Maryland Latest to Join $15.00 Minimum Wage Club
Author: Michael Cardman, HR & Compliance Center Senior Legal Editor
April 12, 2023
Maryland's minimum wage will increase to $15.00 for all employers starting January 1, 2024, under a new bill signed into law yesterday by Gov. Wes Moore.
That's a year earlier for large employers and two and a half years earlier for small employers compared to the increases scheduled under previous law (see the table below).
| Date | Previous Law | New Law | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large Employers (15 or More Employees) | Small Employers (14 or Fewer Employees) | All Employers (Regardless of Size) | |
| Current | $13.25 | $12.80 | N/A |
| January 1, 2024 | $14.00 | $13.40 | $15.00 |
| January 1, 2025 | $15.00 | $14.00 | Remains $15.00 |
| January 1, 2026 | Remains $15.00 | $14.60 | Remains $15.00 |
| July 1, 2026 | Remains $15.00 | $15.00 | Remains $15.00 |
Currently, three states - California, Massachusetts, Washington - as well as downstate New York, Washington, D.C., and several other localities have minimum wages of $15.00 or above. Others will join them starting in 2024 or later.
Worker advocates had pushed for the minimum wage to be tied to inflation in future years, testifying before the Maryland House of Delegates that the new bill "simply updates the minimum wage law passed by Maryland legislators in 2019, before the pandemic and the unexpected increase in inflation."
An earlier version of the bill included annual inflation adjustments, but they were dropped in negotiations last month.
Gov. Moore's office estimates that the new law will increase wages for approximately 163,000 workers in Maryland.