State Minimum Wage Rate Jumps 85 Cents
Maryland employers – it’s time to update! The Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing & Regulation has updated the required 2018 Maryland Minimum Wage and Overtime Law workplace posting. The posting clearly identifies the current minimum wage rate, $10.10 per hour, and the previous minimum wage rate, $9.25 per hour, demonstrating a sizable $.85 increase over last year’s minimum wage rate. The current minimum wage increase is effective July 1, 2018. The minimum wage increase is the result of legislation passed in 2014 which gradually increased the state’s minimum wage rate from $7.25 in 2014 to the current minimum wage rate.
What’s Next?
Although there is a growing state and local trend to tie minimum wage rate increases to the annual rate of inflation, lawmakers in Maryland declined to index future minimum wage increases to inflation after 2018. There were a number of legislative proposals this year to increase Maryland’s minimum wage rate in 2019 and to index future increases to inflation but none were successful during this legislative term. Proposals to increase the minimum wage rate are likely to reappear on Maryland lawmakers’ 2019 legislative calendar.
Montgomery County, Maryland Minimum Wage Goes Up
Montgomery County moved forward with an increase in the minimum wage rate for employees who work within the geographic boundaries of the county. Last fall, Montgomery County Council Members signed into law a minimum wage bill incrementally increasing the minimum wage rate each year until it reaches $15.00 per hour for businesses with 51 or more employees in 2021, for businesses with 11 to 50 employees in 2023, and for businesses with 10 or fewer employees in 2024. The minimum wage will be adjusted annually for inflation starting in 2022.
Meanwhile, Montgomery County’s first minimum wage increase takes effect July 1, 2018. Employers with 51 or more employees must pay employees at least $12.25 per hour, and employers with 50 or fewer employees must pay employees at least $12.00 per hour effective July 1, 2018.
Minimum Wage Posting Compliance
The State of Maryland and Montgomery County both require employers to post in the workplace an official notice to inform employees of the effective minimum wage rate and their rights. We make compliance with these posting requirements easy. Purchase a new Maryland All-On-One Labor Law Poster or update your existing poster with a Maryland Minimum Wage and Overtime Law Peel ‘N Post. We have also created the Montgomery County Minimum Wage and Overtime Law Poster. Compliance in a snap!