New Laws Move Maryland Forward
When new laws went into effect on Saturday, our state took some important steps forward in creating a more vibrant and inclusive Maryland – both in the workplace and in the criminal justice system.
A Path to Equal Pay
About half of families with children are supported by a working woman. When more women are able to earn fair wages for their work, it is better for them, their families, and our economy.
A woman working in Maryland makes only 80 cents for every dollar made by men in comparable jobs. This wage disparity is even greater for women of color: African American women make 70 cents, and Latina women 47 cents for every dollar paid to a man doing comparable work.
It is now illegal for business owners and managers to retaliate against employees who share salary information with their colleagues, which could help meet the goal of reducing these disparities. This will make it easier for employees to learn about wage differences in their workplace. The new law also includes important discrimination protections for transgender people.
Paying Fair Wages to People with Disabilities
Ensuring that everyone is paid adequate wages for their work will help people with disabilities get on more solid financial footing. Yet for too long, work activity centers, also called sheltered workshops, set up to employ people with developmental disabilities have been allowed to pay people less than the minimum wage for their work, which often involves doing production and assembly tasks. Maryland is now phasing in a requirement for these facilities to pay at least the minimum wage. By 2020, all work activity centers will have to pay the minimum wage.
This is an important policy change that will help address the reality that people with disabilities face a number of barriers to earning enough to make ends meet on their own. In 2014, the median income of a worker with a disability was $27,072, while the median earnings for a worker without a disability was $40,583.
Montgomery County Workers Gain Paid Sick Days
Workers in Montgomery County will now be guaranteed the chance to earn paid sick days, helping ensure they are able to afford to take time off when they or a loved one is sick. Paid sick days reduce health care costs, allow workers to be more productive, and ensure that people don’t have to choose between their health and being able to put food on the table that week.
While this new law is great news for Montgomery County, there are still hundreds of thousands of workers in Maryland who lack access to paid sick days. Now, policymakers must focus on passing a statewide law that ensure all Marylanders have the ability to take paid time off of work to go to a doctor or care for a sick child.
Making the Right Investments
The Justice Reinvestment Act, now officially in effect, is an important first step to ensuring Maryland’s criminal justice system is more effective. The legislation reduces mandatory minimum penalties for minor offenses, cutting the amount the state has to spend housing people in prison. At the same time, the law invests more state funds in addiction treatment, mental health care, and re-entry services – helping keep more people out of the criminal justice system.
This common-sense approach to public safety will reduce social and economic inequities, drastically improve the quality of life for thousands of families in our state and help grow our economy, while more effectively deterring crime.
