Baltimore employers follow the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act (MD §3-1301+), requiring earned paid sick and safe leave. Employers with 15 or more employees must pay; smaller employers must allow unpaid leave.
Maryland's Healthy Working Families Act (Labor & Employment §3-1301 through §3-1311), effective 2018, requires Baltimore employers with 15 or more employees to provide one hour of paid sick and safe leave per 30 hours worked, capped at 40 hours per year. Smaller employers must offer the same accrual unpaid. Leave covers the worker's own illness, family caregiving, preventive care, domestic violence, and certain child-school closures. Workers accrue from their first day and may use leave after 106 calendar days. The Maryland Commissioner of Labor enforces; Baltimore has not added a higher local floor.
Employers denying or retaliating against earned leave face Maryland Commissioner of Labor orders, civil penalties up to $1,000 per worker, and treble damages plus attorney fees in private suits.
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See how Baltimore's paid leave preemption rules stack up against other locations.
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