LEONARDTOWN — When most Maryland workers see a new paid-leave deduction on their paychecks in January, St. Mary’s County government employees won’t. Their contributions are set to start a year later, when the benefits do.
The Commissioners of St. Mary’s County on Oct. 27 named Human Resources Director Dina Davis the county’s authorized officer for Maryland’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance program, known as FAMLI. The vote lets the county register with the state before the Nov. 15, 2026, deadline and file a declaration that it intends to run its own equivalent private insurance plan rather than join the state plan.
FAMLI will give eligible workers up to 12 weeks of paid, job-protected leave, with benefits scheduled to begin in January 2028, Davis told the commissioners. For most employers, contributions start much sooner. Under the state plan, payroll contributions begin with wages paid Jan. 1, 2027, at a total rate of 0.9% of wages, split evenly between employer and employee.
Asked when county employees would start paying, Davis said the county intends to begin in January 2028. When a commissioner said he had understood workers pay a year in advance, Davis said that would be true if the county were not a local government, and that local governments are exempt from paying in 2027.
That reflects a change state lawmakers made in 2025. The bill that pushed FAMLI’s start dates back also freed local government employers pursuing private plans from holding contributions in escrow, so they will not owe premiums until benefits actually begin, the Maryland Association of Counties explained. The commissioner called it a good deal for county employees, while noting that workers elsewhere will pay through 2027 before they can draw a benefit.
A first step, not a final choice
Davis said the declaration does not commit St. Mary’s to any insurer or plan. In September 2023, the commissioners approved joining a statewide insurance collaborative with other local governments and boards of education, and the county has until fall 2027 to settle its approach and apply for state approval of a private plan. MACo lists the private-plan application deadline as Oct. 1, 2027, and notes that a county that later switches to the state plan would owe state contributions retroactively, with interest and penalties.
Human Resources will work with finance and payroll on employee communications and required reporting, and any decision that needs commissioner approval will come back to the board, Davis said. Asked whether FAMLI would mean hiring another person, she said she hopes not: a private insurer would handle much of the administrative work, while running the state plan in-house would likely require an added position.
The state opened FAMLI registration for employers in September after a rollout that had been delayed three times since lawmakers created the program in 2022. Private employers with fewer than 15 workers do not pay the employer share, though their employees still contribute.
