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Maryland Employment Law 
Employment Law Developments in Maryland.
Post Frequency: 0.3/day Last Entry: February 21, 2020 at 14:55:00 Recent Entries: 90
By James Rubin, Esq.
Go to Maryland Employment Law, find other Employment Law blogs, or browse all law blogs.
Consult an Attorney if You Have an In-Person Unemployment Hearing
Posted on January 16, 2011Many lawyers were reluctant to handle unemployment hearings for individuals because the fees were capped by regulation. But the regulation just changed. Attorney's can now charge a fee of twice a claimant's weekly benefit amount...
You May Be Entitled to Unemployment If You Quit With Good Cause for Health Reasons.
Posted on January 14, 2011Maryland's Unemployment law states that you are eligible benefits if you quit with "good cause." Good cause is not fully defined but may be shown if the reason you left work is "directly attributable to, arising from or connected with the conditions of the employment or the actions of the employer...
You May Not Be Within the Class of Employees That Can Be Covered by a Non-Compete Agreement.
Posted on January 13, 2011Maryland Employers often require employees to sign non-compete agreements as a condition of employment. But just because you signed a non-compete agreement does not mean that it is enforceable as to you. Only a narrow class of employee may lawfully be covered by such an agreement...
Triple Damages When The Employer Disputes Only Part of the Wages Claimed
Posted on January 12, 2011I recently tried a small Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law case in the District Court of Maryland. The employer conceded that it owed some -- but not all -- of the wages we were seeking. The Court did not award the disputed amount; but tripled the undisputed amount...
Is Maryland's Labor Climate Improving? It Depends How You Spin It.
Posted on September 28, 2010Maryland's Department of Labor recently pulled from its website a gloomy report on our State's labor climate (specifically job growth). It subsequently issued a more rosy report. Why? The DLLR claims it was published prematurely...
Dirty Labor Laundry On-Line
Posted on August 24, 2010Want to know if your employer is a serial labor law violator? Check The U.S. Department of Labor - Enforcement Data . There, you can search by to see if your employer has previously violated USDOL-enforced labor laws (like the Family and Medical Leave Act and the federal minimum wage and overtime law).
How to Apply for Maryland Unemployment Insurance
Posted on August 10, 2010Many, many clients asks me about the nuts and bolts of filing an unemployment claim. This video published by the State of Maryland does a good job explaining the process.
Winning Attorney's Fees in Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law Cases
Posted on August 05, 2010On June 8, 2010, I won a $30,769.08 wage payment verdict on behalf of my client (which was 100% of the amount owed). The jury was asked three essential questions:Did the employer owe my client money and if so, how much? (The answers were, "yes" and "$30,769...
Maryland Whistleblower Success Story
Posted on August 03, 2010The firm recently won a Section 1983 jury verdict in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County. The case was unusual in that the firm represented a volunteer firefighter seeking to be reinstated in a Volunteer Fire Department. The client exposed financial mismanagement and safety issues in the firehouse to a citizen who passed the information on to the Montgomery County Council...
Employees of Large Retail Employers Entitled to Breaks beginning in March 2011
Posted on August 02, 2010Back in 2007, I wrote that adult Maryland Employees are not entitled to breaks.As a result of a new Maryland law that takes effect in March 2011, certain Maryland employees must be given breaks. The law only applies to retail establishmentswith 50 or more employees and excludes wholesalers and restaurants.
Triple Damages for Overtime Starting October 1, 2010.
Posted on July 30, 2010Q: What might you receive if your employer withholds overtime wages in bad faith?A: Triple damages and attorney's fees (starting October 1, 2010). The Maryland General Assembly clarified that the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law's definition of wages includes overtime...
Wrongly classifying workers can land employers in hot water
Posted on March 01, 2010Here is good article on the dangers of misclassifying employees as independent contractors. Below is the main point (sorry for the horn toot):Attorney James Rubin has been hearing a lot from underpaid and confused employees lately. Most of them work in construction or landscaping, but Rubin, principal of The Rubin Employment Law Firm PC in [Rockville], says he also is hearing from workers in fields like nursing and government contracting...
Redskins Workers Fight For Their Right to Rights
Posted on December 30, 2009Click here for a brief write up of the ticket workers' case against the Redskins. It is focused on the fact that the Redskins required my clients to sign arbitration clauses as a condition of employment. I have written about such clauses several times on this blog...
License To Smoke Pot May Not Hold Much Weight In The Workforce
Posted on December 21, 2009A local reporter interviewed me about how DC's new medicinal marijuana law may afrfect workplace rules. Not much is the answer:"Once it affects your work performance, it's the employer's rule, just like with any other drug." In other words, whether or not marijuana is legalized for medicinal purposes, if you come to work under the influence you can be fired (just like if you come to work under the influence of other legal substances, i...
Sick With Flu? Workers Have Few Rights
Posted on September 08, 2009I did an interview with WUSA 9 last night on employee rights when you get the flu. Here is a bit more detail on your rights if you are an immediate family member gets sick with the flu:FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT. If you and your employer are covered you have the right to up to 12 weeks of protected leave if your illness qualifies as a "serious health condition...
Ticket Office Employees Sue The Redskins for Unpaid Overtime: Granted Collective/Class Status.
Posted on August 17, 2009Six former employees of the Washington Redskins are prosecuting an overtime arbitration against The Washington Redskins. The suit charges the Redskins with failing to pay overtime wages and commissions in violation of federal and state labor laws. The suit was filed by the Rubin Employment Law Firm, P...
