vacation/PTO forfeiture rule in a written policy and notify it at hire — without both, accrued leave is owed at termination (§ 3-505(b))
• ☐ Include safe leave provisions — make clear the leave bank covers domestic violence/safe leave purposes
• ☐ Prepare payroll for FAMLI contributions beginning January 1, 2027 — employee withholding for all employers, plus the employer share if you have 15 or more employees

Final Paycheck Timing in Maryland

Md. Code, Labor & Employment § 3-505(a) sets the deadline: an employer "shall pay an employee … all wages due for work that the employee performed before the termination of employment, on or before the day on which the employee would have been paid the wages if the employment had not been terminated." In other words, the ordinary payday you would have had keeps its date — separation does not accelerate it, and it does not postpone it either.

There is an important carve-out that employees often miss, and it sits in the same section. Under § 3-505(b), an employer is not required to pay out accrued leave at termination if three things are all true: the employer has a written policy limiting compensation of accrued leave, the employer told the employee about the leave benefits as § 3-504(a)(1) requires, and the employee is not entitled to payment under the terms of that written policy. Miss any one of those and the payout is owed. This is why the written-policy analysis earlier in this guide does real work in Maryland — the statute itself makes the policy decisive, but only where the employer actually wrote it down and actually gave notice.

Where wages are withheld without a bona fide dispute, § 3-507.2 allows a court to award up to three times the wages owed plus reasonable attorney's fees and costs.

Frequently Asked Questions

When must a Maryland employer issue my final paycheck?

On or before the day you would have been paid had your employment not ended, under Md. Code, Labor & Employment § 3-505(a). Separation neither speeds the date up nor pushes it back. Accrued leave is treated differently: § 3-505(b) lets an employer decline to pay it out only where it has a written policy limiting that compensation, it gave you notice of leave benefits as § 3-504(a)(1) requires, and you are not entitled under that policy — all three, or the payout is owed. If wages are withheld without a bona fide dispute, § 3-507.2 permits an award of up to three times the wages plus attorney's fees.

Does Maryland require paid sick leave?

Yes. Maryland's Healthy Working Families Act requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide paid sick and safe leave, accruing at 1 hour per 30 hours worked. An employer may cap accrual at 40 hours a year, use at 64 hours a year and the total balance at 64 hours, and may bar use during the first 106 calendar days. Employers with fewer than 15 employees must provide the same leave unpaid.

When can Maryland employees start using sick leave?

Employees begin accruing leave on their first day. An employer may choose to bar its use during the first 106 calendar days of employment (§ 3-1304(c)(4)); if it does not, leave can be used as it accrues, and an employer may even allow use before accrual.

Does Maryland require PTO payout at termination?

For HWFA sick leave, no (§ 3-1304(j)). For vacation or general PTO, yes by default: the Wage Payment and Collection Law counts fringe benefits as wages, and § 3-505(b) lets an employer withhold accrued leave only if it has a written policy limiting payout, notified the employee of its leave benefits at hire, and the employee isn't entitled to payment under that policy. Wages withheld without a bona fide dispute can draw up to three times the amount in court (§ 3-507.2).

What reasons can Maryland employees use sick leave for?

HWFA leave covers the employee's own mental or physical illness, injury, condition or preventive care; care for a family member who is ill, injured or needs preventive care; maternity or paternity leave; and "safe leave" — absences due to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking against the employee or a family member, to obtain medical or mental health care, victim services, or legal services or proceedings, or while temporarily relocated (§ 3-1305(a)).

Does Maryland paid sick leave carry over year to year?

Yes. Unused leave carries over to the following year, but an employer may cap the carryover at 40 hours, and may cap the total balance at 64 hours and annual use at 64 hours. An employer that front-loads the full year's leave at the start of each year need not allow carryover (§ 3-1304(c), (g)).

Do Maryland counties or cities have their own sick leave laws?

Only where a law predates the HWFA's cutoff. Section 3-1302(d) preempts any local law regulating private employers' sick and safe leave enacted on or after January 1, 2017, but preserves — and allows amendment of — local laws enacted before that date. Montgomery County's Earned Sick and Safe Leave law, enacted in 2015, is the notable example; where a local law is more generous, it continues to apply alongside the HWFA (§ 3-1302(b)(3)).

Does Maryland have paid family leave?

Yes, but not yet. Maryland's Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program was created by the Time to Care Act of 2022 and delayed by House Bill 102 in 2025. Payroll contributions begin January 1, 2027, and benefits begin in January 2028. Once live, eligible employees can take up to 12 weeks of partially paid, job-protected leave per year (up to 24 weeks when parental leave is combined with another qualifying reason), with a weekly benefit capped at $1,000 at launch. FAMLI is separate from, and in addition to, HWFA sick and safe leave.