The GOOD:
- House Bill 531 – Labor and Employment – Labor Organizations – Right to Work (Del. W. Miller): This bill would prohibit mandatory union membership as a condition of employment. It would further repeal any requirement that an employee pay “service fees” to a labor organization in which they are not a member.
- Senate Bill 55 – Employers of Ex-Offenders – Liability for Negligent Hiring or Inadequate Supervision – Immunity (Sen. R. Cassilly): An employer may not be held liable for hiring or not supervising an employee based on evidence the employee has a prior criminal conviction. This bill provides much needed protection for employers hiring applicants with a criminal justice record.
The BAD:
- House Bill 691 – Corporations and Associations – Annual Reports – Filing Fees (Del. V. Atterbeary): This bill would alter the corporate filing fee amount paid by businesses on an annual basis. The flat fee of $300 would instead be based on taxable assets with the new fees ranging from $150 to $4,000.
- Senate Bill 404 – Labor and Employment – Equal Pay – Job Announcement and Salary History Information Disclosures (Sen. S. Lee): Employers with 15+ employees would have to post the minimum rate of pay in a job announcement and would not be allowed to pay the new employee less than the posted amount. Further, employers would now be prohibited from asking for a prospective employee’s salary history.
The UGLY:
- Senate Bill 1145 – Maryland Fair Scheduling Act (Sen. J. Benson): This bill would require chain retail and food service businesses to pay employees working on-call shifts a minimum amount regardless of time worked. It would give employees the right to refuse working beyond the scheduled end of a shift and would require employers to pay time and a half to employees who did work those additional hours.
- House Bill 1 – Labor and Employment – Maryland Healthy Working Families Act (Del. L. Clippinger): Employers with 15+ employees would have to pay 1 hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked to employees who average 8 hours of work per week. Employers with less than 15 employees would have to provide unpaid leave. Employees could earn up to 7 days of paid/unpaid leave per year and roll over as many as 56 hours of unused leave per year.
Follow NFIB on Twitter for the latest updates: @NFIB_MD and follow State Director Mike O’Halloran at @SmallBizMikeO
