If you have questions about the application of these new provisions of the MFLA or require assistance in amending existing leave policies to ensure compliance, Pessin Katz Law has attorneys experienced in employment law ready to help. Maryland law requires certain employers to provide employees with sick leave benefits. If a restaurant does not have set shifts and employees are sent home when business slows down how does it determine the number of hours to pay someone who takes leave when they don't have fixed working hours? When Family and Medical Leave is combined with Maryland Flexible Leave Act the absence should be recorded as follows: FMLS Accrued sick leave is used for serious illness of a family member under FMLA and Maryland Flexible Leave Sick and Safe Leave - Employment Standards Service - Maryland name and password privacy protection PDF HB 56 Department of Legislative Services - Maryland However, the nuance is that this does not require employers who provide paid leave, but employers must allow their employers to take paid leave if they have it available. The Financial Exploitation of Susceptible Adults and Older Adults ( Maryland SAFE Act) allows older adults (over 68) and susceptible adults (individuals unable to perform daily living activities without assistance) who are financially exploited to file a lawsuit against the party exploiting them. PK Law has consolidated its Bel Air, MD South (836 South Main Street Suite 102) and Bel Air, MD North (139 North Main Street Suite 100) offices and MOVED to Belcamp, MD. Code Ann., Lab. However, under the law, an employer is not required to permit an employee to use any accrued leave for the first 106 days (15 weeks) of employment. An employer in the retail industry is required to grant an employee an unpaid religious day once per week upon written request by the employee. If an employer has a 9-hour work day and the employee has accrued 9 or more hours of sick and safe leave, the employee would be permitted to use the leave for the duration of the shift. An employer is required to pay accrued vacation leave upon separation from employment if the employers established policy or employment contract is silent on the matter. If an employer already has a paid leave policy for vacation time, for example, can that leave count toward earned sick and safe leave? vacation, sick, paid-time off, etc. Besides the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Maryland has its own state medical leave and family leave laws that apply to most medium-sized and smaller employers. Why does the law say that it became effective on January 1, 2018 but your guidance says that it became effective on February 11, 2018? 2. An employee eligible for earned sick and safe leave accrues leave at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked. Employees who work in certain retail establishments are entitled to a non-working An employer may not require an employee to use compensatory, sick, or vacation leave when taking leave under this section. The Department suggests that such a policy be in writing and clearly communicated to employees. What I need to know as an employer or an employee. Under this law, an employer may not request or require that an employee or applicant If the restaurant employer does not have regular shifts and sends employees home when work is slow, the Department suggests that the employer consult with an advisor and develop a reasonable policy for tipped employees who wish to use earned and accrued sick and safe leave during a regularly scheduled shift. of leave to use. However, when a Maryland employer does offer such leave, he, or Family and Medical Leave Act regulations that go into effect on January 17, 2009 employers must permit workers to use, The Complete Solution to your Compliance Needs, Louisiana Revises Earned Income Credit Notice; Updated EEOC and FLSA Workplace Posters, Oregon Updates Labor Law Posters for Minimum Wage, Breaks & Overtime, and Agricultural Workers; Updated EEOC and FLSA Workplace Posters, District of Columbia Increases Minimum Wage Rates; Updated EEOC and FLSA Workplace Posters. If you have questions or comments Does an employee accrue earned sick and safe leave while using PTO? The MFLA has required that Maryland private sector employers with at least 15 employees (for each working a day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding year) who provide paid leave to their employees allow an employee to use earned paid leave to care for immediate family members (children, spouse and parents) with an illness. For employees who have been employed for at least 106 days before February 11, 2018, they may use leave as it is accrued. For example, the employer could promulgate a policy whereby it will consider the average number of hours worked by the employee for each shift in the preceding pay period. If an employee is under the age of 18 and is not required by law to receive paid sick and safe leave, are they still counted toward the employee threshold? The Maryland Guide to Wage Payment and Employment Standards. What happens to the earned sick and safe leave of an employee who separates from employment but is later rehired? Employers must begin complying with the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act on February 11, 2018. Additionally, if an employee files a complaint, the employer must be able to demonstrate to the Commissioner how many hours the employee worked, how much sick and safe leave the employee accrued and how much sick and safe leave the employee was permitted to use. The Commissioner suggests that an employer consult with a financial or legal advisor with regard to whether each business entity would be considered a separate employer. In determining whether the employer is required to provide paid or unpaid earned sick and safe leave, the employer must calculate the average monthly number of employees employed by the employer during the immediately preceding year. MD Statute, Labor and Employment, 3-505(b), An employer may also lawfully establish a policy or enter into a