The living wage law approved last session goes into effect today. You can read the Chamber’s summary of the law here. The Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation has posted an FAQ here.

Last week, Maryland Chamber Vice President of Government Affairs Ron Wineholt and Chamber member Valerie Androutsopoulos of Vangel Paper, Inc. offered testimony regarding the proposed regulations to implement the new law. They requested Commissioner of Labor and Industry Ron DeJuliis to delete from the regulations a proposed requirement for every employer with a State service contract of over $100,000 to file within 14 days after the end of each payroll period a complete copy of the employer’s and each subcontractor’s payroll records. View Wineholt’s testimony here (pdf).

Baltimore County Delegate Dan Morhaim (D-Dist. 11) also submitted a letter requesting the Commissioner to reconsider that provision.

“As you know, I voted for this legislation, but I do believe this part of the regulations can be improved, Morhaim said. “As written, the regulations would require all employers subject to the act to submit comprehensive payroll records for all employees for every pay period. I believe this to be onerous, expensive, and burdensome, and, in the end, not useful or needed to achieve the intention of the legislation.”

Additional comments may be submitted to the Commissioner through October 14th. Contact Ron Wineholt for further information at rwineholt@mdchamber.org.