Federal law and Maryland law mandate that individuals be paid according to a very specific set of rules. The Maryland General Assembly, along with the Maryland courts, have expressly stated the Employment Laws of this State have been enacted as a matter of “strong public policy.”
The Maryland Wage and Hour Law
The Maryland Wage and Hour Law is the statute responsible for setting minimum wage standards and overtime pay standards for individuals who are employed in the state of Maryland. The minimum wage standards will vary depending on the type of work the employee is engaged in and the county in which the employee is employed. In general, employees must be paid one and one-half (1.5) times their base pay for any hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours in a seven-day work period.
Under the Maryland Wage and Hour Law, wage is defined as “all compensation that is due to an employee for employment, including commissions, a bonus, overtime pay and anything else that has been promised to an employee for their services.”
A willful and unreasonable failure of an employer to pay an employee the required minimum wage or the required overtime pay will result in the employee being able to sue their employer. Under the Maryland Wage and Hour Law, employees can sue their employer for the following amounts if they are not paid according to the minimum wage and overtime pay standards:
- Employee can recover the difference between the amounts they were paid and the amounts they should have been paid according to the minimum wage standards.
- Employee can recover the difference between the overtime amounts they were paid and the amounts they should have been paid according to the overtime pay standards.
- Employee can recover an amount equal to the above two amounts as liquidated damages allowed by the statute. Liquidated damages essentially means you can ask for the same amount twice, once for the amounts that you should have been paid and again as a penalty to the employer for violating the law.
- Employee can recover court costs associated with filing the complaint with the court.
- Employee can recover attorney’s fees.
The Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law
The Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law is the statute responsible for setting the standards for when and how employees need to be paid. Under this statute, wage is defined as “all compensation that is due to an employee for employment, including commissions, a bonus, overtime pay and anything else that has been promised to an employee for their services.”
In general, the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law mandates employers to pay their employees once every two (2) weeks or twice per month. There are some exceptions to this general requirement depending on the position/job title of the employee. Additionally, if an employee is fired, the employer must pay all wages due and owing to that employee on the next pay period in which the employee would have been paid if they had not been terminated/left the employment. If an employer violates the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law and that violation is not a result of a bona fide dispute the employee will be able to recover up to three times (treble damages) the amount they are owed from the employer. Under the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law, employees can sue their employer for the following amounts if they are not paid according to the above listed standards:
- Employee can recover for the amount of wages not paid.
- Employee can recover an additional two times the amount of wages not paid as treble damages allowed by the statute.
- Employee can recover court costs associated with filing the complaint with the court.
- Employee can recover attorney’s fees.