Maryland Paid Family and Medical Leave (MD PFML) Proposed Changes to Timeline
Read more from the Guardian Absence Management blog
On February 14, 2025, the Maryland Department of Labor released a press release proposing a delay to the Maryland Paid Family and Medical Leave (MD PFML) program. See the table below:
| Current Dates | Proposed Dates |
Date Payroll Deductions Begin | July 1, 2025 | January 1, 2027 |
Date Benefits Begin | July 1, 2026 | January 1, 2028 |
Per the press release, “Recent sweeping, unprecedented changes at the federal level have given rise to a high degree of instability and uncertainty for Maryland employers and workers.” As a result, the Maryland Department of Labor Secretary Portia Wu has indicated, “State agencies like MD Labor are laser-focused on supporting Marylanders as we all respond in real-time to the cascading impacts of federal decisions. This focus includes our efforts to provide critical support for employees of federal agencies, organizations that rely on federal funding, and impacted employers and employees in the private sector.”
The proposed changes to the implementation timeline will require legislative action by the General Assembly in the coming weeks.
In anticipation of the extended timeline, the Maryland Department of Labor is pausing regulatory timelines. This includes the process for private plan applications originally scheduled to begin in May 2025.
Guardian will continue to monitor developments and keep our customers informed.