Paid leave programs set to take effect in two different states over the next year may be delayed due to efforts by lawmakers and government officials.
Business leaders and Republicans serving in Minnesota’s state legislature are seeking to modify a paid family leave program set to take effect Jan. 1, 2026, while Maryland labor officials may delay the implementation of a similar program slated to start in July.
Critics of Minnesota’s program expressed concern about the economic and logistical impact paid family leave will have on some businesses, while Maryland’s labor secretary cited instability created by the Trump administration’s policies targeting the federal workforce.
Minnesota GOP seeks to delay, modify paid family leave. Minnesota’s paid family and medical leave program, which would allow workers to take up to 12 weeks of leave, partially paid, to bond with a new baby or care for a loved one, was signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz in 2023.
The law has faced pushback from Minnesota’s business community, and in recent weeks leaders have expressed concerns about the costs employers will incur for providing the benefit, as well as how the program could affect business operations, particularly for small firms or school districts, for example. The program would be funded by a payroll tax of up to 1.2%, which could be split between employers and their employees.
A bill sponsored by state Republicans that would have delayed the program’s start until 2027 was tabled on Mar. 10.
Minnesota state senator Matt Klein defended the law in an interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune, arguing paid leave is a popular benefit among Fortune 500 companies because “it’s the best employee satisfaction and retention tool out there.” The goal of this program, he continued, is to “make sure that same product is available to all Minnesotans regardless of where they work.”
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Maryland DOL proposes pushing back paid leave. A Maryland program that would give workers 12 weeks of leave to care for a family member while still earning up to $1,000 a week may be delayed due to instability created by the Trump administration.
On Feb. 14 the Maryland Department of Labor recommended starting payroll deductions for the program in January 2027, rather than this July, with benefits becoming available in January 2028.
The agency cited “sweeping, unprecedented changes at the federal level” that created “a high degree of instability and uncertainty for Maryland employers and workers,” when explaining the reasoning behind the recommendation. Since taking office, President Donald Trump has overseen layoffs affecting thousands of federal workers, many of whom reside in Maryland.
A separate legislative proposal put forward by Stephen S. Hershey Jr., a Republican state senator, seeks to delay the start date of the program by another two years. The senator expressed concern that the paid leave program would dissuade new businesses from setting up in Maryland at a time when the state is facing a $3 billion budget shortfall.
“This is not the type of policy that we need to move forward with if we’re trying to attract businesses,” Hershey said.
Where paid family leave stands in the US. As of Feb. 20, 13 states and Washington, DC, had enacted mandatory paid family leave programs, while another 10 states had established voluntary systems providing the benefit through private insurance.
Although US lawmakers have been working to revamp the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which is unpaid, these efforts haven’t yet resulted in a federal paid leave program.
Some 40% of organizations surveyed by the Society for Human Resource Management offered paid parental leave as of 2024.