The Maryland General Assembly last month approved legislation, via an override of the governor’s veto, to raise its minimum wage to $15/hour. The state’s current minimum wage is $10.10/hour.
Maryland’s new minimum wage, which begins Jan. 1, 2020, will increase incrementally based on company and organization size.
For organizations with 15+ employees, the minimum wage rate schedule is:
January 1, 2020: $11.00
January 1, 2021: $11.75
January 1, 2022: $12.50
January 1, 2023: $13.25
January 1, 2024: $14.00
January 1, 2025: $15.00
For small employers (those with 15 and fewer employees), the $15/hour minimum wage will not be reached until July 2026. These organizations will follow this minimum wage rate schedule:
January 1, 2020: $11.00
January 1, 2021: $11.60
January 1, 2022: $12.20
January 1, 2023: $12.80
January 1, 2024: $13.40
January 1, 2025: $14.00
January 1, 2026: $14.60
July 1, 2026: $15.00
With enactment of this law, Maryland joins New York, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey as states with a $15/hour minimum wage. (Vermont may become the 7th state pending continuing legislative action.) The current federal minimum wage is $7.25/hour.
If you have any questions about preparing for and complying with this new minimum wage rate, please contact us at info@impacthrllc.com or 443-741-3900.
impactHR’s Kelly Mitchell Receives MD “Top 100 Women for 2019” Award
impactHR’s Kelly Mitchell with Suzanne E. Fischer-Huettner, Publisher of The Daily Record
impactHR’s Kelly Mitchell joined more than 700 attendees at The Daily Record‘s “Maryland’s Top 100 Women” celebration earlier this month at Baltimore’s Joseph Myerhoff Symphony Hall.
At the gala celebration, Kelly received her award for being named one of “Maryland’s Top 100 Women for 2019” by The Daily Record.
As part of this year’s awards cycle, The Daily Record noted it received a record 520 nominations.
The Daily Record began “Maryland’s Top 100 Women” awards in 1996 to recognize outstanding achievements by women demonstrated through professional accomplishments, community leadership and mentoring.
A panel of business professionals and previous Maryland’s Top 100 Women honorees from throughout the state reviewed the final applications and selected this year’s honorees.
Mitchell’s’ leadership in business and in her community has earned her numerous honors and awards, including being named a “2018 Mid-Atlantic Women’s Leadership Award” winner by CEO Report and a 2017 “Top 100 MBE Winner” by the Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council. Learn more
OFCCP Posts Corporate Scheduling Announcement List Online
For Government Contractors: The US Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has released its Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL), comprising government contractors and subcontractors that may receive potential compliance evaluations within this fiscal year ending September 30, 2019.
Click here to see the list of 3,500 companies on the OFCCP Scheduling List, which the OFCCP is publishing online for the first time.
This CSAL list includes contractors selected for corporate management compliance evaluation (CMCE) reviews, compliance checks, Affirmative Action Programs (AAP) reviews and Section 503-focused reviews.
According to the OFCCP, this CSAL provides contractors a 45‐day courtesy notification prior to when OFCCP begins sending its OMB-approved scheduling list. After receiving the OMB‐approved scheduling list, contractors will have 30 days to submit their AAPs.
As a result, all contractors on the current list are receiving a minimum of 75 days advance notice to prepare for compliance evaluations. Learn more.
In related news, the OFCCP also released its 2019 Annual Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) hiring benchmark. The new benchmark is 5.9 percent effective March 31, 2019. Learn more.
impactAction: If you have questions about or need assistance with any aspect of OFCCP compliance, please contact us at info@impacthrllc.com or 443-741-3900.
Jeanne Minor Joins impactHR Team as Senior Consultant
Jeanne Minor, Senior Consultant, impactHR
We’re very happy to announce the hiring of Jeanne Minor as Senior Consultant at impactHR. Minor is a proactive and dynamic HR professional with more than 20 years of experience in all facets of HR management.
With expert specialization in employee relations and recruitment, Minor also brings significant experience in employment law, compliance issues and benefits plans.
Prior to coming to impactHR, Jeanne was an HR Generalist with Rockville, MD’s NantOmics. She also founded her own HR consultancy where she focused on recruitment, training and development, performance management, benefits administration and employee relations for her client companies and organizations.
Jeanne holds a BA in English from Rutgers University and continues to be a longstanding member of SHRM.
MD General Assembly Passes “Ban the Box” Measure
On the final day of its 2019 legislative session, the Maryland House and Senate approved “Ban the Box” legislation that would prohibit employers (with 15+ full-time employees) from requiring a job applicant to disclose information about their criminal record before their first in-person interview.
Maryland’s “Ban the Box” legislation (referring to a job application checkbox that requires candidates to disclose their criminal history) awaits action by the governor, who has until May 8 to veto or approve the bill into law.
Under the bill (HB 994/SB 839), Maryland’s Commissioner of Labor and Industry may conduct an investigation to determine a violation of the law via receipt of a written complaint by a job applicant or employee. With any proven violation of the law, the commissioner may assess a civil penalty of $300 per job applicant after a first warning to an employer deemed out of compliance with the law.
Maryland already has a “Ban the Box” law in place for the state’s public employees (similar to laws in place in 33 states). In addition, 12 other states have enacted “Ban the Box” laws for private employers. Learn more