Maryland FAMLI counts employer size across every state under one federal EIN, but calculates contributions only on wages for work localized in Maryland. Your quarterly report has to state the out-of-state headcount, and leaving that field blank means you are treated as not small and pay double.
This page is about Maryland FAMLI, administered by the Maryland Department of Labor, FAMLI Division. Colorado runs a separate paid leave program with the same name and different rules; nothing here applies to it.
The calculator asks for both numbers separately, and warns you the moment your EIN headcount and your Maryland headcount put you on the wrong side of the line.
Maryland FAMLI asks employers for two headcounts, and they are not interchangeable.
Mixing them up costs money in both directions. An employer that reports only its Maryland staff as its size may claim a small-employer rate it is not entitled to. An employer that never tells the Department how many people it has outside Maryland loses a small-employer rate it is entitled to.
To be classified as small, your quarterly wage report has to state how many of your employees work outside Maryland. COMAR 09.42.02.08C and D Leave that field empty and you are treated as not small, and you pay 0.9 percent instead of 0.45 percent.
No penalty, no notice, no correspondence. A blank field, and the rate doubles.
This is the one thing on this site most likely to cost a reader real money, which is why the calculator raises it as a warning rather than a footnote whenever your EIN headcount is higher than your Maryland headcount and you are inside the small band.
Contributions are due on wages paid for qualified employment, which is work localized in Maryland. A fully remote employee living and working in Baltimore for a Denver company is a Maryland employee. A Maryland-headquartered company's salesperson who lives and works in Pennsylvania is not. Independent contractors are not employees for this purpose in either direction.
Edge cases (employees who split their time across state lines, employees seconded for part of the year, staffing arrangements where two entities could each be the employer) are genuinely hard, and neither this page nor the calculator resolves them. Ask FAMLI Customer Care on (410) 525-4010, and get the answer in writing.
Both firms below employ 10 people in Maryland and pay them $750,000 a year between them. Only the out-of-state headcount differs.
| Employees working in Maryland | 10 |
|---|---|
| Total employees under one EIN | 40 |
| Annual Maryland payroll | $750,000 |
| Payroll frequency | Monthly |
| Band | Standard, 15 or more under the EIN |
|---|---|
| Rate applied | 0.90% |
| Employer share, full year 2027 | $3,375.00 |
| Employee share, full year 2027 | $3,375.00 |
| Total for 2027 | $6,750.00 |
| Extra cost of the out-of-state headcount | $3,375.00 a year |
Computed by famliclock.com from the published 2027 rate of 0.9 percent and the 2026 Social Security taxable maximum of $184,500, on 21 September 2026. Wages are assumed to be spread evenly across the headcount, which produces the largest figure the employer could owe. These are estimates, not a filing.
| Employees working in Maryland | 10 |
|---|---|
| Total employees under one EIN | 12 |
| Annual Maryland payroll | $750,000 |
| Payroll frequency | Monthly |
| Band | Small employer, under 15 |
|---|---|
| Rate applied | 0.45% |
| Employer share, full year 2027 | $0.00 |
| Employee share, full year 2027 | $3,375.00 |
| Total for 2027 | $3,375.00 |
| If the out-of-state headcount field is left blank | $3,375.00 more a year |
Computed by famliclock.com from the published 2027 rate of 0.9 percent and the 2026 Social Security taxable maximum of $184,500, on 21 September 2026. Wages are assumed to be spread evenly across the headcount, which produces the largest figure the employer could owe. These are estimates, not a filing.
The Maryland payroll is identical. The bill is not. The only variable is a headcount in another state.
Take the second firm, the one entitled to the small-employer rate at $3,375.00 a year, and leave the out-of-state headcount field blank on its quarterly report. It is deemed not small and pays 0.9 percent: $3,375.00 more a year, for an empty box.
Yes. Employer size is total headcount under the same federal EIN, inside and outside Maryland. Contributions themselves are calculated only on wages for work localized in Maryland.
To be classified small, your quarterly wage report must state how many employees work outside Maryland. If it does not, you are deemed not small and pay 0.9 percent instead of 0.45 percent.
An employee whose work is localized in Maryland is covered, including a remote worker living and working in Maryland for an out-of-state company. Contractors are not employees for this purpose.
Rates and dates last verified against these sources on 21 September 2026. Where this page and the Maryland Department of Labor disagree, the Department is right and this page is wrong; tell us at hello@02launch.com and a dedicated engineer fixes it within 6 hours.
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