Emily WangDoes Maryland law require your employer to give you paid sick leave? If you work in Maryland and your employer has 15 or more employees, the answer is yes — and the details matter both for exercising that right and for avoiding the pitfalls employees and HR managers consistently encounter with the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act (HWFA), MD Code Ann., Labor & Employment §3-1301 through §3-1311.
Who Is Covered by the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act?
The HWFA applies to any employer with at least one employee working in Maryland, but the type of leave owed depends on employer size:
- Employers with 15 or more employees must provide paid sick and safe leave
- Employers with fewer than 15 employees must provide unpaid leave with the same protections
Employee count is measured using the average number of employees over the 12 months preceding the leave request. Part-time and seasonal employees count toward the threshold. Maryland law is broader than the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in this respect — FMLA covers only employers with 50+ employees.
Who is excluded? Independent contractors (true contractors, not misclassified employees), certain seasonal employees who work 120 or fewer days in a year, and employees covered by specified construction industry collective bargaining agreements are exempt from HWFA coverage.
How Does Sick Leave Accrue Under Maryland Law?
Employees earn one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours per year. Accrual begins on the first day of employment, but employers may require a new employee to wait up to 106 days before actually using accrued leave. Part-time and variable-hour employees accrue at the same rate based on actual hours worked. Tipped employees, whose regular rate is the applicable Maryland Minimum Wage 2026 rather than their cash wage, also accrue sick leave on the same 1-in-30 basis.
Employers who choose to front-load (provide all 40 hours at the start of the year) satisfy the accrual requirement without needing to track hour-by-hour accrual. Carryover: up to 40 hours of unused sick leave carries over from one year to the next. However, employers may cap total annual usage at 64 hours (combining carryover and newly accrued leave in a single year).
À retenir: The 40-hour accrual cap is a ceiling, not a floor. Employers may provide more generous sick leave — many do. But they cannot provide less than what the HWFA mandates.
What Reasons Can I Use Maryland Sick Leave For?
The HWFA permits use of sick and safe leave for a broader range of reasons than many workers realize. Under §3-1305, covered employees may use accrued leave for:
- Their own mental or physical illness, injury, or condition — including preventive care appointments
- Care for a covered family member — defined broadly to include a child, spouse, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or "any other individual related by blood or affinity whose close association is the equivalent of a family relationship"
- Maternity or paternity leave after the birth or placement of a child
- Safe leave — time off related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, including medical care, legal proceedings, safety planning, and relocation
- Public health emergencies — when the employee's workplace or a child's school/care facility is closed by order of a public health authority
The law expressly prohibits employers from requiring employees to disclose the specific reason for leave if the employee invokes the HWFA generally. An employer may ask whether the leave is for the employee's own use or for a family member's care — but may not require details about a medical condition or the nature of a domestic violence situation.
Can My Employer Require a Doctor's Note for Sick Leave?
Maryland allows employers to request reasonable documentation only when an employee takes more than two consecutive days of leave. A single sick day or two consecutive sick days cannot require documentation, and an employer cannot discipline or penalize an employee for failing to provide a note for those shorter absences.
For absences of three or more consecutive days, a doctor's note, a signed statement from the employee, or other appropriate documentation is permissible. The documentation must be kept confidential and may not be shared except with managers or HR personnel who need the information to administer the leave.
Scenario: Priya works as a customer service representative for a Columbia, Maryland call center with 40 employees. She takes Monday and Tuesday off because her child has a fever. Her supervisor asks for a doctor's note. Under the HWFA, the employer cannot require documentation for this two-consecutive-day absence. Requiring a note — or penalizing Priya for not providing one — would be a violation of §3-1308.
Can My Employer Retaliate Against Me for Using Maryland Sick Leave?
No. The HWFA's anti-retaliation provision (§3-1308) prohibits employers from taking any adverse action — including termination, demotion, reduction in hours, negative performance reviews, or any other discipline — against an employee for exercising HWFA rights. This includes:
- Requesting or using sick leave for a covered reason
- Filing a complaint about a violation
- Participating in an investigation or proceeding under the HWFA
- Opposing any practice the employee reasonably believes violates the law
Courts and MD DOL investigators look at temporal proximity between the leave use and any adverse action. An employee who is written up the day after returning from HWFA leave has a strong basis for a retaliation claim, even if the employer characterizes the write-up as unrelated.
The MD Commissioner of Labor and Industry may assess civil penalties of up to $1,000 per employee per violation for retaliation. A separate private right of action allows employees to sue directly for damages, including lost wages, emotional distress, and attorney fees.
Does Unused Sick Leave Get Paid Out When I Leave My Job?
No. Maryland law does not require employers to pay out unused accrued sick leave upon termination, resignation, or layoff. This is a key difference from accrued vacation pay (which must be paid out if the employer's policy treats it as a wage). Sick leave ends at separation.
However, if an employer's own policy promises sick leave payout upon separation (some companies do this to attract employees), that policy becomes a binding commitment. The employer must honor it. An employer cannot retroactively eliminate a sick-leave payout promise for leave already accrued.
For a broader understanding of how Maryland's leave laws interact with final pay obligations, see the Maryland Meal and Rest Break Laws article in this dossier.
Disclaimer: This article provides general information about the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act. Employment situations are fact-specific. Consult a licensed Maryland employment attorney for advice tailored to your situation.
