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(a) The requirements of subsection (c) of this section must not apply if:
(1) the County establishes a private employer plan approved by the Maryland Secretary of Labor under the Time to Care Act of 2022, Chapter 48 of the 2022 Laws of Maryland, as amended; and
(2) the plan established by the County under paragraph (1) of this subsection provides to each employee at least 240 hours of paid parental FAMLI leave annually.
(b) Definitions. For purposes of this Section, the following words have the meanings indicated.
FAMLI leave means employee leave under the State FAMLI Program.
FMLA leave means employee leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C § 2601 et seq., as amended.
Parent means a biological parent, an adoptive parent, or a foster parent. Parent includes the spouse or domestic partner of a parent.
Parental FAMLI leave means FAMLI leave, taken by an employee who is a parent, to care for a newborn child, a newly adopted child, or a newly placed foster child within 12 months of the child’s birth, adoption, or placement. Parental FAMLI leave includes FAMLI leave taken by an employee who is the parent of a stillborn child within 12 months of the stillbirth.
State FAMLI Program means:
(1) the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program required by the State of Maryland under the Time to Care Act of 2022, Chapter 48 of the 2022 Laws of Maryland, as amended; or
(2) a private employer plan established by the County and approved by the Maryland Secretary of Labor under the Time to Care Act of 2022, Chapter 48 of the 2022 Laws of Maryland, as amended.
(c) County supplement to State FAMLI program benefits for parental FAMLI leave – required.
(1) Except as provided under paragraph (2) of this subsection, the County must pay an employee on parental FAMLI leave the employee’s County salary, reduced by the amount of any benefit the employee is entitled to receive for the leave under the State FAMLI Program.
(2) The County’s payments under paragraph (1) of this subsection must be provided to compensate up to:
(A) 240 hours of parental FAMLI leave within a 12-month period, for an employee scheduled to work 40 hours per week; or
(B) a prorated amount of parental FAMLI leave within a 12-month period, for an employee scheduled to work more or less than 40 hours a week.
(d) Continuance of benefits.
(1) An employee on parental FAMLI leave must continue to receive employee insurance benefits.
(3) An employee on parental FAMLI leave must continue to receive retirement credit under the Employees’ Retirement System in Article III or the Retirement Savings Plan in Article VIII, as applicable.
(e) Relationship to other employee leave.
(1) Concurrence of leave.
(A) Except as provided under paragraph (2) of this subsection, parental FAMLI leave taken under this Section must not count against any other type of leave of the employee.
(B) Parental FAMLI leave must run concurrently with FMLA leave.
(2) Exhaustion of other leave – not required. Prior to taking parental FAMLI leave under this Section, an employee must not be required to exhaust any other type of leave provided to the employee under a collective bargaining agreement or other applicable law, including County personnel regulations.
(f) Collective bargaining. This Section must not be construed to diminish any employee leave required by a collective bargaining agreement under this Chapter.
(g) Regulations. The Executive may adopt Method (2) regulations to implement this Section, including regulations to specify how, consistent with the State FAMLI program and other applicable law, parental FAMLI leave relates to other types of employee leave. (2022 L.M.C., ch. 25, §1.)
Editor’s note—2022 L.M.C., ch. 25, §2, states: Sec. 2. Effective date and sunset. On the first day that an individual may file a claim under the State FAMLI Program: (1) County Code Section 33-27 amended under Section 1 of this Act, must sunset and must have no further force and effect; and (2) County Code Section 33-28, amended under Section 1 of this Act, must take effect.
2022 L.M.C., Ch. 25, §3, states: Sec. 3. Required Assessment. By January 1, 2024, the Office of Legislative Oversight must provide to the Council: (1) data, which must be provided to the Office of Legislative Oversight by the Office of Human Resources in analyzable form, regarding County employee parental leave usage by race, ethnicity, occupational class, and wages; (2) a racial equity and social justice assessment of the implementation of this Act; and (3) any recommendations to improve the racial equity and social justice impacts of this Act, based on its implementation.
(a) An employee must be provided with reasonable break time during the workday to accommodate the need for lactation.
