Wage Rate Increase passes in Maryland for Heightened Security Interest Locations

This spring, both houses of the MD legislation passed this wage requirement for security companies operating in the state: Increased Wage Rate at Heightened Security Locations (HB685/SB107). DII Security Safeguard is here to help employers navigate the changing security environment and provide coverage that manages risk.

A summary of The Increased Wage (HB685/SB107) legislation:

As listed on the Maryland.gov site:

Requiring that certain employees working at a heightened security interest location be paid a certain wage for certain time periods; requiring certain employers to pay certain covered employees a certain supplement benefit rate in a certain manner beginning January 1, 2026; declaring findings of the General Assembly with regard to the ability to attract and retain qualified employees to heightened security locations; specifying that certain provisions of the Act do not diminish certain collective bargaining rights; etc.

In order to promote public safety by attracting experienced and trained employees at “heightened security interest locations,” defined as BWI Airport and Baltimore Penn Station, certain employers must provide an enhanced wage rate to their covered non-exempt employees. The rationale for this bill is to reduce turnover and attract more experienced employers to these security interest locations to provide better protection.

The new wage scale only applies to workers who are assigned to heightened security interest locations more than 50% of the time. Eligible employees must now be compensated according to the following wage schedule, with overtime (any number of hours over 40/week) at time and a half. Any tips received by the employee are not able to be applied to this amount:

Employers who do not comply with this wage scale can have a claim filed against them by any employee. Awards to employees who are entitled to recovery under this section include:

• The difference between the wage paid and the wage required
• Court costs and other costs
  
  

Legislation changes all the time. Subscribe to this blog to keep on top of new legislative issues and other risks that apply specifically to security companies.