Maryland's New Remedy for Wage Theft

Maryland Bar Journal (January 2018)

U of Maryland Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2018-14

6 Pages Posted: 18 Apr 2018

See all articles by Martha M. Ertman

Martha M. Ertman

University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

Doris Weil

Baltimore City Department of Housing & Community Development

Date Written: April 9, 2018

Abstract

Maryland employers and employees should know that a 2013 Maryland statute gives employees a new self-­help remedy for wage theft. The Maryland Wage Lien Law (“WLL”) allows employees to place a lien on their employers’ property when they have not been compensated for work they have performed. Any cheated employee can use it, from a doctor pursuing her medical practice to collect $104,000 in unpaid salary, to a short order cook seeking $104 in overtime pay from a restaurant. The process starts with an employee serving a Notice on the employer rather than file a full-­fledged complaint, and ends by investing cheated employees with the powers of UCC Article 9 secured creditors. This article describes the steps employees take to create and enforce the lien, and statutory provisions that provide employers with due process.

Keywords: wage theft, self-help remedy, wage lien, Maryland law

Suggested Citation

Ertman, Martha M. and Weil, Doris, Maryland's New Remedy for Wage Theft (April 9, 2018). Maryland Bar Journal (January 2018), U of Maryland Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2018-14, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3159585

Martha M. Ertman (Contact Author)

University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law ( email )

500 West Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21201-1786
United States

Doris Weil

Baltimore City Department of Housing & Community Development ( email )

417 E Fayette St
Suite 1339
Baltimore, MD 21202
United States

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