(b) Compensation. The County may not be required to compensate an employee receiving reasonable break time under subsection (a) for any time spent expressing breast milk at work.
(c) Regulations. The Director may promulgate Method (2) regulations to implement the requirements of this Section. (2022 L.M.C., ch. 26, §1.)
(a) Personnel regulations. The County Executive must adopt personnel regulations under Method (1) to establish a lactation accommodation policy. The policy, at a minimum, must contain guidelines regarding:
(1) the process to request the use of a lactation room, as provided under Section 8-14C(b);
(2) the process to request break time under Section 33-27;
(3) the availability of a lactation room as required under subsection (c); and
(4) best practices for maintenance of a lactation room, including recommended general cleaning of milk expression areas and storage of breast milk in the designated refrigerator.
(b) Outreach and Education. The Director of the Office of Human Resources must provide, or cause to be provided, on its website informational materials related to prenatal and postpartum breastfeeding for County employees.
(c) The Director of the Office of Human Resources, by use of existing or potential resources, must establish a method to communicate with County employees:
(1) the location of a lactation room in a County building; and
(2) the availability of that room for use. (2022 L.M.C., ch. 26, §1.)
Secs. 33-31—33-33. Reserved.
Notes
| 1 | ---------- Collective bargaining. (a) It is the policy of Montgomery County that all County employees should have a multi-tier service- connected disability retirement system which includes a: (1) partial incapacity service-connected disability retirement benefit for any injury or illness that prevents an employee from continuing in the employee’s current position but does not prevent the employee from engaging in other substantial gainful employment; and (2) total incapacity service-connected disability retirement benefit for any injury or illness that prevents an employee from engaging in any other substantial gainful employment. (b) It is also the policy of the County that disability benefits are a mandatory subject of collective bargaining with each appropriate certified employee representative. (c) Notwithstanding any County law to the contrary, the County Executive may separately negotiate the terms of an appropriate multi-tier service-connected disability retirement system with the certified employee representative for the police bargaining unit and the certified representative for the OPT and SLT bargaining units, in each case not later than March 1, 2012. If in either case the parties are unable to reach agreement on an appropriate multi-tier system, the parties may submit this issue for resolution through the applicable impasse procedures under the County’s police labor relations law and the County collective bargaining law as a separate matter, not part of or linked to any other collective bargaining procedure. The impasse neutral for the police bargaining unit and the mediator/arbitrator for the OPT and SLT bargaining units must choose the final offer of either party after considering equally the following factors: (1) service-connected disability retirement systems for similar employees of other public employers in the Washington Metropolitan Area and in Maryland; (2) best practices for service-connected disability retirement systems for similar employees in the United States; (3) the interest and welfare of the public; and (4) the long-term ability of the employer to finance a disability retirement system, and the effect of the cost of the system on the normal standard of public services provided by the employer. (d) The Executive must submit the results of any collective bargaining process regarding this issue to the Council for legislative action not later than April 1, 2012. 1993 L.M.C., ch. 21, § 2, as amended by 1994 L.M.C., ch. 17, § 1, states: Retirement Incentive Program. (a) Policy. A Retirement Incentive Program is established in the Retirement System of Montgomery County to facilitate the restructuring and downsizing of County Government, and to achieve net budget savings. (b) Definitions. The definitions in Section 33-35 apply to this Section. (c) Eligibility. (1) A member of the Employee’s Retirement System may participate in the Retirement Incentive Program if the member: (A) has at least 10 years of actual County service; (B) is eligible for normal or early retirement on July 1, 1993; (C) is not an elected or appointed County official; (D) files a completed application and participates in an individual counseling session for the Retirement Incentive Program between August 1, 1993 and October 31, 1993, except that this period is extended to January 1, 1995 for any member who is a sworn police officer; (E) receives the Chief Administrative Officer’s approval of the application; and (F) retires on a date set by the Chief Administrative Officer between November 1, 1993 and November 30, 1994, except that this period is extended to June 30, 1995 for any member who is a sworn police officer. (2) An employee of a participating