This Law Firm Publication by Jackson Lewis P.C. discusses Maryland's Parental Leave Act, which Governor O'Malley signed into law on May 5, 2014. Effective October 1, 2014, the new law requires employers with 15 to 49 employees in Maryland to provide eligible employees with six workweeks of unpaid leave for the birth of a child or placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care. To be eligible, employees must have been employed for at least 12 months and have worked 1,250 hours prior to the start of the leave. Employers may deny employees requested leave only if it is necessary to prevent "substantial and grievous economic injury" to its operations and they notify employees of the denial before the leave begins.