From 1 Oct 2020, employers in Maryland generally will not be allowed to ask, or rely on, a job applicant’s wage history when making decisions about hiring or setting initial pay — and could have to provide an applicant with information about the wage range. The recently enacted legislation amends Maryland’s Equal Pay for Equal Work law.

Highlights

• Upon request, employers will have to provide the specified position’s wage range.
• Employers may not retaliate or refuse to interview, hire or employ an applicant because the applicant did not provide their wage history or requested the wage range.
• Employers will not be allowed to ask applicants for their salary history from current or former employers and cannot use an individual’s wage history to screen applicants for roles, or to set a new hire’s starting pay. 
• Following a conditional offer of employment, employers may use the applicant’s voluntarily provided wage history to increase the initially offered compensation amount. 
• Penalties for breaches of the wage history and wage notice requirements will be up to $300 for each applicant for whom the employer is not compliant, and up to $600 for each subsequent violation if it occurs within three years of the prior violation.

Related resources

• Equal Pay for Equal Work Law (Maryland Department of Labor)
• Information and background on bill (Maryland General Assembly, 8 May 2020)