contract disqualifying employees from payment of accrued vacation upon separation from employment if they fail to comply with specific requirements, such as giving two weeks notice or being employed as of a specific date of the year, so long as employees have been informed of the policy in writing. Effective October 1, 2021, the MFLA requires covered employers to permit employees to use paid leave for bereavement purposes, meaning leave to use on the death of a member of the employees immediate family.. If the employer has employees in several states, the law would only apply to employees whose primary work location is Maryland. or threatening to take any of these actions against an employee who exercises Yes. Flexible Leave Act Maryland's mini-WARN law (formally known as the Economic . If the need to use leave is not foreseeable, the employee must provide notice as soon as practicable. Neither of those are required under FMLA. The law provides that the earned sick and safe leave law will not apply to any bona fide collective bargaining agreement that was entered into before June 1, 2017 for the duration of the contract term excluding any extensions, options to extend or renewals of the term of the original agreement. 2. Employees are free to decide which type of leave they will use under this plan. The bill applies to essential employers in industries and sectors identified by the Governor or a federal or state agency as critical to remain in operation during the emergency. You must have JavaScript enabled to use this form. Currently, it seems this would apply to those identified in by Order of the Governor of the State of Maryland,Number 20-03-23-01, dated March 23, 2020. This new bill expands Marylands Flexible Leave Act (MFLA), by authorizing employees to use paid leave for bereavement leave for the death of the employees immediate family member. The Flexible Leave Act prohibits an employer from discharging, demoting, suspending, disciplining or otherwise discriminating against an employee or threatening to take any of these actions against an employee who exercises rights under this law. This requirement can be satisfied with an online system to which employees have access. This law states that employers who provide leave with pay to an employee following the birth of the employees child shall provide the same leave with pay to an employee when a child is placed with the employee for adoption. Maryland Flexible Leave Act Expanded To Apply To Bereavement Leave Employees are covered under the same conditions and rules that would apply if they took leave for their own illness. For the purposes of family-care leave, child is defined as an adopted, biological, step, or . Towson, MD 21204. An employee whose primary work location is in Maryland but performs some work outside the State would be entitled to accrue leave for the time spent working in other states. All employees whose primary work location is in Maryland are entitled to accrue sick and safe leave unless they are exempt from coverage under the law. with the consumer present in the retail establishment at the time of sale, and Maryland's Employer-Funded Paid Leave to Be Phased In Over Next - SHRM Amendments Clarify the Maryland Flexible Leave Act | Gordon Feinblatt LLC All Rights Reserved. Montgomery County, Maryland Sick and Safe Leave Law Amended to Permit See MD Statute, Labor and Employment, 3-505(b), An employer may implement a use-it-or-lose-it policy requiring employees to use their leave by a set date or lose it, so long as employees have been informed of the policy in writing and meets all other legal requirements. To care for or treat the employees mental or physical illness, injury or condition; To obtain preventative medical care for the employee or the employees family member; To care for a family member with a mental or physical illness, injury or condition; For an absence due to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking committed against the employee or the employees family member under certain circumstances. Discharge, discipline, or otherwise penalize or threaten to discharge, Unless an employer front loads the leave at the beginning of the year, an employee may only use the number of paid sick and safe leave hours that the employee has accrued. Can an employer deny a request to use earned sick and safe leave? Employers who employ 15 or more employees are required to provide paid earned safe and sick leave. Below is a chart of hypothetical employee hours worked and the number of paid sick leave hours that would accrue in that same time period. other means for accessing non-personal accounts or services that provide access Alternatively, an employee can accrue earned sick and safe leave at the rate of at least one hour for every 30 hours the employee works. Covered reductions in operation include: Notably, new to this legislation, an employer need not provide 60 days notice if: An employer that relies on one of these exceptions shall still provide notice as soon as practicable with a brief statement of the basis for not providing written notice at least 60 days before initiating a reduction in operations. policy. All employees whose primary work location is in Maryland are entitled to accrue sick and safe leave unless they are exempt from coverage under the law. What can an employee use earned sick and safe leave for? *REVISED* The law does not define regularly. While the word is not defined in the law, the Commissioner suggests using the everyday meaning of the word which is normal or customary. Thus, an employee who normally or customarily works less than 12 hours per week would not be covered by the law. 6. These laws clarify and alter existing laws from 2020 and create new requirements for employers. 5. *NEW* Earned sick and safe leave, like other paid fringe benefits, should be compensated at the employees standard rate of pay. Additionally, if the employer awards employees the full amount of sick and safe leave at the beginning of the year, the employer may elect to not allow the carryover of unused leave.