The Employment Standards During an Emergency (Maryland Essential Workers’ Protection Act) would require employers to pay out an extra $3 an hour to essential employees unable to work remotely. The Act broadly defines essential workers and industries covering a large number of Maryland workers, and most notably, would apply retroactively to the start of Maryland’s declared public health emergency—early March 2020.
Other states and localities have considered enacting similar measures, with several California counties recently requiring hazard pay for grocery workers for a period of at least 120 days. The Maryland bill, however, is significant in both the scope of workers it would cover as well as its retroactive applicability. The bill is currently in committee in the Maryland House of Delegates.
Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress introduced legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. “In the richest country in the history of the world, if you work 40 hours a week, you should not be living in poverty,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), one of the sponsors of the bill along with Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA). Under the bill, the federal minimum wage would increase at an average of $1.55 beginning this year until it reaches $15 in 2025, then be indexed to inflation.
Outlook: The Maryland bill could foreshadow a slew of similar measures adopted by states over the coming year, although it is unclear whether it will become law given its broad scope. On the minimum wage front, the Democrats’ bill would face a steep challenge in the closely divided Senate. However, proliferation of minimum wage increases in a majority of the states over the last five years, including a Florida ballot measure raising it to $15, increases the likelihood of an eventual federal increase.
