Easton, Maryland. Shore Bancshares, Inc. announced to its employees in December that they will be adopting a living wage increase beginning January 1, 2015. In April of 2014, Governor Martin O’Malley signed a bill to increase the minimum wage in Maryland from $7.25 to $10.10 by 2018. “To provide employees with a sufficient salary that will help meet the basic needs of our employees and their families, we went a step above the minimum wage to a living wage increase in 2015”, says President & CEO Scott Beatty. The living wage is the minimum hourly wage that is sufficient to meet the basic living needs of a single employee working full-time. The living wage is not required by the state unless a company has a working contract with a local government agency or if they receive subsidies from them. Because taxes and expenses vary from county to county and state to state so does the living wage.
Although the minimum wage increase of $10.10 for the state of Maryland does not go into effect until 2018, Shore Bancshares made the increase to base salaries in January 2015. “In all cases our employee’s hourly wage is well above the minimum wage”, says PJ Dill, Chief Human Resources Officer of Shore Bancshares, Inc. “As part of our annual compensation review, we have made a conscious decision to set our base wage to above the average of the two highest counties (Talbot and Queen Anne’s) at $11.06”, says Scott Beatty President and Chief Executive Officer of Shore Bancshares, Inc. At Shore Bancshares, we believe it is important to not only support our employees who are our most valuable asset but to also support the growth in our communities where we live and work.
Shore Bancshares, Inc. is a $1.1 billion asset financial holding company headquartered in Easton Maryland who employs over 300 employees. It is the largest independent financial services company on the Delmarva Peninsula that offers banking, insurance and wealth management services through its community of companies. Two full service community banks, The Talbot Bank of Easton MD and CNB, headquartered in Centreville MD. Wye Financial & Trust a division of CNB located in Easton, MD who offers wealth management and trust services and personal, business, benefits, trucking and marine insurance solutions through Avon-Dixon Agency, Elliott Wilson Insurance, Freestate & Son, located in Easton and Centreville, MD and Jack Martin & Associates, headquartered in Annapolis, MD.
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