The Maryland Employment Law Guide

Employers must pay their employees at least biweekly or semimonthly on regular paydays the employer chooses in advance. They may pay exempt executive, administrative, or professional employees less frequently. New employees must be provided with notice of the following: Their rate of pay; Paydays; Leave benefits.

If a regular payday falls on a non-workday, wages must be paid the workday before. Each pay period, employers must provide employees with a statement of their earnings and deductions. Social Security Numbers may not appear on employees’ paychecks, pay statements, or direct deposit notifications.

Healthcare employers may not discharge or discriminate against an employee for doing any of the following: Reporting an alleged violation of the law. participating in an investigation or proceeding regarding a violation of the law, or opposing or refusing to participate in a violation of the law.

COBRA is a federal law that allows many employees to continue their health insurance benefits after their employment ends. Because federal COBRA only applies to employers that have 20 or more employees, many states have adopted their own versions of the law, which are known as “mini-COBRAs.” Maryland’s mini-COBRA allows employees to continue their coverage for up to 18 months. Each individual certification of coverage must contain a notice of the right to continue coverage and employers must notify an employee that continuation coverage is available.

Employers who run background checks should ensure they’re following the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which are available here.

Maryland requires that employers conduct background checks on employees in the following entities: Public schools; Private or nonpublic schools; Childcare centers. Institutions, or homes; Day care homes; Juvenile detention, correction, or treatment facilities; Foster care family homes or group facilities; Children’s camps; Childcare resource and referral centers; Associations that have a pool of potential temporary or substitute employees for registered family day care providers or licensed day care centers; Healthcare institutions or organizations; Adult dependent care facilities; Private home detention monitoring agencies.

Employers may not obtain credit checks on applicants or employees unless either the employer or the applicant or employee falls under certain exceptions.

Employers may not ask applicants about expunged records. Additionally, the Maryland Office of Fair Practices has issued a “Guidelines for Pre-Employment Inquiries Technical Assistance Guide,” which indicates that employers should not ask applicants about arrest or general conviction records.

As of February 29, 2020, Maryland adds a “ban the box” law, which prohibits employers with 15 or more full-time employees from asking applicants about their criminal history prior to an in-person interview, unless required by state or federal law or the employer provides services or direct care to minors or vulnerable populations. Employers may ask about an applicant’s criminal history during the first in-person interview or any time thereafter.

If employers want to inquire about conviction records, they should only ask about those that are directly related to the job and then consider the nature of the crime, the recency, and any efforts made toward rehabilitation.

Maryland is an “all parties” consent state, meaning every person on a phone call must be aware that they are being monitored or recorded and have consented by placing or continuing the phone call.

This means employers may monitor or record phone calls between their own employees only if each employee has been given notice that phone calls may be monitored or recorded.

However, phone calls placed by employees to outside parties may not be monitored or recorded unless the outside party has also consented.

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