Bill No.                27-13                        

Concerning: Human Rights and Civil Liberties – County Minimum Wage – Dollar Amount     

Revised: November 26, 2013 Draft No. 7           

Introduced:      October 1, 2013             

Enacted:         November 26, 2013        

Executive:       December 5, 2013          

Effective:        July 1, 2014                   

Sunset Date:  None                             

Ch.   34    , Laws of Mont. Co.    2013    

 

County Council

For Montgomery County, Maryland

 

By: Councilmembers Elrich, Ervin and Council President Navarro

AN ACT to:

(1)        require certain employers in the County to pay a minimum wage to certain employees working in the County;

(2)        [[provide a credit for certain employers who provide health insurance to employees working in the County;

(3)]]     provide enforcement by the Office of Human Rights and the Human Rights Commission or the appropriate State agency;

[[(4)]] (3)         authorize the Human Rights Commission to award certain relief; and

[[(5)]] (4)         generally regulate the minimum wage paid to an employee working in the County for certain employers.

 

By amending

            Montgomery County Code

            Chapter 27, Human Rights and Civil Liberties

            Sections 27-7 and 27-8

 

By adding

            Montgomery County Code

            Chapter 27, Human Rights and Civil Liberties

            Article XI, Minimum Wage

 

Boldface                                             Heading or defined term.

Underlining                                          Added to existing law by original bill.

[Single boldface brackets]                  Deleted from existing law by original bill.

Double underlining                              Added by amendment.

[[Double boldface brackets]]              Deleted from existing law or the bill by amendment.

*   *   *                                                  Existing law unaffected by bill.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 


The County Council for Montgomery County, Maryland approves the following Act:

          Sec. 1.         Sections 27-7 and 27-8 are amended and Chapter 27, Article XI is added as follows:

27-7. Administration and enforcement.

(a)     Filing complaints. Any person subjected to a discriminatory act or practice in violation of this Article, or any group or person seeking to enforce this Article or [Article] Articles X or XI, may file with the Director a written complaint, sworn to or affirmed under the penalties of perjury, that must state:

(1)     the particulars of the alleged violation;

(2)     the name and address of the person alleged to have committed the violation; and

(3)     any other information required by law or regulation.

*                 *                 *

(f)      Initial determination, dismissal before hearing.

(1)     The Director must determine, based on the investigation, whether reasonable grounds exist to believe that a violation of this Article or [Article] Articles X or XI occurred and promptly send the determination to the complainant and the respondent.

(2)     If the Director determines that there are no reasonable grounds to believe a violation occurred, and the complainant appeals the determination to the Commission within 30 days after the Director sends the determination to the complainant, the Director promptly must certify the complaint to the Commission.  The Commission must appoint a case review board to consider the appeal.  The board may hear oral argument and must:

(A)    dismiss the complaint without a hearing;

(B)     order the Director to investigate further; or

(C)     set the matter for a hearing by a hearing examiner or the board itself, and consider and decide the complaint in the same manner as if the Director had found reasonable grounds to believe that a violation of this Article or [Article] Articles X or XI occurred.

(3)     If the Director determines that there are reasonable grounds to believe a violation occurred, the Director must attempt to conciliate the matter under subsection (g).

*                 *                 *

27-8. Penalties and relief.

(a)     Damages and other relief for complainant. After finding a violation of this Article or [Article] Articles X or XI, the case review board may order the payment of damages (other than punitive damages) and any other relief that the law and the facts warrant, such as:

*                 *                 *

(2)     equitable relief to prevent the discrimination or the violation of [Article] Articles X or XI and otherwise effectuate the purposes of this Chapter;

*                 *                 *

(4)     any other relief that furthers the purposes of this Article or [Article] Articles X or XI or is necessary to eliminate the effects of any discrimination prohibited under this Article.

*                 *                 *

ARTICLE XI.     County Minimum Wage.

27-67.                   Findings and Definitions.

(a)     Findings.

(1)     Many persons employed in the County are paid wages which are insufficient to sustain minimum standards of living in the County.

(2)     Minimum standards of living in the County are higher than the minimum standards of living in many other areas of the State.

(3)     Minimum wage standards in the County are necessary to:

(A)    promote the health and welfare of County residents;

(B)     safeguard employers and employees against unfair competition;

(C)     increase the stability of industry in the County;

(D)    increase the buying power of employees in the County; and

(E)     decrease the need for the County to spend public money for the relief of employees who also live in the County.

(b)     Definitions.  As used in this Article:

[[Consumer Price Index means the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All items in Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV (CMSA), as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, or a successor index.]]

Director means the Executive Director of the Office of Human Rights and includes the Executive Director’s designee.

Employ means to engage a person to work for compensation. 

Employee means any person permitted or instructed to work or be present by an employer in the County and who is an employee subject to the minimum wage requirements of the Federal Act or the State Act.

