Last week, the Maryland General Assembly passed the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act, voting to override Gov. Hogan’s May 2017 vetoes of the House and Senate sick leave bills. Under the Act, Maryland businesses with 15 or more employees are required to provide employees with paid sick leave of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked. Businesses with fewer than 15 employees must, at least, provide employees with the same amount of unpaid sick leave. The Act includes additional provisions concerning the purposes for which leave may be used and employer verification of an employee’s need for leave. The Act also exempts certain industries and types of employees from its provisions and has certain industry-specific provisions.
You should review your current policies and practices to ensure that they are consistent with these new laws. As always, we are here to assist should you wish for us to review this change, or any other personnel policies, for compliance with Maryland law.