agency or political subdivision may participate in the Retirement Incentive Program if the agency or political subdivision executes a participation agreement in a form prepared by the Chief Administrative Officer under terms comparable to subsection (c)(1). (d) Benefit. A member who participates in the Retirement Incentive Program is entitled to receive, in addition to the normal or early retirement benefit, an amount equal to 100% of the member’s final annual earnings. The incentive must be paid from the assets of the Retirement System. The member must elect to receive the incentive payment: (1) in a lump sum paid to the member on retirement; (2) in a lump sum paid on the member’s retirement directly to the trustee of: (A) another tax-qualified retirement plan; (B) an Individual Retirement Account or Individual Retirement Annuity; or (C) a tax-qualified annuity plan; or (3) as an annuity in the form provided under Section 33-44(a)(3). Cost-of-living adjustments and the limits in Section 33-42(f) do not apply to this benefit. (e) Administration. (1) The Chief Administrative Officer must administer the Retirement Incentive Program. (2) The Chief Administrative Officer must limit the number of members permitted to participate in the Retirement Incentive Program as follows: (A) Sworn police officers 78; (B) Sworn fire/rescue personnel 40; (C) MCGEO/Local 400 150; and (D) Other employees 75. (3) The Chief Administrative Officer, in his sole discretion may approve or disapprove a member’s application for the Retirement Incentive Program, except that the County Council Staff Director may approve or disapprove an application from a member employed by the Legislative Branch. The Chief Administrative Officer should consider the following when approving or disapproving a member’s application for the Program: (A) the policy goals in subsection (a); (B) minimizing disruption of County Government service delivery; and (C) the member’s years of credited service in the County retirement system. (4) A member who participates in the Retirement Incentive Program must not be reemployed by the County, either on a permanent, temporary, or contractual basis, unless: (A) the Chief Administrative Officer (or the County Council Staff Director for a member reemployed by the Legislative Branch) determines that the member’s reemployment is necessary to complete a specific project on which the member worked before retirement; and (B) the member’s reemployment is limited to a maximum of 6 months immediately following the member’s retirement. If the County reemploys a member who participates in the Retirement Incentive Program, the member’s salary from the reemployment is limited to an amount equal to 120% of the maximum salary for the position less the member’s County pension. The member must not receive any other compensation or benefits from the reemployment. (5) The County Executive must report to the County Council on implementation of the Retirement Incentive Program, including: (A) how the Program is achieving its states policy goals; (B) actual costs/savings of the Program; (C) any members who participate in the Program and are reemployed (on a permanent, temporary or contractual basis) by the County after retirement; (D) any effect on delivery of County services; and (E) the relationship of the Program to the County Government’s long-range strategic fiscal plan. The reports must be made quarterly between October 1, 1993 and October 1, 1994, and annually thereafter through October 1, 1998. |
Division 1. Generally.
It is the policy of the county to maintain a system of retirement pay and benefits for its employees which is adequately funded and insures employees sufficient income to enjoy during their retirement years. Any modifications to such retirement system shall not reduce the overall value of benefits which existed for members immediately prior to such modifications except that benefits may be reduced if necessary to maintain the fiscal integrity of the system after a finding by the county council that such change is necessary.
Before all liabilities with respect to the members and their beneficiaries are satisfied, no person may use or divert any part of the corpus or income of the retirement system to purposes other than the exclusive benefit of the members and beneficiaries. (1978 L.M.C., ch. 44, § 1; 1987 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 3.)
Editor’s note-The above section 33-34 is cited in Fultz v. Shaffer, 111 Md.App. 278, 681 A.2d 568 (1996); quoted in Montgomery County v. Buckman, 333 Md. 516, 636 A.2d 448 (1994) and cited in Benson v. Board of Education of Montgomery County, 280 Md. 338, 373 A.2d 926 (1977).
See County Attorney Opinion dated 11/14/11 regarding the County’s liability for errors in the administration of the pension and retirement funds of employees. See County Attorney Opinion dated 10/28/10 comparing the limits on Council authority to make changes to retirement benefits with its ability to modify health benefits. See County Attorney Opinion dated 5/13/08 regarding health insurance premiums and retirement benefits.
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