Total Articles: 4
Fourth Circuit Finds Maryland's Wage Payment and Collection Law Not A Fundamental Public Policy
On December 23, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Kunda v. C.R. Bard, Inc. held that employers in Maryland may have their employees execute employment agreements with a choice of law provision other than Maryland, so long as the other jurisdiction has a “substantial relationship” to the parties and the application of the law would not be contrary to a fundamental Maryland public policy. This case settles the issue, at least for now, of whether an employee who works in Maryland has a fundamental right to sue for wages under the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law (“MWPCL”) – generally a law favorable to employees.
What Approaching Limitations on Use of Credit Reports Mean for Maryland Employers
In a dramatic change for Maryland employers, the state’s new Job Applicant Fairness Act will significantly limit their use of an individual’s credit history report for hiring and making other employment-related decisions. No previous state restrictions existed on employers’ obtaining and using this information. The Act was signed by the Governor on April 12 and will become effective on October 1, 2011.
Breaks Required under Maryland’s “Healthy Retail Employee Act,” Effective March 1
Under Maryland’s Healthy Retail Employee Act, Maryland employers who operate “retail establishments” must provide non-exempt retail employees with break periods based on the length of the shifts the employees work. Employers in violation of the Act will face a fine.
Maryland Enacts New Law Limiting the Payment of Accrued Leave Upon Termination.
Maryland recently amended its Wage Payment and Collection Law, Md. Code 3-501et seq., in a manner that affords employers a powerful statutory defense to employee lawsuits for monetary compensation and/or trebled damages for not compensating a departing employee on termination for accrued unused leave. As amended, the Maryland law now provides that an employer's written leave policy will dictate whether or not the employee is entitled upon termination to recover accrued unused leave provided the leave policy was communicated to a new employee at the time of hire. It provides no shield to employers that do not have a written policy that limits compensation for accrued leave to a terminated employee.
