While the employment laws in Anne Arundel County and throughout the state create a complex web of employer requirements and employee rights, a few simple truths are clear. All employees have the right to receive a fair wage for their work, and employers cannot discriminate against workers or applicants because of certain protected characteristics.
An Anne Arundel County employment lawyer from the Spiggle Law Firm could help you if you feel that an employer has violated your rights as a worker. Your dedicated attorney could work with you to gather evidence of the abuse, use that evidence to file complaints with the appropriate government agencies, and even pursue a lawsuit demanding compensation for your losses.
The Right to Work for Fair Compensation
Anne Arundel County and the State of Maryland utilize some of the most liberal wage laws in the country. These include laws concerning vital matters such as minimum wage, overtime pay, and frequency of pay.
According to Maryland Labor and Employment Law §3-413, employers must pay most hourly employees at a rate of at least $10.10 per hour. However, employees to whom this law does not apply include servers, seasonal agricultural workers, and salaried workers often receive lesser hourly rates.
Similar laws mandate that employers provide overtime pay at a rate of one and a half times the normal hourly wage for all hours worked in excess of 40 in a week. Wage laws also require employers to provide payment a minimum of once every two weeks to all employees.
If you experience a violation of these rights, Md. Labor and Employment Law §3-427 creates a cause of action through which you could demand all back pay through a lawsuit. Also, the law allows a court to order the payment of penalty damages in the amount of double in case of intentional wage theft. A Spiggle Law Firm employment lawyer in Anne Arundel County could help you understand your rights to a fair wage and to pursue court cases to demand compensation.
Fighting Back Against Workplace Discrimination
As an Anne Arundel County employment attorney could explain, another common source of workplace trouble is discrimination. Md. State Government Code §20-606 expands upon the federally mandated protections for workers and potential hires to prohibit adverse employment measures based upon:
- Sex
- Age
- Gender
- Sexual orientation
- Genetic markers
- Marriage status
- Disability
Any employer who bases a business decision upon any of these factors may violate this law. If this is the case, the law allows you—or one of our Anne Arundel County attorneys from the Spiggle Law Firm working on your employment case—to file a complaint with the state asking for an investigation and potential remedy.
It should be noted that the statute specifically creates a cause of action for workers to file their own lawsuits. These lawsuits could demand reinstatement in a job, the payment of any lost wages, and even pain and suffering up to a qualified amount.
How an Anne Arundel County Employment Attorney Could Help
The rules that govern how employers can conduct their business in Anne Arundel County are strict. Most employers must provide their workers with a minimum wage and must also follow all applicable overtime and payment schedule rules. Employers must also refrain from discrimination in all hiring, termination, and rate of pay matters.
Any employee or prospective employee who believes that a violation of the state’s employment laws has affected their rights has the ability to pursue a lawsuit. An Anne Arundel County employment lawyer could help you to pursue these by working to gather key evidence, fit that evidence within the relevant laws, and demand every dollar to which you are entitled.
Contact the Spiggle Law Firm today to learn more about your rights as a worker. For a free assessment of what your case may be worth, click here to use our Case Assessment Calculator.
