The Maryland Healthy Working Families Act (“MHWFA”) provides unpaid or paid sick leave for certain employees, depending on employer size and type of employee. Employers with 15 or more employees must provide paid sick leave once accrued. Employers with less than 15 employees are only required to provide unpaid sick leave once accrued. If you’ve been working for a business for more than 106 days, you will likely have accrued at least some sick leave under the MHWFA. However, businesses are not required to allow employees to use more than 8 days of sick leave per year; also, they are not required to allow their employees to use sick leave for school closures or quarantine. For additional FAQs about the MHWFA, visit our Maryland sick leave FAQs in the “Resources” area below (and here in Spanish). See more information on the MHWFA here.  Montgomery County also has a sick leave law; view a fact sheet on their local law here. You can also learn about sick leave under the American Rescue Plan here.

FFCRA took effect April 1, 2020, and mandated that certain employers allow eligible employees to take paid leave due to COVID-19 under specified circumstances. FFCRA did three things to help workers: it provided emergency paid sick leave (“Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act”); it expanded Family Medical Leave (“Emergency Family Medical Leave Expansion”); and it expanded Unemployment Insurance (UI) assistance to states that meet certain criteria. The Department of Labor released guidance on how the FFCRA would affect certain employees at this link. The FFCRA expired on December 31, 2020, but to learn more about your possible coverage – and whether you should have been paid sick leave under the law before December 31, 2020, see the answers to the FFCRA-related questions below.

In general, employees of a business with fewer than 500 employees. Unfortunately, healthcare providers and emergency responders are not eligible for sick leave under this Act.

An employee can take paid sick leave if they are unable to work because:

1. The employee is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID–19.
2. The employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID–19.
3. The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID–19 and seeking a medical diagnosis.
4. The employee is caring for an individual who is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19 or the employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19.
5. The employee is caring for a son or daughter of such employee if the school or place of care of the son or daughter has been closed, or the childcare provider of such son or daughter is unavailable, due to COVID–19 precautions.
6. The employee is experiencing any other substantially similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor.

80 hours for full time employees. For part-time employees, the average number of hours they work over a two-week period.

An employee taking leave for the first two reasons above should receive their regular rate of pay or minimum wage (up to $511 per day for higher earners or $200 for reasons 4-6 above), but an employee taking leave to care for another will be paid two-thirds of their usual rate of pay.

• After the first workday (or portion of a workday) when an employee receives paid sick time, they must follow reasonable notice procedures to continue receiving such paid sick time.
• An employer CANNOT require an employee to use other paid leave before using this emergency COVID-related leave.
• Businesses with fewer than 50 employees may apply for a hardship exemption to avoid providing paid leave for employees who cannot work due to school or childcare closings (reason #5 to take FFCRA sick leave above).
• The law is brand new and there are many questions regarding how it will work. The US Department of Labor released their initial guidance at this link.
  

Yes, FFCRA expanded family medical leave to respond to COVID-19 until December 31, 2020.

Employers with fewer than 500 employees and employees who have been employed there for at least 30 calendar days.

An employee can use expanded family medical leave if unable to work or telework due to a need for leave to care for a son or daughter who is under 18 if the child’s school or place of care was closed or the care provider is unavailable due to a public health emergency related to the coronavirus. Under expanded family medical leave:

• the first 10 days can be unpaid (but during this period, an employee can substitute any accrued vacation leave, personal leave, or medical or sick leave, including emergency sick leave above);
• after the first 10 days, the employer must provide paid leave at an amount not less than two-thirds of the employee’s regular rate based on the number of hours the employee would regularly be scheduled to work;
• paid family medical leave may not exceed $200 per day ($10,000 aggregate); and
• an employee taking such leave is entitled to return from leave to their restored job position or equivalent job position with equivalent employment benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment. But, an employer with fewer than 25 employees does need not restore an employee’s job if: (i) position held no longer exists due to conditions caused by the public health emergency and (ii) employer made reasonable efforts to restore to equivalent position with equivalent benefits and (iii) if reasonable efforts fail, employer makes reasonable efforts over a 1-year period to contact the individual if such a position becomes available.

Any leave an employee has earned under the MHWFA can be used in addition to leave the employee may be eligible for under the recently passed FFCRA.

If your employer has a website or you can ask your employer, start there.

• After April 1, 2020, you may be eligible for 10 paid sick days (80 hours) at two-thirds your usual pay, up to $511 per day. You cannot be required by your employer to find a replacement and you cannot be forced to take other leave you have first. This law applies to businesses with fewer than 500 employees. For more information see above on “FFCRA.”
• You may be eligible for 12 weeks of public health emergency family medical leave if you have been employed at this job for at least 30 calendar days. The first 10 of these days may be other paid leave (sick leave, above, or other vacation or paid time off) followed by your usually pay, only up to $200 per day. For more information, see above on “FFCRA.”
• You may be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. If you leave work to care for a child, you may be unemployed through no fault of your own and be eligible for unemployment insurance if you meet other eligibility requirements. For more information, visit the Maryland Department of Labor’s Unemployment Insurance Division website. You can view their FAQs on COVID-19 and Maryland’s Unemployment Insurance benefits administration. To file a claim, call 410-949-0022 (within the Baltimore-metro area and out-of-state) between 7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday or 1-800-827-4839 (from within Maryland), or file online.

Unemployment insurance

You may be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits, and there are new rules to help workers impacted by COVID-19 even if they otherwise would not be eligible for benefits. Please review information related to the new rules, and when workers will be able to apply here: https://www.dllr.state.md.us/employment/unemployment.shtml.

