Maryland Law Requires Compensation Transparency In Job Postings & Allows Employees To Discuss Their Compensation With Fellow Employees

Effective on and after October 1, 2024, Maryland has updated its Equal Pay for Equal Work Law.  The revised statute contains important requirements for companies that employ people in the State of Maryland.

Disclosure of Compensation

Employers may not prohibit their employees in Maryland from inquiring about, discussing, or disclosing their compensation, or the compensation of another employee. Employers cannot take adverse employment action against an employee for asking a fellow employee about compensation, or for disclosing his or her own compensation to others. The law does not require an employee to disclose his or her compensation to anyone, nor does it permit an employee to disclose compensation information to a competitor of the employer.

If an employer knew or reasonably should have known that its actions violate the above requirements, an affected employee can sue the employer for injunctive relief and to recover up to two times the amount of actual damages suffered as a result of the violation. If the employee prevails in the suit, the court is required to also award to the employee a reasonable amount of attorneys’ fees incurred by the employee in bringing the successful legal action. An employee may bring a lawsuit on behalf of the employee and other employees similarly situated. Lawsuits to enforce these provisions may be brought up to three years after the end of an employee’s employment by the company.

Publication of Rates of Compensation in Job Postings; Prohibition Against Requiring Job Applicants to Reveal Past Compensation History

Employers are required to include in all job postings (internal or public), for positions that will physically perform work within the State of Maryland, the compensation range for the position and a general description of benefits or any other compensation offered for the position. An employer may not retaliate against (or refuse to interview or hire) an applicant because the applicant declines to provide his or her compensation history, or asks for the compensation rangeinformation that the employer is required to publish. Only after the employer has made an initial offer of employment (including an offer of compensation) may the employer then seek information about an applicant’s compensation history in order to evaluate whether to negotiate a higher compensation offer based on that history.

Violations of this part of the law may be enforced by the Maryland Commissioner of Labor through the issuance of orders compelling compliance, and at the discretion of the Commissioner also by imposing monetary fines for violations occurring after a first violation.

Equal Pay

Maryland employers are prohibited from paying compensation to employees of one gender at a lower rate than paid to other employees, if they work in the same Maryland county and if they perform work of comparable character. This does not necessarily mean that employees of different genders with similar jobs cannot be paid different rates of compensation in all circumstances. Differences in compensation rates may be permissible if based on a non-discriminatory seniority or merit system, or if the jobs require different abilities or skill sets, or have different duties. Differences in rates of compensation also may be allowed if there are non-discriminatory distinctions between the employees, such as in levels of education, training or experience.  An employer that is paying a wage in violation of these provisions is not permitted to reduce another employee’s compensation to comply with these requirements.

If an employer knew or reasonably should have known that its actions violate the above requirements, an affected employee can sue the employer for injunctive relief and to recover the difference between the compensation paid to employees of one gender and the compensation paid to employees of another gender. Here, again, if the employee prevails in the suit, the court is required to award a reasonable amount of attorneys’ fees to the employee.