Jurisdiction Equal Pay Law Protected Class(es) Type of Work Compared Permissible Factors for Pay Differential Salary History Inquiries Permitted? ME Maine Sex, Race Comparable work on jobs that have comparable requirements relating to skill, effort, and responsibility in the same establishment. If pursuant to established seniority systems or merit increase systems or difference in the shift or time of the day worked that do not discriminate on the basis of sex or race. No, employers are prohibited from asking about a job candidate’s compensation history until after a job offer including compensation terms has been presented. In addition, employers may not directly ask a candidate’s current or former employer for salary information or stop current employees from discussing their own or another employee’s wages. Employers can confirm a candidate’s past pay if the candidate voluntarily discloses it, and the law does not apply if an employer “inquires about compensation history pursuant to any federal or state law that specifically requires the disclosure or verification of compensation history for employment purposes.” MD Maryland Sex, gender identity, race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation For employees in the same establishment, work of comparable character or work in the same operation, in the same business, or of the same type. If based on a seniority system that does not discriminate on the basis of sex or gender identity; a merit increase system that does not discriminate on the basis of sex or gender identity; jobs that require different abilities or skills; jobs that require the regular performance of different duties or services; work that is performed on different shifts or at different times of day; a system that measures performance based on a quality or quantity of production; or a bona fide factor other than sex or gender identity, including education, training, or experience, in which the factor is not based on or derived from a gender–based differential in compensation, is job related with respect to the position and consistent with a business necessity, and accounts for the entire differential. No, employers are prohibited from retaliating against or refusing to interview, hire, or employ any job applicant who either (a) did not provide wage history on a job application, or (b) who requested information about the wage range for the job to which the applicant applied. Employers are also prohibited from relying on the applicant’s wage history as a way to screen job applicants for the position, or when determining the wages for the applicant if that person is hired. Employers are further prohibited from seeking the wage history of an applicant either orally, in writing, or through another employee, an agent, or from the applicant’s current or former employer. However, after an applicant has received an initial offer of employment that includes a specific compensation figure, an employer may rely on any wage history voluntarily provided by the applicant to support a wage offer higher than the initial wage offer or seek to confirm the wage history voluntarily provided by the applicant to support the higher wage offer. These additional exceptions, however, are subject to the additional restriction that the higher wage may not create a pay differential based on sex and/or gender identity. 15 | 50 STATE EQUAL PAY REFERENCE GUIDE AS OF NOVEMBER 2024
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