You can also view the Maryland Department of Labor’s Unemployment Insurance Division FAQs on COVID-19 and Maryland’s Unemployment Insurance benefits administration here. To file an initial regular unemployment claim online or through a call center, the Maryland Department of Labor asks that you file your claim according to your last name as detailed below:

• If your last name starts with A – F, file your claim on Monday.
• If your last name starts with G – N, file your claim on Tuesday.
• If your last name starts with O – Z, file your claim on Wednesday.
• Claim filing is open to all last names by phone on Thursday and Friday and online Thursday through Sunday.
• Filing later in the week will not delay your payments or affect the date of your claim.

Claims Centers telephone are open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. To contact a Claim Center, call 410-949-0022.  Applicants are asked to use NetClaims application to file a claim and to file early in the morning or late in the evening for faster processing speeds.

Misclassification and unemployment insurance

If you were working under the direction and control of an entity or person, and not in business for yourself, but your boss told you that you are an independent contractor rather than an employee, you may have been misclassified. Find out more about the difference between employees and independent contractors here. If you were misclassified as an independent contractor, you may still be eligible for unemployment insurance. If your claim is denied and you believe you were misclassified, call Maryland Legal Aid for help with an appeal. For a list of intake hours by location, check here. To complete an online intake with Maryland Legal Aid, click here.

• You may be eligible for paid sick leave. See above.
• After April 1, 2020, you may be eligible for 10 paid sick days (80 hours) at two-thirds your usual pay, up to $511 per day if your employer has fewer than 500 employees under a new federal law. You cannot be required to find a replacement, and you cannot be forced to take other leave first. For more information see information on “FFCRA” above.
• If your employer has 15 or more employees, you may be able to use up to eight paid sick days (64 hours), depending on how much leave you have accrued and used. See above on MHWFA and here for frequently asked questions about the MHWFA. Check with your employer and find out more about Maryland’s Healthy Working Families Act here.
• If you need leave for a longer period of time, you may be eligible for unpaid leave. Check your eligibility for family medical leave above and here.
• You may also qualify for unemployment insurance benefits if you have no leave left and expect to return to work. For more information, visit the Maryland Department of Labor’s Unemployment Insurance Division website. You can view their FAQs on COVID-19 and Maryland’s Unemployment Insurance benefits administration here. To file a claim, call 410-949-0022 (within the Baltimore-metro area and out-of-state) between 7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday or 1-800-827-4839 (from within Maryland), or file online.

You can generally use sick leave to care for a family member. See above information on “I am sick and cannot work.”

• You also may be eligible for 10 paid sick days (80 hours) at two-thirds your usual pay, up to $511 per day after April 1, 2020. You cannot be required to find a replacement, and you cannot be forced to take other leave first. This is a new law that applies to businesses with fewer than 500 employees. For more information on the new federal sick leave law, see here.
• If you are not ill and do not have other paid leave, you may be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits if you meet certain eligibility requirements. For more information, visit the Maryland Department of Labor’s Unemployment Insurance Division website. You can view their FAQs on COVID-19 and Maryland’s Unemployment Insurance benefits administration here. You can apply for unemployment insurance benefits online or by phone at 410-949-0022 (within the Baltimore-metro area and out-of-state) between 7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, or 1-800-827-4839 (from within Maryland).

If your employer has reduced your normal work hours as a result of COVID-19, you may be eligible for partial benefits. You can apply for unemployment insurance benefits online or by phone at 410-949-0022 (within the Baltimore-metro area and out-of-state) between 7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday or 1-800-827-4839 (from within Maryland).

Beginning tomorrow on Wednesday, April 1, our Unemployment Insurance Claim Center hours will be further extended to 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. We are encouraging Marylanders to begin filing their claim using the new system outlined below. pic.twitter.com/lKwwATXgmX

— MD Department of Labor (@MD_Labor) April 1, 2020

Maryland Legal Aid may be able to assist with an appeal. Call their intake hotline. For a list of intake hours by location, check here. You can also complete an online intake with Maryland Legal Aid here.

• True independent contractors are in business for themselves, and not generally protected under unemployment insurance or other laws the way employees are. However, some businesses misclassify their employees as independent contractors.
• Maryland unemployment law presumes that workers are employees unless the business/employer can prove these three things:
  • The worker is free from direction and control;
  • The worker is customarily engaged in an independent business of the same nature as that involved in the work that they perform; and
  • The work is outside the usual course of business of the business/person for whom it is performed OR the work is performed outside any place of business of the business/person for whom it is performed.

• If, based on the factors above, you believe you are an employee and not an independent contractor, you may be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. For more information, visit the Maryland Department of Labor’s Unemployment Insurance Division website. You can view their FAQs on COVID-19 and Maryland’s Unemployment Insurance benefits administration. You can apply for unemployment insurance benefits online or by phone at 410-949-0022 (within the Baltimore-metro area and out-of-state) between 7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday or 1-800-827-4839 (from within Maryland). If your claim is denied, Maryland Legal Aid may be able to assist with an appeal. Call their intake hotline. For a list of intake hours by location, check here. To complete an online intake with Maryland Legal Aid, click here.

• We recognize that the above laws do not cover all workers and need your help to change that! We have been working hard since the passage of the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act to make it stronger and protect more Maryland workers.
• We need your help to advocate for legislation to ensure all workers are protected with sick leave laws. If you see that you’re not protected, please call us at (410) 625-9409 so we can learn more and possibly share your story with legislators on why sick leave laws must be more expansive and cover all workers.