Maryland Workplace Fraud Act of 2009 - "Independent Contractors" in the Construction and Landscaping Industries
Posted on June 30, 2009The General Assembly last session passed the Workplace Fraud Act of 2009. The Act grants to the Maryland Department of Labor authority to misclassification of employees as independent contractors in the construction and landscaping industries. The Act allows an employer who misclassifies an employee but does not do so knowingly to come into compliance within 45 days without penalty...
Important Changes to Maryland Unemployment Law
Posted on June 24, 2009The 2009 General Assembly enacted several changes to Maryland's unemployment law (the link goes to a review of the session -- scroll down to page 35 for the unemployment law reforms) Here are the highlights: Increase in benefits: The maximum weekly benefit rate will increase from increase from $380 to $410 for claims establishing a new benefit year on or after October 4, 2009...
In Record Numbers, Employers Move to Block Unemployment Payouts
Posted on February 12, 2009The front page above-the-fold article in the Washington Post today is about how more and more employers are contesting employee claims for benefits. It provides empirical support to what I have witnessed in my law practice: an increased number of calls from employees facing appeals...
Workers Rights' Legal Clinic at the University of Maryland School of Law
Posted on February 10, 2009If you have a meritorious unemployment benefits appeal and need legal representation, you may want to contact the Workers Rights' legal clinic at the University of Maryland School of Law. Trained law students, working under the supervision of their professor, who is an experienced employment law attorney, represent claimants in unemployment appeals...
Is Severance Pay Deducted from Unemployment Benefits in Maryland?
Posted on February 09, 2009The answer: it depends. Here is a direct quote from the DLLR Employer's Quick Reference Guide (see page 19):The receipt of severance payments will not be deducted from . . . benefits if the individual?s job has been abolished through layoff, facility closure, etc...
Why Maryland Employment Lawyers Are Reluctant to Represent Claimants in Unemployment Hearings.
Posted on February 05, 2009Today The Washington Post published two articles on unemployment compensation: Deluge Is Holding Up Benefits to Unemployed Decline in Funding Forces Staff Cuts as Claims Swell and New Jobless Claims Surge to 626,000. The first article mentions the often harrowing appeal process that may occur when an employer contests a claim for benefits...
Triple Damages Standard Under the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law
Posted on January 23, 2009I recently won a verdict at a bench trial (no jury) that included enhanced damages under the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law. The Law allows an employee to recover up to three times the amount of earned unpaid wages. I am frequently asked what the standard is for awarding enhanced damages...
Sadly, Not Much To Contest About an Across-The-Board Pay Cut.
Posted on January 23, 2009A reader recently asked:I've read over your blog and must thank you for posting all of the information. Your blog is very helpful. I have a question that I would like to ask you that I am having trouble finding an answer to. All salary and hourly employees at the company I work for have been told that a mandatory pay cut would be put into effect on our next pay cycle...
Maryland Department of Labor to Push Bill Increasing Penalties for Mislcassifying Employees as Independent Contractors
Posted on January 12, 2009It will be a difficult General Assembly session with our State facing nearly a $2 billion deficit. Our State Department of Labor (the DLLR) will be pushing a bill to stiffen the penalties for misclassifying employees as independent contractors for unemployment and workers compensation...
Maryland Felxible Leave Act Likely to Be Amended
Posted on January 12, 2009Last session the General Assembly passed the Maryland Flexible Leave Act. The Act requires employers with 15 or more employees that provide paid leave to allow the employee to use earned paid leave to care for the illness of an immediate family member (child, spouse, or parent)...
Maryland Unemployment Benefits Extended
Posted on December 22, 2008Congress extended unemployment benefits by twenty weeks. Check the a href="http://www.dllr.state.md.us/employment/unemployment.shtml"Maryland Department of Unemployment Insurance /afor details.
Promised Profits and Deferred Compensation Can be a Wage -- Triple Damages Awarded!
Posted on December 19, 2008Accountant Kevin Fetridge worked at Aronson & Co. for over 25 years. Under Mr. Fetridge's employment agreement, if he was terminated, he would receive "Terminating Employee Compensation" (TEC), a form of severance pay. However, if Mr. Fetridge violated a non-compete agreemen, Aronson would be entitled to offset damages from the TEC...
Attorney's Fees Available Under Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law
Posted on December 08, 2008Karl Clark sued his former employer, Programmers' Consortium, Inc., for unpaid wages. The Consortium paid Mr. Clark sporadically because of financial difficulties in the company. He ultimately sued his former employer under the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law...
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Can a former employee use photographs of jobs completed whie working for me in marketing material for a new business?
There are several issues here
1. Sub contractor started up a compe...
I have worked for this employer for only three weeks. The employer makes up his own rules as to what he chooses to report for the purpose of property taxes. He tells me to "let them come after us". He defines Entertain
He arrogantly insists, "let them come after us." Well, if you are invo...
I was fired on June 3, 2002 in Massachusetts because I reported discriminatory behavior by the employer towards a particular nationality. In July I filed a discrimination/retaliation complaint against the employer with t
It seem sin your case that the fact you filed the complaint prior to being dissa...
How can an employer defend themselves for firing an employee who contends the company exposed him to hazardardous atmospheres although medical testing has been negative?
You'll need to contact OSHA to determine your responsibility as far as the work ...
Does failure to provide health insurance benefits at the time promised constitute harm to the employee?
Yes. Failure to provide health insurance benefits is a violation of Labor Law ob...
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