By Bryan P. Sears
Maryland Matters, June 29, 2023. Also WTOP News.
Starting Saturday, most business owners around the state will have six months to prepare for a coming jump in the state’s minimum wage.
The Fair Wage Act of 2023, passed earlier this year, was a priority for Gov. Wes Moore (D) in his first year in office. The change accelerates [to Jan. 2024] the move to $15 per hour as phased in under a 2019 law.
Aaron Seyedian, owner of Well-Paid Maids, said business owners should embrace the coming change because of its overall benefits. ...
Seyedian, who started his business in 2017, has nearly three-dozen employees in the Maryland-DC-Virginia area. About half live in Maryland ...
Employees of the company won’t be directly affected by the coming change or the increase in Montgomery County that takes effect Saturday. In that county, companies with 51 or more employees will pay $16.70 per hour. Small companies of 11-50 employees will have a minimum wage of $15.00. Smaller employers in that county will pay $14.50 per hour.
Seyedian’s employees already earn $23 per hour. He said paying his employees more has lowered job turnover. He said it also allows his employees to improve their standard of living, pay for childcare and even take a nicer vacation.
Alissa Barron-Menza, vice president of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, said accelerating the increase in Maryland helps keep up with the cost of living and with low-cost of living states such as Nebraska, which will hit $15 per hour in 2026. ...