Wages paid on or after January 1, 2027 in Maryland will carry a new line on the pay stub: a contribution to the state’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance program, known as FAMLI. The worker’s share is 0.45 percent of wages, matched by the employer. The deduction arrives a full year before the first benefit, because FAMLI payments do not begin until January 1, 2028.
The 0.9 percent rate and the 0.45 percent worker share
The Maryland Department of Labor “set the initial contribution rate at 0.9% of wages up to the Social Security wage cap,” according to the state’s employer contribution page. That total divides evenly, with 0.45 percent coming from the employee and 0.45 percent from the employer. The same page says the total rate cannot exceed 1.2 percent of wages.
Two limits shape the paycheck effect. First, the percentage applies only up to the Social Security wage cap, so earnings above that ceiling are not charged; the state page names the cap but does not print a dollar figure. Second, the state’s April 2026 FAQ says employers “may withhold up to 50% of the total contribution rate from employees’ paychecks,” which puts the employee’s ceiling at the 0.45 percent half.
By simple arithmetic on those published percentages, a $1,000 paycheck would carry a $4.50 employee contribution, and $50,000 in annual wages would carry $225. Those are illustrations of the state’s rate, not figures the agency has published for any particular worker.
Fewer than 15 employees: the half-rate remittance rule
The contribution page carves out small businesses. Employers with fewer than 15 total employees “are only responsible for remitting 50% of the contribution rate,” and the page adds that such an employer may withhold that amount from employee paychecks. The headcount that decides which side of the line an employer falls on is calculated quarterly during 2027. From 2028, per the same page, FAMLI “will average the total number of employees across the previous 4 quarters.”
April 30, 2027: when the first contribution payment is due
Employers collect the employee share through payroll starting in January 2027, but the money does not reach the state that month. The first contribution payment, covering wages paid January 1 through March 31, 2027, is due April 30, 2027, the contribution page says. Later quarters follow a fixed calendar: July 31 for April through June wages, October 31 for July through September wages, and January 31 for October through December wages.
The rate is also not locked in for good. Starting in November 2027, the Maryland Department of Labor will announce the contribution rate for the following calendar year, within the 1.2 percent ceiling. The 0.9 percent figure is therefore the starting rate, not a permanent one.
Why the first benefit waits until January 1, 2028
Maryland’s paid leave start dates have moved before. A fiscal note on House Bill 102 of the 2025 session describes a bill that “delays the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) Program’s start dates by 18 months to January 1, 2027, for required contributions,” moving them from July 1, 2025. The same note lets the Secretary of Labor set the benefit date between January 1, 2027 and January 3, 2028.
Maryland Department of Labor Secretary Portia Wu, in a February 14, 2025 statement proposing the longer timeline, said, “State agencies like MD Labor are laser-focused on supporting Marylanders as we all respond in real-time to the cascading impacts of federal decisions.” The department’s release tied the extension to uncertainty for workers and employers after federal actions, citing roughly 225,000 Maryland jobs supported by federal contracts in 2023.
The dates are now fixed on the program’s own site. Its home page says: “Starting January 1, 2028, eligible employees will be able to take up to 12 weeks of paid, job-protected leave.” The weekly benefit is listed at up to $1,000. A worker whose paycheck is smaller from January 2027 therefore cannot file a claim during 2027, no matter when a baby arrives or an illness begins.
Eligibility and exclusions in the FAMLI program
The program’s About the Program page says eligible employees must have worked at least 680 hours in a Maryland-localized position during the four calendar quarters before a claim or leave start. Full-time and part-time workers, seasonal workers and paid interns are covered, and hours from several employers can be combined for a worker who changes jobs.
The same page lists who is outside the program: federal employees working in Maryland, people who are unemployed when they claim, and retirees. Self-employed Maryland residents, per the April 2026 FAQ, will be able to opt in at a later date. Federal employees, the FAQ states, will not be covered and cannot opt in.
Questions about the deduction or the claim process go to the Maryland Department of Labor’s paid leave line at (410) 525-4010, listed on the program’s home page. The April 2026 FAQ is explicit on the timetable: payroll deductions begin January 1, 2027, and benefits begin in January 2028.
Keeping account records straight as take-home pay shifts
The FAMLI deduction takes a fixed share of each Maryland paycheck from January 1, 2027, a year before the first benefit can be claimed, and the program’s rules say nothing about how households keep a smaller deposit from colliding with fixed bills. The costly gap is an account that runs short in January with no record of what came in, what was due and what was disputed. That leaves the practical job of documenting account activity and responding in writing if a collector calls.
The Bank Account & Debt Protection Kit includes a protected-funds and dispute log and the debt-validation steps, so a household can record account activity and answer a collector in writing.
Open The Bank Account & Debt Protection Kit and start a protected-funds log →
This piece was drafted with AI assistance; the contribution rate, dates and eligibility rules were checked against the Maryland Department of Labor’s FAMLI pages, its April 2026 FAQ and the 2025 legislative fiscal note.
