The Maryland General Assembly’s 2023 session ended at midnight on Monday, April 10. Although there were fewer employment bills passed this year compared to recent years, several of them will have a significant impact on employers. Our friends at the Maryland Automobile Dealers Association (MADA) and Shawe Rosenthal, LLP have produced a helpful overview and analysis document that you can review here. Pertinent changes and updates include an expedited increase to the minimum wage rate and some clarification around and a delay to the new paid family and medical leave benefits program. There was also an expansion to the non-compete ban, as well as new authority for the Maryland Attorney General to pursue discrimination claims against employers. Finally, although the cannabis reform bill does not directly speak to the general workplace impact, there are developments of which employers should be aware.
At this point, all of these bills have gone to the Governor, who could sign them into law, veto them, or allow them to become law without his signature. He has already signed the minimum wage bill. As to the remainder, given that we now have a Democratic Governor working with the majority Democratic General Assembly, vetoes are not expected. Once they become law (i.e. are enacted), most new laws typically have an effective date of October 1 of the same year; however, some will take effect earlier this year.
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