Addressing the Changing Nature of Work

For a growing number of Marylanders, employment doesn’t mean an eight-hour workday with a regular schedule. More people are working multiple jobs to get by, or are forced to choose part-time and contract positions with no benefits.

Working hard should at least leave you with enough at the end of the day to afford the basics, like a decent place to live and nutritious food on the table, and to maybe to save a little for the future. For too many Marylanders, that is not the case. Hourly wages for typical Maryland workers as well as the lowest-paid workers fell sharply during the Great Recession, and are only now regaining their previous value.[i] One reason why so many working people are falling behind at a time when incomes for the wealthiest are soaring is the failure of the minimum wage to keep up with the rising cost of living.

For others, there are systemic barriers in place that keep them from accessing good-paying jobs, whether that is a lack of transportation options in communities with high unemployment, insufficient workforce training programs, or limited opportunities for people with a criminal record. We know that people of color and people who live in low-income communities are more likely to face these kinds of obstacles.

Creating a strong, inclusive state economy demands that we address the changing nature of work, taking reasonable steps to guarantee workers fair wages, a predictable work schedule, and access to supports they need to enter and remain in the workforce.

Policy Tools

Increase the minimum wage. Continuing to raise the state’s minimum wage beyond the already planned increase in July 2018 would put more money in the hands of people who are now working but struggling to get by on low wages, which would mean stronger sales at local businesses and a healthier Maryland economy. Even in the lowest-cost parts of the state, the eventual minimum wage under current law—$10.10 per hour, beginning in July 2018—isn’t enough to afford a basic standard of living, even for a single adult with a full-time job and no children. To ensure that our state’s economic growth benefits everyone, not just those at the very top, legislators should raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2023, and plan for automatic increases based on inflation over time.
Ensure a reasonable work schedule. Almost half of the people who work part time receive their schedules one week or less in advance. Employers are able to schedule workers as “on-call” for the day without any guarantee of work or pay, cancel shifts at the last minute, and send workers home early without compensating them. If workers are unable to meet these expectations, they are often punished with fewer hours or risk being fired. More fair scheduling practices would require adequate notice of work schedules and would allow workers to decline any hours scheduled with less notice.
Update standards for overtime pay. Like the minimum wage, federal rules regarding overtime pay were designed to ensure that people get fair wages for their work. However, the rules for determining who must receive overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours per week has not kept up with rising wages. Today, someone struggling to make ends meet on a salary of $24,000 per year could be required to work more than full time without any additional compensation if their employer says their position is “managerial, administrative, or professional.” This places an unfair burden on working men and women who are getting by on wages just above the federal poverty line. Implementing a stronger overtime policy in Maryland would benefit workers and our economy.
Paid family leave. Maryland should follow the lead of states like New Jersey, California, and New York, and create a state-run insurance fund that provides partial wages for Maryland workers who need to care for a new child, take care of a serious health condition that they or a family member faces, or take time off due a family member’s military deployment. Providing paid family leave would help more people keep their jobs and some of their salary while they care for their families. This would reduce the need for costlier public assistance and public health programs.
Increase access to affordable child care. The cost of child care is on the rise around the country, and Maryland families have it especially hard. Our child care costs are the fifth highest in the country, with families paying nearly $14,000 per year to keep an infant in good hands while parents work. In 2015, about 10,000 families in Maryland were better able to afford child care thanks to the state’s child care subsidies—which means thousands of children experience a safe, engaging environment and thousands of parents are able to go to work each day—but inadequate funding and high fees still put child care out of reach for too many families[ii]. We should invest more so that the high cost of child care doesn’t stand between working parents and their jobs.
Expand effective workforce training programs. There are many examples throughout the state of highly effective workforce training programs that benefit unemployed people and employers by helping people gain skills for in-demand jobs. But these programs are generally small and lack sufficient funding to serve everyone who could benefit. Investing more in these proven programs would be a win-win for workers and businesses.