New state law changes employers’ leave policies
October 28, 2008 by Sam NarisiPosted in: Benefits Law, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, State and local law
Here’s another version of the bills mandating paid sick and family leave many states are considering.
The Maryland Flexible Leave Act (MFLA) went into effect on October 1.
The law doesn’t require companies to offer paid time off for illness — but if a company does, it now has to let employees use that time to care for an immediate family member’s illness.
Unlike FMLA, there’s nothing that says the illness has to be serious.
The law applies to all employers with 15 or more employees working in Maryland. Affected companies should review their policies and make sure they allow PTO to be used to care for family members.
Tags: Maryland Flexible Leave Act, paid time off, sick leave
October 29th, 2008 at 10:39 am
We do this anyway. Sometimes parents need to stay home with their kids and we consider that a legitimate use of sick leave. We also allow an employee to use their sick leave when they need to take care of an ailing parent. The employee has the option to take the time off as paid or unpaid sick leave. But that’s just “business as usual” for us. Seems to be pretty common in this region.