Global Compliance Desk – United States

Maryland’s Flexible Leave Act Now Covers Bereavement Leave
Effective October 1, 2021, the Maryland Flexible Leave Act (MFLA) will be amended to provide eligible employees with Paid Bereavement Leave to be taken for the death of an employee’s immediate family member. This bill shall not provide a new grant of leave, but it shall amend the MFLA to require employers to permit the use of any existing accrued paid leave for bereavement purposes.

Employees who are primarily employed in Maryland are covered by the MFLA.  This leave is applicable to employers who employ 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year. 

Under MFLA, employers provide paid leave to employees which allows an employee to use earned paid leave to care for immediate family members (children, spouse, and parents) with an illness. The law allows employees to use paid leave to care for an immediate family member under the same conditions and rules that would apply for an employee’s own illness.

Paid leave is “paid time away from work that is earned and available to an employee based on hours worked” or granted annually in a fixed amount, and includes sick and vacation leave, paid time off, personal leave, and compensatory time. 

Nevada Kin Care Leave

Effective October 1, 2021, AB-190 shall expressly amend section 608.180 of the Nevada Revised Statutes that will require employers providing paid or unpaid sick leave to allow an employee to use a portion of their accrued sick leave to assist an immediate family member with an illness, injury, medical appointment or other authorized medical need.  Under this new “kin care” law, employers may limit the amount of annual kin care leave to the amount of sick leave that the employee accrues during a 6-month period.

AB 190 expressly states that its provisions do not apply to an employee who is covered under a valid collective bargaining agreement.