Minimum Wage Workers In Maryland Get A Raise In 2020

MARYLAND — A new calendar year means a boost in the paychecks of minimum-wage American workers in more than 20 states, including Maryland, where new minimum wage standards take effect in 2020.

In Maryland, the 2020 minimum wage rate of $11 an hour took effect on Jan. 1, and will raise incrementally the next six years, depending on the size of the company. That compares with a minimum wage of $10.10 in 2019. Montgomery and Prince George's counties, however, have their own higher minimum-wage standards.

During the 2019 Maryland General Assembly, state lawmakers voted to pass the bill supporting the increase, then had to override a veto from Gov. Larry Hogan to push it through into law.

Over the next five years, minimum wage in Maryland will increase until it reaches $15 in 2025.

For employers with at least 15 employees, this is the increase schedule:

• Jan. 1, 2020 — $11
• Jan. 1, 2021 — $11.75
• Jan. 1, 2022 — $12.50
• Jan. 1, 2023 — $13.25
• Jan. 1, 2024 — $14
• Jan. 1, 2025 — $15

For employers with 14 or fewer employees, this is the schedule:

• Jan. 1, 2020 — $11
• Jan. 1, 2021 — $11.60
• Jan. 1, 2022 — $12.20
• Jan. 1, 2023 — $12.80
• Jan. 1, 2024 — $13.40
• Jan. 1, 2025 — $14
• Jan. 1, 2026 — $14.60
• July 1, 2026 — $15

Maryland is one of six states that passed laws to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour over time: California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York are the others, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Related: New Maryland Laws Take Effect For 2020: Minimum Wage, Pet Stores

The federal minimum wage rate has remained unchanged at $7.25 an hour since 2009, but state legislatures — and, in some cases, voters themselves through ballot measures — have approved minimum wage increases. In some cases, counties and cities have set minimum wage floors.

The 21 states enacting minimum wage hikes are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington. The information was compiled by govdocs.com, a website that curates government documents on employment law for companies worldwide.

The highest of the new rates is in Washington State, where a 2016 voter-approved ballot initiative called for a $13.50 minimum wage floor in 2020, nearly twice the federal minimum wage. The Washington rate is up from $12 an hour in 2019. There is no provision in the law for tipped employees.

Several other states boosted minimum wage to $12 an hour, and several also increased the floor only modestly. For example, Florida’s minimum wage goes up less than 25 cents per hour, to $8.46, from $8.25 an hour in 2019.

The analysis showed widespread disparity in how minimum wage workers who are tipped are treated. In New Mexico, for example, the 2020 minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.35 an hour, compared with $9 and $8.98 an hour, respectively, in neighboring states Arizona and Colorado.