Employer means any person, individual, proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, corporation, limited liability company, trust, association, or other entity operating and doing business in the County that employs 2 or more persons in the County.  Employer includes the County government, but does not include the United States, any State, or any other local government.

Federal Act means the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended.

[[Health insurance means insurance coverage that is part of an employer benefit package that pays for medical expenses incurred by an employee and an employee’s family either by reimbursing the employee or by paying the care provider directly.]]

State Act means the Maryland Wage and Hour Law, as amended.

Wage means all compensation that is due to an employee for employment.

27-68.                   Minimum Wage Required.   

(a)     County minimum wage.  Except as provided in Subsection [[(d)]] [[(c)]] (b), an employer must pay wages to each employee [[working]] for work performed in the County at least the greater of:

(1)     the minimum wage required for that employee under the Federal Act;

(2)     the minimum wage required for that employee under the State Act; [[or]]or

(3)     [[the County minimum wage of $12]] [[$11.50]] [[$10.75]] $11.50 per hour[[, as adjusted under Subsection (b)]][[, less any health insurance credit under Subsection (c)]][[.]][[; or

(4)     the lesser of $11.50 per hour or the minimum wage required for that employee under the State Act plus an additional $1 per hour]].

(b)     [[Annual adjustment.  The Chief Administrative Officer must adjust the minimum wage rate required under Subsection (a)(3), effective]] [[July]] [[October 1, 2017, and]] [[July]] [[October 1 of each subsequent year, by the]] [[annual average increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index for the previous calendar year]] [[same measure, if any, used to adjust the minimum wage under the State Act.  The Chief Administrative Officer must calculate the adjustment to the nearest multiple of 5 cents, and must publish the amount of this adjustment not later than]] [[March]] [[June 1 of each year.

(c)]]   [[Health insurance credit.  An employer who provides health insurance to any employee who works in the County may reduce the County minimum wage payable under paragraph (a)(3) to any employee who is eligible to receive health insurance by all or part of the per-employee hourly cost of the employer’s share of the premium for that insurance.

(d)]]   Exclusions.  The County minimum wage does not apply to an employee who:

 (1)    is exempt from the minimum wage requirements of the State or Federal Act;

(2)     [[is a tipped employee under the State Act]] is under the age of 19 years and is employed no more than 20 hours per week; or

(3)     is subject to an opportunity wage under the State or Federal Act.

(d)     Retaliation prohibited.  A person must not:

(1)     retaliate against any person for:

(A)    lawfully opposing any violation of this Article; or

(B)     filing a complaint, testifying, assisting, or participating in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this Article; or

(2)     obstruct or prevent enforcement or compliance with this Article.

27-69.         Tipped Employees.

(a)     Definition.  As used in this Section, tipped employee means:

(1)     an employee who:

(A)    is engaged in an occupation in which the employee customarily and regularly receives more than $30 each month in tips;

(B)     has been informed by the employer about the provisions of this Section; and

(C)     has kept all of the tips that the employee received.

(2)     Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(C), this Section does not prohibit the pooling of tips.

(b)     Computation of wage.  Except as provided in subsection (c), an employer may include, as part of the wage of a tipped employee:

(1)     an amount that the employer sets to represent the tips of the employee; or

(2)     if the employee or representative of the employee satisfies the Director that the employee received a lesser amount in tips, the lesser amount.

(c)      Limit.  The tip credit amount that the employer may include under subsection (b) must not exceed [[50% of]] the County minimum wage less 50% of the minimum wage required for that employee under the State Act.

27-70          Enforcement.

(a)     A covered employee who was paid a wage rate less than the County minimum wage in violation of this Article may file a complaint with the Director under Section 27-7. 

(b)     The County Executive must delegate the authority to enforce this Article to a State agency that:

(1)     enforces the State Act; and

(2)     is legally authorized to enforce the County minimum wage.

          Sec. 2.         Transition.

                   Notwithstanding Section [[27-68(a)(3)]] 27-68, as added in Section 1, the County minimum wage, until October 1, 2017, must be the greater of the minimum wage required under the Federal  or State Act or:

(a)     effective [[July]] October 1, 2014, [[$7.25 per hour for an employee during the employee’s first 90 days of employment and $8.25]] $8.40 per hour [[beginning on the employee’s 91st day of employment]];

(b)     effective [[July]] October 1, 2015, [[$8.25 per hour for an employee during the employee’s first 90 days of employment and $9.75]] $9.55 per hour [[beginning on the employee’s 91st day of employment]]; and

(c)      effective [[July]] October 1, 2016, [[$9.75 per hour for an employee during the employee’s first 90 days of employment and]] [[$12.00]] [[$11.50]] $10.75 per hour [[beginning on the employee’s 91st day of employment]].

          Sec. 3.         Effective Date.

          This Act takes effect on [[July]] October 1, 2014.

Approved: