Under new legislation amending Maryland’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Law, employers in the state will be required, as of Oct. 1, to include certain wage information in both public and internal job postings and advertisements. This includes any solicitation intended to recruit applicants for a specific available position, such as recruitment done directly by an employer or indirectly through a third party. These new disclosure requirements will apply to any position that will be physically performed, at least in part, in Maryland.

Wage Range and Benefits

Employers will be required to include the “wage range” for all open and posted job positions. “Wage range” is defined as the minimum and maximum hourly rate or salary for a position, set in good faith by the employer based on:

(1) any applicable pay scale;

(2) any previously determined minimum and maximum hourly rate or salary for the position;

(3) the minimum and maximum hourly rate or salary of an individual holding a comparable position at the time of the posting; or

(4) the budgeted amount for the position.

Employers also will be required to provide a general description of benefits and other compensation offered for the position. Employers may satisfy their obligations under the law by completing a form to be developed by the Maryland Commissioner of Labor & Industry and including the form in public and internal job postings, and by otherwise making the completed form available to employees/applicants for review.

Notably, even if an employer does not create a job posting for an open position, they must still provide the required information before a discussion of compensation is held with an applicant, and at any other time on request of the applicant.

Extended Retaliation Protections

The law also extends additional protections to employees previously reserved for job applicants. For example, if an applicant or employee refuses to provide their wage history to an employer or requests the wage range for a position from an employer, the employer may not retaliate against or refuse to interview, hire, or employ an applicant, or fail to promote or transfer an employee.[1]

Existing Requirements Remain

Employers also will remain subject to existing pay transparency requirements under Maryland law that prohibit employers from, among other things:

(1) seeking the wage history of a job applicant, orally, in writing, or through an employee or agent or from a current or former employer;

(2) subject to certain exceptions, relying on an applicant’s wage history in screening or considering the applicant or in determining the wages/salary for the applicant; and

(3) preventing employees from inquiring about or discussing each other’s wages – and retaliating against employees for doing so.

Recordkeeping

In addition to existing recordkeeping requirements concerning employee wages, job classification, and other conditions of employment, employers must now maintain a record of compliance with the new pay disclosure requirements for three years – starting three years after a position is filled, or if it is not filled, starting three years after the position was originally posted.

Violations

Violations of the statute may result in steep penalties. For example, for a first violation, an employer may receive a letter from the Maryland Commissioner of Labor & Industry compelling compliance. However, for a second violation, an employer may be fined $300 for each employee/applicant for which the employer was not in compliance with the statute’s requirements and then $600 for each employee/applicant violation within three years thereafter.

Opinions and conclusions in this post are solely those of the author unless otherwise indicated. The information contained in this blog is general in nature and is not offered and cannot be considered as legal advice for any particular situation. The author has provided the links referenced above for information purposes only and by doing so, does not adopt or incorporate the contents. Any federal tax advice provided in this communication is not intended or written by the author to be used, and cannot be used by the recipient, for the purpose of avoiding penalties which may be imposed on the recipient by the IRS. Please contact the author if you would like to receive written advice in a format which complies with IRS rules and may be relied upon to avoid penalties.

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