CUMBERLAND — Allegany County recently discussed implementation of the Time to Care Act, passed by the Maryland General Assembly in 2022, that established the Family and Medical Leave Insurance program.
The plan allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks per year of job-protected and paid — up to $1,000 per week — time off work for reasons that include the birth of a child or care for a loved one. The program begins Jan. 1, 2028.
According to Maryland.gov, the plan is funded through quarterly contributions from employers and employees.
“FAMLI is an insurance program where contributions go into a dedicated fund that provides partial wage replacement during a period of leave, offering greater financial predictability for both workers and employers,” the website states. “All employers with at least one Maryland-based employee are required to register. Employers have the choice to participate in FAMLI’s state plan or apply to provide a private plan.”
Under the program, employers can withhold up to half the contribution rate from employees via payroll deductions.
Employers with fewer than 15 employees qualify for FAMLI’s small employer reduction and are exempt from the employer’s portion of the contribution.
“More than 80% of Maryland employers will qualify for this discount, designed to support Maryland’s small businesses,” the website states.
Allegany County Director of Human Resources Kristi Liller said the program works similarly to unemployment insurance, and applies to situations that include serious health conditions of an employee or their family member or for military deployment.
“We can go with the state plan where they would administer everything for us,” she said, adding that commercial or self-insured plans provide alternative paths. “All three of those options come with their own positives and negatives, so we’re kind of trying to look at those more closely at this point.”
The county has the option to pass up to 50% of the premiums to employees through payroll deductions, Liller said.
“Just from our research, several state agencies who have already implemented that state program as of July 1, they’ve been having many issues,” she said. “We were even told there was a department that had to close down for the day because they had no staff to operate.”
Liller said preliminary estimates indicate the county’s price for premiums under the program will be $250,000 to $350,000 per year.
She said the cost might be slightly less if the county chooses the state plan and added that under that scenario, “we do have to start making contributions as of July 1, 2027.”
Allegany County Administrator Jason Bennett said the program has also been discussed by local school board officials.
“They’re no different than we are and every other organization we’ve spoken to,” he said. “They’re really conflicted as to what to do.”
The program has been implemented at the Allegany County Health Department because it includes state employees, Bennett said.
“They’re having some issues,” he said, and spoke of potential staff problems at other local departments, including EMS, sheriff and the 911 center.
“We’ve got 24/7 operations, so as you have people out on sick leave, you can’t not fill a shift. You’re now covering it with overtime.”
Bennett said the county must notify Maryland officials by Nov. 15 to opt out of the state plan.
“One way or another … we’re gonna have to make it into next year’s budget,” he said, adding that county officials won’t be able to predict the exact amount of overtime to include.
“It will take us a year or two to figure out how bad that’s gonna be and it’s gonna be bad. There’s no way around that.”
Allegany County Commissioner Dave Caporale said the local prisons are “already stretched” in terms of staffing.
“You start punching holes in that and you’re gonna have problems,” he said.