Maryland Healthy Working Families Act—Labor Law Poster Pending

The State of Maryland’s Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation (DLLR) released initial guidance documents regarding the new Healthy Working Families Act that went into effect on February 11, 2018.

Purpose of the New Law

The Healthy Working Families Act requires businesses in Maryland with 15 or more employees to provide up to 40 hours of paid sick and safe leave to workers each year. Businesses with 14 or fewer employees must provide up to 40 hours of unpaid sick and safe leave to workers per year.

What Employers Should Know

In January, Maryland’s General Assembly attempted to delay the implementation of the new law until July 1st, 2018 by introducing an emergency bill. However, the bill did not pass by the effective date of February 11th, 2018 and employers were required to begin tracking accrual of paid sick and safe leave.

The General Assembly will remain in session until April 9, 2018. Other bills have also been introduced that may significantly affect the Healthy Working Families Act. Due to the confusion sparked by the on-going legislation, the DLLR has released informal guidance documents to help employers comply with the new law until policies are finalized. The guidance documents can be accessed here.

Posting Requirement

In addition to providing written notice of the new Healthy Working Families Act to each employee, employers must post a notice of the law in a conspicuous place that employees can readily access. Maryland’s Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation created draft samples of a posting notice in both English and Spanish to help employers fulfill this requirement. Employers can view, download, and print the draft sample posters here.

Poster Compliance Center is committed to providing employers with official mandatory posting notices as soon as they are available. We will continue to track the legislation regarding the Healthy Working Families Act and update our Maryland Labor Law Poster when the official version of the posting notice is released from the state. In the meantime, you may download, print, and post the draft sample to satisfy the requirement of the law.