Maryland bans the box

Maryland Bans the Box for private employers

NOTE: This article was initially posted in May 2013 and has been updated with new and current information.

As you may know, Ban the Box refers to removing the criminal convictions question from employment applications. Preferring that any discussion of criminal histories be done further along in the application process and in person. Hoping to make the process fairer for applicants.

In October of 2013, Maryland’s first Ban the Box law took effect. The law removed the criminal conviction question from State employment applications. At that time, there were only seven states with similar legislation.  Since then the Ban the Box movement has swept the nation with cities, counties, and states enacting laws. According to the National Employment Law Project, as of July 2019, there were thirty-five states and one hundred and fifty cities and counties that have Ban the Box laws. Thirteen states have laws that prohibit private employers from asking about criminal history on the application. As of January 1, 2020, Maryland became the fourteenth.

Maryland Private Employer law takes effect January 2020

The Maryland legislature passed a private employer Ban the Box law in 2019 only to have the law vetoed by the Governor. In one of the first acts of the 2020 legislature, the Maryland General Assembly voted to override the veto.

The new law states that, before the first in person interview, employers may not ask an applicant to disclose details about whether or not a criminal record exists. This law only applies to those employers with fifteen or more employees too include seasonal, temporary, and contractual employees.

So far only a few major corporations, such as Target and Walmart, have publically “Banned the box”.

Details of the laws procession through the legislative process can be found at http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0994/?ys=2019rs

Maryland General Assembly 2019

The 439th session of Maryland's General Assembly is in the books. Not without some somber news as it's longest serving Speaker of the House, Michael Busch, passed away the day before the end of the session. 

Here is a snapshot of business and public safety bills that passed and are awaiting Governor Hogan’s Signature. 

• $15 minimum wage-Although the Governor vetoed the bill there were enough votes to override the veto. The increase to $15 will be incremented as follows.

Businesses with fewer than 15 employees:

$11 on Jan. 1, 2020

$11.60 on Jan. 1, 2021

$12.20 on Jan. 1, 2022

$12.80 on Jan. 1, 2023

$13.40 on Jan. 1, 2024

$14.00 on Jan. 1, 2025

$14.60 on Jan. 1, 2026

$15 on July 1, 2026 

At least 15 employees:

$11 on Jan. 1, 2020

$11.75 on Jan. 1, 2021

$12.50 on Jan. 1, 2022

$13.25 on Jan. 1, 2023

$14 on Jan. 1, 2024

$15 on Jan. 1, 2025

• A Child Care Tax credit was expanded to parents making less than $143,000 (Up from $50,000)
• Health insurance- Those without health insurance will be able to check a box on their tax return allowing the state’s health exchange to determine if they are eligible for free insurance
• Marijuana edibles such as brownies, gummies, etc. can be sold for medical purposes
• The age of smoking was raised to 21
• Maryland will become the first state to ban Styrofoam containers such as cups and food containers.
• The decision of whether to start school before/after Labor Day was returned to local school boards. The Governor vetoed the bill but was overrode.
• Handgun Permit Review Board was eliminated. Now, appeals to the Maryland State Police decision for handgun permits will be heard by an administrative judge.

Public safety bills that failed were background checks on the private (citizen to citizen) sales of shotguns and rifles and a bill to prevent 3D printed guns.

Caller ID and smoke alarms and guns...Oh my! New Maryland laws

Maryland laws passed in the 2018 session are set to go into effect October 1, 2018. Most notably gun control laws and an expansion of the Move Over law. 

Disclosing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Employers who enforce or attempt to enforce a policy that restricts disclosing sexual harassment shall be liable for the employee’s attorneys fees. Also, on it before July 1, 2020, employers with fifty or more employees must submit a Sexual  Harassment Survey to the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights. 

Caller ID Spoofing Ban
The law prohibits masking caller identification information when contacting an individual in Maryland with the intent to defraud, harass, cause harm to, or wrongfully obtain something of value from another. 

Smoke Alarms

All residences in the state were required to switch over from battery-operated smoke alarms to tamper-resistant detectors. Starting Oct. 1, 2018, the state will begin enforcing the law.

Move Over

The Move Over law expands from emergency vehicles to include transportation, service, and utility vehicles, as well as waste and recycling trucks, with yellow or amber flashing lights or signal devices activated.

Gun

Red flag law enables families and law enforcement to ask courts for an order to temporarily restrict firearms from people found to be a risk to themselves or others.

