Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed Senate Bill 572 and House Bill 1243, which would have allowed employees on public works prevailing wage jobs to forgo any administrative remedy for recovering wages and instead use civil litigation, threatening employers with attorney’s fees and the inducement of up to triple damages, in addition to recovered wages. This policy would have undermined the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation’s fair and effective administrative process and encouraged any prevailing wage dispute to move directly to litigation.
In vetoing the bill, Gov. Hogan explained: “This legislation will negatively impact the Department’s ability to investigate wage payments and harm the interest of workers on prevailing wage jobs. Ultimately, having employers subject to both Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation investigations and civil proceedings over the same issue is unnecessary and burdensome.”
