With the General Assembly wrapping up, the Democrat-led legislature has set the stage for a number of changes big and small that will affect Maryland businesses and employees.
Newly elected Gov. Wes Moore has already signed legislation that will raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour starting Jan. 1, 2024, and plans to sign a cannabis legalization bill that sets the framework for businesses to legally sell the drug to consumers when it becomes legal on July 1.
One of the highlights of Moore’s economic platform, the minimum wage bill, did see some alterations as legislators removed the provision that future wage increases would be tied to the Consumer Price Index and moved the starting date back from October 2023 to January 2024. Maryland’s minimum wage was originally set to hit $15 in 2025.
The Legislature also passed modifications to the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program, which originally passed in last year’s session.
These modifications “cleaned up” some of the issues from the 2022 bill, changes that included setting Jan. 1, 2026 as the date for contributions to begin, capping contributions to 1.2% of an employee’s wage and splitting contributions to be shared 50-50 between the employer and employee.
