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*hb0536*
HOUSE BILL 536
D5, K3 6lr1576
By: Delegates Smith, Amprey, Boyce, Coley, Embry, Hill, Lewis, and Watson
Introduced and read first time: January 27, 2026
Assigned to: Government, Labor, and Elections
Committee Report: Favorable with amendments
House action: Adopted with floor amendments
Read second time: February 23, 2026
CHAPTER ______
AN ACT concerning 1
Employment Discrimination – Reasonable Accommodations – Disabilities Due to 2
Childbirth, Menopause, and Related Medical Conditions 3
FOR the purpose of expanding certain protections against employment discrimination to 4
apply to temporary disabilities caused or contributed to by childbirth, menopause, or 5
a related medical condition; authorizing an employer to consider a certain 6
operational impact in determining an undue burden imposed by a certain transfer 7
request by an employee; and generally relating to reasonable accommodations in 8
employment f or temporary disabilities due to childbirth, menopause, and related 9
medical conditions. 10
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 11
Article – State Government 12
Section 20–609 13
Annotated Code of Maryland 14
(2021 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 15
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 16
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 17
Article – State Government 18
20–609. 19
2 HOUSE BILL 536
(a) (1) In this section [, “reasonable ] THE FOLLOWING WORDS HAVE THE 1
MEANINGS INDICATED. 2
(2) “REASONABLE accommodation” means an accommodation: 3
[(1)] (I) for an employee’s disability caused or contributed to by 4
pregnancy, CHILDBIRTH, MENOPAUSE, OR A RELATED MEDICAL CONDITION; and 5
[(2)] (II) that does not impose an undue hardship on the employee’s 6
employer. 7
(3) “RELATED MEDICAL CONDITION” INCLUDES: 8
(I) LACTATION OR THE NEED TO EXPRESS BREAST MILK FOR A 9
NURSING CHILD; AND 10
(II) THE NEED TO MANAGE T HE EFFECTS OF VASOMO TOR 11
SYMPTOMS RELATED TO MENOPAUSE. 12
(b) Disabilities caused or contributed to b y pregnancy [or], childbirth, 13
MENOPAUSE, OR A RELATED MEDICAL CONDITION: 14
(1) are temporary disabilities for all job–related purposes; and 15
(2) shall be treated as temporary disabilities under any health or 16
temporary disability insurance or sick leave plan available in connection with employment. 17
(c) Written and unwritten employment policies and practices involving matters 18
such as the commencement and duration of leave, the availability of extensions of leave, 19
the accrual of seniority and other benefi ts and privileges, reinstatement, and payment 20
under any health or temporary disability insurance or sick leave plan, formal or informal, 21
shall be applied to disability due to pregnancy [or], childbirth, MENOPAUSE, OR A 22
RELATED MEDICAL CONDITION on the same terms and conditions as they are applied to 23
other temporary disabilities. 24
(d) If an employee requests a reasonable accommodation, the employer shall 25
explore with the employee all possible means of providing the reasonable accommodation, 26
including: 27
(1) changing the employee’s job duties; 28
(2) changing the employee’s work hours; 29
(3) relocating the employee’s work area; 30
HOUSE BILL 536 3
(4) providing mechanical or electrical aids; 1
(5) transferring the employee to a less strenuous or less hazardous 2
position; or 3
(6) providing leave. 4
(e) (1) If an employee requests a transfer to a less strenuous or less hazardous 5
position as a reasonable accommodation, the employer shall transfer the employee for a 6
period of time up to the duration of the employee’s pregnancy OR A RELATED MEDICAL 7
CONDITION UNDER THIS SECTION if: 8
(1) (I) the employer has a policy, practice, or collective bargaining 9
agreement requiring or authorizing the transfer of a temporarily disabled employee to a 10
less strenuous or less hazardous position for the duration of the disability; or 11
(2) (II) the employee’s health care provider advises the transfer and the 12
employer can provide the reasonable accommodation by transferring the employee without: 13
(i) 1. creating additional employment t hat the employer would 14
not otherwise have created; 15
(ii) 2. discharging any employee; 16
(iii) 3. transferring any employee with more seniority than the 17
employee requesting the reasonable accommodation; or 18
(iv) 4. promoting any employee who is not qualified to perform 19
the job. 20
(2) TO DETERMINE WHETHER AN UNDUE BURDEN IS I MPOSED BY A 21
TRANSFER REQUEST BY AN EMPLOYEE UNDER PA RAGRAPH (1) OF THIS 22
SUBSECTION, AN EMPLOYER MAY CONS IDER THE OPERATIONAL IMPACT OF ANY 23
STAFFING GAP CREATED BY THE TRANSFER, INCLUDING: 24
(I) THE AVAILABILITY OF OTHER PERSONNEL TO P ERFORM 25
THE DUTIES OF THE TRANSFERRED EMPLOYEE; AND 26
(II) THE COST AND FEASIBILITY OF TEMPORARY COVERAGE. 27
(f) (1) An employer may require an employee to provide a certification from 28
the employee’s health care provider concerning the medical advisability of a reasonable 29
accommodation to the same extent a certification is required for other temporary 30
disabilities. 31
4 HOUSE BILL 536
(2) A certification under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall include: 1
(i) the date the reasonable accommodation became medically 2
advisable; 3
(ii) the probable duration of the reasonable accommodation; and 4
(iii) an explanatory statement as to the medical advisability of the 5
reasonable accommodation. 6
(g) An employer shall post in a conspicuous location, and include in any employee 7
handbook, information concerning an employee’s rights to reasonable accommodations and 8
leave for a disability caused or contributed to by pregnancy , CHILDBIRTH, MENOPAUSE, 9
OR A RELATED MEDICAL CONDITION. 10
(h) An employer may not interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of, or the 11
attempt to exercise, any right provided under this section. 12
(i) This section may not be construed to: 13
(1) affect any other provision of law relating to discrimination on the basis 14
of sex or pregnancy; or 15
(2) diminish in any way the coverage of pregnancy, childbirth, 16
MENOPAUSE, or a RELATED medical condition [related to pregnancy or childbirth] under 17
this section. 18
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTE D, That this Act shall take effect 19
October 1, 2026. 20
Approved:
________________________________________________________________________________
Governor.
________________________________________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Delegates.
________________________________________________________________________________
President of the Senate.