Bump stocks are banned in the state. The devices increase a semi-automatic rifle's firing rate to a facsimile of automatic fire. 

Convicted domestic abusers are required to surrender guns to law enforcement or a firearms dealer.

437th sine die

The 437th session of the Maryland General assembly came to a close on Monday, April 10, 2017. Here are the business related laws that were passed.

Paid sick leave: Businesses with 15 or more employees would be required to provide five days of paid sick leave.

Manufacturing: Tax incentives will be offered to companies that add manufacturing jobs and provide related training for skilled workers.

Health care: A commission was formed to monitor federal actions that affect Maryland health care.

Governor Hogan has said that he will veto the paid sick leave bill. Governor Hogan proposed his own paid sick leave bill that set the employee mark for businesses at 50 and included tax incentives for smaller companies that offered paid sick leave. If the bill is vetoed, the legislature does have the necessary votes to override the veto. However, lawmakers will not have an opportunity to override the veto until next year’s legislative session, delaying the implementation of the bill until 2018.

437th session has more business laws January 2017

Which came first …

Read an interesting article about the Maryland marijuana dispensaries. Seems that it is now legal to grow the marijuana for medicinal resale, but remains Illegal to buy seeds or seedlings to start the growing process.

Maryland passed a law in 2014 decriminalizing smaller amounts of marijuana and allowing for dispensaries to grow and dispense medicinal marijuana. In December 2016 the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission approved 102 dispensaries that have been granted a license to begin growing marijuana. They have 365 days to begin their operations. The problem for these newly licensed businesses is-How do you start a business based on growing an organic product when it is illegal to buy or import the seeds or seedlings?

Once the grow operations have their crop started that crop and further crops are legal under the law.  However, obtaining the startup seeds is illegal under federal and Maryland law, as well as some other states that have approved medical and/or decriminalized marijuana. In Washington, D.C. for example, it is legal to possess and grow marijuana at home but illegal to buy or sell seeds and plants. Mostly state regulators and law enforcement are turning their heads when it comes to the topic. A don’t ask don’t tell sort of thing.

With all the politics that went into decriminalizing marijuana in Maryland and setting up the laws to allow for dispensaries it seems like someone would have taken this conundrum into consideration. Now that the licenses have been granted and the dispensaries are on the clock it will be interesting to see if this legislative session takes up the issue and corrects the legal blockade.

See our blog archive for other posts relating to medical marijuana:

Medical Marijuana in Workplace May 2013

437th session has more business laws

The 437^th session of the Maryland General assembly convened on January 11, 2017 and will run for the next ninety days. Before the session started two news stories came out in December that will affect Maryland business and, as always, these things tend to hit small business owners in some way.

Governor Hogan, who has been a strong proponent for Maryland business, big and small, announced on December 7, 2016, that he plans on proposing mandatory paid sick leave in his legislative package. Under his proposal, businesses that have at least 50 employees will be required to offer paid sick leave totaling at least 40 hours a year and the ability for employees to roll over a maximum of 40 hours each year. Part-time employees would be covered after a minimum of 30 working hours and seasonal industries would be exempt if workers are employed for less than 120 days in a 12-month period. Small businesses, with less than 50 employees, who offer paid sick leave, would be eligible for tax relief.

During the announcement Governor Hogan said, “While all of us agree that more workers need sick leave in Maryland, it would be irresponsible to put a law on the books that unfairly penalizes our state’s job creators. It is clear that, in order to move forward, we must strike a balance between the needs of Maryland’s employees while not hurting our small businesses and continuing to foster a more business-friendly climate in our state.”

On December 20, 2016, news broke that five retailers who do business in Maryland agreed to end “on call” scheduling. This type of scheduling is not what one would commonly define as being available to be recalled to work. No, this type of on call means that employees must call their employer an hour before a scheduled shift to find out if they are required to work that day. If not, they are not paid for that shift, even though they may have been scheduled or planning to work.  

Aeropostale, Carter's, Disney, PacSun and Zumiez stopped the practice after an inquiry from attorneys general in Maryland, New York, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia. In part, the inquiry stated that unpredictable schedules make it difficult for retail employees to work a second job, pursue an education, or care for family members.

The Maryland gubernatorial election is in 2018 and you can expect the political posturing to start this legislative session. Hang on, because this ride is always bumpy. We’ll see what comes out in April.