Minimum wage for some MoCo workers rises as Maryland rate becomes $15

Fair Wage Act of 2023 begins Jan. 1

December 27, 2023 10:34 p.m.

Employees at Montgomery County businesses with 10 or fewer employees will be taking home larger paychecks beginning Jan. 1 when the minimum wage in Maryland increases to $15 per hour.

The current minimum wage for those employees is $14.50 per hour. Large and mid-sized county-based employers are already required by county law to pay a minimum wage of $15 or more per hour.

“Minimum wage is ultimately about people being able to earn enough to put roofs over their heads and not having to choose between that and choices like putting food on the table or making medical visits,” County Executive Marc Elrich said during a press conference on Wednesday. “So, this county continues to lead by example. I’m proud that the state of Maryland is now showing the same initiative and providing more people a better life with a higher minimum wage.”

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The increase stems from the Fair Wage Act of 2023, which was signed into law by Gov. Wes Moore (D) on April 11. The law makes Maryland the sixth state in the nation to reach a $15 minimum wage, Elrich said.

The county’s current minimum wage law went into effect on July 1, 2018, which phased in wage increases for large, mid-sized and small businesses. On July 1, 2023, county minimum wage increased to $16.70 per hour for large employers (with 51 employees or more); $15 per hour for mid-sized employers (11 to 50 employees); and $14.50 per hour for small employers (1-10 employees).

Under current county provisions, the minimum wage was set to increase to $15 by July 1, 2024, but the new state law fast tracks the county increase by six months.

County employers are required to comply with the state or county’s minimum wage, whichever is higher, according to a county press release. For example, large employers are required to continue paying their employees a minimum wage of $16.70 per hour.

As a county councilmember, Elrich championed the county’s minimum wage law and led two efforts (in 2013 and 2016) to raise the county minimum wage, per the release. “Raising the minimum wage to and above $15 was a long, tough fight,” Elrich said on Wednesday.

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“When I was a councilmember and I sponsored the bill to get it started, critics said it would hurt economic competitiveness and prices would go up and businesses would close, and people would lose their jobs,” he said. “… None of this nonsense has borne out. It actually puts more money into circulation.”

One key difference between the county and state’s minimum wage laws is that the county law indexes minimum wage for inflation. The indexing ensures that the wage rates don’t stagnate and continue to increase in the county, Elrich said.

The state law did not pass with indexing, meaning county wage rates will continue to differ from the state as time goes on and inflation continues to increase. To Elrich, this is “not a good thing,” and he said that he hopes the state will index its minimum wage at some point.

“I think, you know, doing what we did was the right thing to do, and I think it’s made our county stronger,” Elrich said. “And, you know, this is about correcting an historic injustice.”

More information about the minimum wage increase impacts can be found at the Office of Human Rights’ website.

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