We are pleased to report that the Maryland Legislature has passed emergency legislation reversing the effects of a 2007 decision that turned some long-established wage practices upside down.

The decision of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals in Catapult Tech Ltd. v. Wolfe (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 2007) held that employees must be paid for accrued but unused

vacation at the time of termination of employment, on the grounds that leave was an earned wage and it could not be forfeited at termination. This decision was initially

unexpected and contradicted two earlier cases interpreting the Maryland wage payment statute. It has caused Maryland employers some angst, and has had them and their

counsel revisiting employment policies so as to be in compliance with the new twist on what has been an established employer practice.

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