WEISS LLP CLIENT ADVISORY – NOVEMBER 1, 2026

For years, the Washington, DC region had an odd patchwork: the District paid workers for family and medical leave, while Maryland’s program sat on the books unfunded and Virginia had none at all. All that is changing fast: Maryland starts collecting contributions in January 2027, and Virginia, after passing its own law in 2026, will follow in 2028. Meanwhile, DC has just moved in the opposite direction, pulling in some benefits as of October 1, 2026. Here is how the three jurisdictions compare.

SUMMARY OF THE TRI-STATE CONUNDRUM

	Maryland (FAMLI)	District of Columbia (UPL)	Virginia (PFML)
Status	Enacted 2022; launching	Paying benefits since 2020	Enacted 2026; launching
Contributions begin	Jan. 1, 2027	NOW in effect	Apr. 1, 2028
Benefits begin	Jan. 3, 2028	NOW in effect	Dec. 1, 2028
Who pays	Split 50/50 employer/employee	Employer only	Split 50/50 employer/employee
Contribution rate	0.9% of wages (2027), cap 1.2%	0.75% of wages	Set by VEC by Oct. 1, 2027
Small-employer break	Under 15 employees: no employer share	NONE	10 or fewer employees: no employer share
Maximum leave	12 weeks per event; up to 24 in some cases	12 wks parental (+2 prenatal); 10 med.; 6 family	12 weeks
Wage replacement	90% up to a threshold, 50% above	90% up to a threshold, 50% above	About 80%
Weekly maximum	$1,000	$1,100	State average weekly wage (set annually)
Job protection	Yes	Not in UPL itself (see DC FMLA)	Yes
Administered by	MD Dept. of Labor, FAMLI Division	DC Dept. of Employment Services	Virginia Employment Commission

Maryland: the most generous on paper, has finally arrived: taxes begin in 2027 and benefits begin in 2028

Maryland’s “FAMLI” program was created by the Time to Care Act of 2022 and delayed three times before the current schedule was locked in by House Bill 102 in 2025. Payroll contributions start January 1, 2027, at a total rate of 0.9% of wages up to the Social Security wage base, split evenly between employer and employee. Employers with fewer than 15 employees pay only the employee half. Benefits begin January 3, 2028. Workers qualify after 680 hours of Maryland-based work in the prior four quarters and can take up to 12 weeks per qualifying event: bonding with a new child, their own serious health condition, caring for a family member, or a family member’s military deployment. A worker who has both a new child and their own serious health condition in the same year can receive up to 24 weeks, the longest potential duration in the region. Benefits replace 90% of wages up to 65% of the state average weekly wage and 50% above that, capped at $1,000 a week. Leave is job-protected.

DC: the region’s pioneer, now scaling back

DC’s Universal Paid Leave program has paid benefits since 2020, and it is structured differently from the other two: it is funded entirely by employers, through a 0.75% payroll tax, with nothing withheld from workers’ pay. Employees qualify if they spend at least half of their work time in the District. For claims filed on or after October 1, 2026, the District cut benefits for four years to shore up the fund:

• Parental leave stays at 12 weeks, plus 2 weeks of prenatal leave.
• Family caregiving leave drops from 12 weeks to 6 weeks.
• Medical leave drops from 12 weeks to 10 weeks.
• The weekly maximum falls from $1,190 to $1,100.

Family and medical leave revert to 12 weeks for claims filed on or after October 1, 2030; the lower weekly cap does not automatically revert. Notably, the employer tax rate did not go down. UPL is a wage-replacement program, not a job-protection law. Job protection in DC comes from the separate DC Family and Medical Leave Act, which covers employers with 20 or more employees and provides up to 16 weeks of protected leave.

Virginia: a new statewide program, and no county programs for private workers

Statewide: Yes, Virginia now has one. Governor Abigail Spanberger signed SB 2 and HB 1207 in April 2026 (with a ceremonial signing on May 11), making Virginia the first Southern state to adopt paid family and medical leave. The Virginia Employment Commission will run it.

• Contributions begin April 1, 2028, split evenly between employers and employees. The VEC must set the first rate by October 1, 2027; the statute does not set a rate cap. Employers with 10 or fewer employees owe no employer share but must withhold and remit the employee half.
• Benefits begin December 1, 2028: up to 12 weeks a year at about 80% of the worker’s average weekly wage, capped at the statewide average weekly wage. Leave is job-protected.
• Eligibility uses the same earnings test as Virginia unemployment insurance rather than an hours or tenure requirement, so benefits are portable between Virginia employers. Part-time workers are covered, and self-employed people can opt in.
• Employers may use an approved private plan that meets or exceeds state benefits.

Virginia also passed a companion law expanding paid sick leave to nearly all workers, effective July 1, 2027.

Counties: No Virginia county or city runs a paid leave program for private-sector workers, and none is likely to. Under Virginia’s Dillon Rule, localities generally cannot impose workplace mandates on private employers without authority from the General Assembly. What localities do offer is paid leave for their own employees.

SOME IMPORTANT TAKEAWAYS – DON’T LET THESE POINTS SLIP BY YOU!

• Coverage follows the work, not the home. A Virginia resident working in Bethesda will be covered by Maryland; a Maryland resident working downtown is covered by DC. Employers with staff across the region will eventually be running three programs at once.
• The cost lands differently. DC employers pay the whole bill. Maryland and Virginia split it with workers, and both give small employers a break.
• The gap is closing. By the end of 2028, essentially every private-sector worker in the DMV will have access to some form of paid family and medical leave, a first for the region.
• Most significant – you must hire the person back. The law does not consider the fact that you are short one or several employees for a period of time – thus the part-time temporary employment hire becomes important. Unless your business has a rapid turnover, you must deal with replacing employees on a temporary basis, explain to the temps that their work may only be temporary because of the “hire back requirement.” None of the above was relevant nor important to the legislators who drafted the legislation.

This Client Advisory is strictly for clients of Weiss LLP who has requested the information in writing and is not to be considered legal advice to any party absent a specific client legal memorandum addressed to the Client. Contact Weiss LLP for more information how these laws affect your particular employment situation.