Title 9. Leave Time and Holidays — Subtitle 4. Personal Leave

Except as provided in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of this subsection, or otherwise provided by law, each employee in the State Personnel Management System, except a temporary employee, is entitled to 6 days, not to exceed 48 hours, of personal leave with pay at the beginning of the first full pay period of the calendar year.

For the calendar year in which an employee begins employment, the employee is entitled only to the following personal leave with pay:

For each calendar year that is a leap year, each employee in the State Personnel Management System, except a temporary employee, is entitled to 7 days, not to exceed 56 hours, of personal leave with pay at the beginning of the first full pay period of the calendar year.

For each calendar year, an employee of the Maryland School for the Deaf who works 11 months or less in a calendar year is entitled to 3 days, not to exceed 24 hours, of personal leave with pay at the beginning of the first full pay period of the calendar year.

If an employee is scheduled to work on a holiday or is employed in a unit that provides a service continuously on a 7-day-a-week basis, the employee may use personal leave only after obtaining approval from the employee's appointing authority.

If the request is made to observe a religious holiday, the appointing authority may deny the request only if:

If the request is made for any other reason, the appointing authority may deny the request only if the denial is necessary because of a critical shortage of staff in the employee's unit.

An employee may not accumulate unused personal leave.

Any unused personal leave shall be forfeited at the beginning of the first full pay period of the next calendar year.