There are various employment contracts that constitute the different state employment laws within the U.S. First is the at-will employment doctrine, which is the main form of employment contract. This contract contends that any employment contract with an indefinite duration may be terminated by any of the two parties (employer or employee) any time and for any reason (Stone, 2007). This is to mean that the employee can resign any moment and the employer can fire the employee at any given moment without the worry of future consequences. Also, the employer can alter the contract terms such as the wage and employee benefits at any given time. Further, the at-will employment contract does not impose obligations such as fair treatment of the worker and protection of the worker’s health on the employer.
On the other hand, the “just cause” employment contract contends that termination of an employment contract should be as a result of the misconduct of an employee or events that are relevant to the employer (Duhaime, 2015). Misconduct may consist of theft of property, colluding with competitors, insubordination, and insolence. The just cause employment contract is, therefore, seen to be fair and reasonable under all circumstances.
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Labor and Employment Laws in Maryland
Maryland’s minimum wage is currently set at $9.25. Maryland employers’ must pay their employees for all hours worked. Hours worked refer to all the time that employers are required to be on duty at the employers’ premises (Currier & Eimermann, 2016). This includes the time the employers are required to be at work even when they are not on time. Employees should also be paid for any overtime. This should be at a rate of 1.5 times their regular rate when they work for at least 40 hours in a work week. In Maryland, a work week comprises 168 hours. Employers should also pay their employees for travel time only if the travel time occurs in between regular working hours, the travel time is from one employer premise to another, and the employee is called after working hours, such as in the case of an emergency.
The Maryland labor laws require employers to provide minor employees with a 30-minute break for every five hours worked consecutively. These laws also require that employees are paid if they take breaks that last for less than 20 minutes. The same laws require the employer to provide sick leave benefits. Employers with more than 15 employees must pay their employees during sick leave. However, employers with less than 15 employees are not obliged to pay their employees during sick leave.
Classes Protected from Firing
Under Maryland laws, employment is considered to be at-will. The employer or employee, therefore, can terminate the employment at any given moment. However, employment in Maryland does not entirely fall under at-will since there are protective labor laws such as sick leave payment. Moreover, there are wrongful termination laws that protect employees from being fired wrongfully. First, an employer is not allowed to terminate unemployment based on race, religion, age, disability, color, ancestry, national origin or marital status. Additionally, it is considered unlawful to terminate employment as a result of an employee exercising their rights. For example, if an employee reports the employer to the human resource department on harassment grounds, the employer is not allowed to fire the employee. Also, the employer cannot fire an employee if they violate public policy. Instances where public policies could be violated include firing an employee as a result of refusing to perform an illegal act, firing an employee as a result of refusing to work in an unsafe environment, and firing an employee due to missed work as a result of jury duty.
Maryland employers are also not allowed to terminate an employment contract if they breach an implied contract. For example, if the employer promised the employee to increase their pay if they work hard, this acts as a basis for an implied contract (Yee, 2018).
Maryland labor and employment laws require public administration. The public administrator’s role, therefore, includes creating public awareness, monitoring adherence to the laws, governing, and implementation. The labor laws thus affect public administrators as they need to follow up on these laws to make sure that employee rights are protected. They do this through monitoring and evaluation of the employers and employees.
- Currier, K.A., Eimermann, T.E. (2016). The study of law: A critical thinking approach (4th ed.). New York: Wolters Kluwer.
- Duhaime. (2015). Just cause definition. Retrieved from http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/J/JustCause.aspx
- Stone, K. V. (2007). Revisiting the at-will employment doctrine: Imposed terms, implied terms,
and the normative world of the workplace. Industrial Law Journal, 36(1), 84–101.
