In 2016, Maryland passed the Equal Pay for Equal Work law to bridge the gender wage gap.¹ The law allowed employees to discuss salaries with coworkers and protected them from potential retaliation by their employer for discussing pay.² In 2020, the General Assembly amended the law to require employers to provide a wage range for positions upon an applicant’s request and prevent employers from asking about an applicant’s salary history.³ In 2024, Maryland added to the Equal Pay for Equal Work law by creating the Wage Transparency Act.⁴

The Maryland Wage Transparency Act (“the Act”), which took effect on October 1, 2024, aims to promote pay equity and transparency in the workplace.^5. The Act’s primary objective is to enhance fairness in hiring practices and empower employees to make more informed decisions regarding compensation.⁶ One key provision of the Act is that employers must provide wage range information when advertising job openings.⁷ This requirement applies to both public and private employers.⁸ By disclosing a salary range in job postings, the law ensures that applicants can better understand the potential compensation for a role before applying, which can reduce the impact of wage negotiations based on personal factors or biases.⁹

Maryland business owners and employers can prepare to comply with the new law by listing wage range, benefits, and any other type of compensation in the job posting.¹⁰ The transparency requirement includes newspaper advertisements, printed flyers, emails,¹¹ social media posts, and any other platforms where an employer may advertise a job posting.¹² As the law also requires disclosing of internal promotions, Maryland employers should begin collecting data on the minimum and maximum pay for jobs within the company.¹³ Maryland employers should also correct any discovered discrepancies in pay between employees.¹⁴

Overall, wage transparency is beneficial for businesses, and Maryland employers should not view the Act with apprehension, but rather as an opportunity to cultivate a more productive workplace.¹⁵ Employees are more productive when they have a sense of belonging through a business’s commitment to transparency.¹⁶ Company retention rates are higher when there is fair and equitable pay within the workplace to support financial equity among employees.¹⁷ Also, employers that provide an accurate wage range on job applications are more likely to attract the top applicants.¹⁸

The Maryland Wage Transparency Act is an important step toward achieving wage equity and fairness in the workplace.²⁰ The law aims to reduce systemic wage gaps and empower employees to better advocate for their worth by mandating the disclosure of salary ranges.²¹ The Act will likely help Maryland businesses thrive and give the State a competitive edge in the job market.²² This legislation should serve as a model for other states considering similar measures to ensure that all workers are paid fairly and without bias to benefit both employers and employees.

---

Michaela “Odi” Odian is a third-year J.D. candidate at the University of Baltimore School of Law and Editor-in-Chief for the University of Baltimore Law Forum. She received her Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience with a minor in Interdisciplinary Ethics from Belmont University. Odi was a law clerk for the Maryland Department of Health and Mayer Law, LLC. Currently, Odi is a law clerk at Miller Stern Lawyers, LLC and hopes to pursue a career in healthcare law.

¹ Emily Crockett, Maryland has Passed One of the Nation’s Strongest Equal Pay Laws, VOX (May 24, 2016, 12:30 PM), https://www.vox.com/2016/5/21/11715722/maryland-equal-pay-law-women.

² Id.

³ Maryland Small Businesses: Are You Ready for the Equal Pay for Equal Work Law Changes?, FROST LAW (Dec. 15, 2020), https://askfrost.com/news/maryland-small-businesses-are-you-ready-for-the-equal-pay-for-equal-work-law-changes.

⁴ Equal Work for Equal Pay – Wage Range Transparency Frequently Asked Questions – Employment Standards Service (ESS), MD. DEP’T OF LAB. https://labor.maryland.gov/labor/wages/esswagerangefaq.shtml (last visited April 7, 2025) [hereinafter, Wage Transparency FAQ].

⁵ Id.; see also Md. Code Ann., Lab. & Empl. § 3-304 (LexisNexis 2022).

⁶ Wage Transparency FAQ, supra note 4.

⁷ Wage Transparency FAQ, supra note 4 (noting that the employer must determine the wage range in good faith and overly broad or open-ended ranges will not satisfy the law); see Compensation Disclosure Form Template Instructions, MD. DEP’T OF LAB. https://labor.maryland.gov/labor/wages/esscompensationdisclosureforminstructions.pdf?utm_campaign= Employment%20Law%20Alert&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz- 9i23q_xHhJP6Oh7Y3KGhguSaoFckw9zPaW4p_zCTNW6PVY0LEXn-1uRDpKUSZAe6O1G9Hl.

⁸ Wage Transparency FAQ, supra note 4. (including both part-time and full-time employees).

⁹ Id.

¹⁰ Id.

¹¹ Id. (requiring the email to be sent to more than one applicant or emails sent via mailing list, i.e. Mailchimp).

¹² Id. (including any third parties that may advertise the job posting on the employer’s behalf).

¹³ Wage Transparency FAQ, supra note 4.

¹⁴ Id. (failing to comply with the law can lead to a $300 civil penalty for each employee or applicant negatively impacted).

¹⁵ Johanna Kim-Brunetti, What It Takes to Be a Fair-Pay Workplace, HARV. BUS. REV. (Dec, 12, 2022), https://hbr.org/2022/12/what-it-takes-to-be-a-fair-pay-workplace; see Alberta Johnson, Why Culture and Fair Pay Are Essential to a Thriving Workplace, FORBES (Feb. 7, 2025), https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2025/02/07/why-culture-and-fair-pay-are- essential-to-a-thriving-workplace/.

¹⁶ Kim-Brunetti, supra note 15 (“[i]n fact, a study conducted by job recruiting site Indeed finds that 81% of workers are more productive and engaged when they perceive themselves as paid fairly.”); see Johnson, supra note 15.

¹⁷ Johnson, supra note 15.

¹⁸ Kim-Brunetti, supra note 15 (“[m]oreover, that same [Indeed] report says 75% of employees are more likely to apply for a job when the company is known for pay transparency.”); see Johnson, supra note 15.

19 See Johnson, supra note 15; see also Kim-Brunetti, supra note 15.

²⁰ See supra text accompanying notes 1–6.

²¹ See supra text accompanying notes 7–9.

²² See supra text accompanying notes 15–19.