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eChesaSpeak News
October 2008 Issue

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LegiSpeak

Maryland's New Pay Disparity Act
Submitted by
Christine V. Walters MAS, JD, SPHR, CHRA Government Affairs Director

From prior editions of this newsletter and many other publications we know you are aware that Maryland's new Flexible Leave Act (FLA) went into effect October 1st. You should also be aware that on the same date a second new Maryland law became effective, the Pay Disparity Act.

Unlike the FLA, this new law covers all Maryland employers, not just those with 15 or more employees. The Act requires Maryland employers to begin keeping records related to employees' gender and racial classification. This is in addition to the current requirement that Maryland employers keep records of employee's wages and job classification. The Act authorized the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (DLLR) to publish implementing regulations.

Over the summer and into September your CHRA Government Affairs Committee (GAC) has stayed in touch with two of DLLR's Assistant Attorney Generals. Most recently they advised us that the regulations were anticipated to be published the week of September 22nd. But as of September 29th they have not yet been published. We now anticipate the regulations may be published on Friday, October 12th the next regularly scheduled publication date for the Maryland Register.

For those of you that are already required to file an EEO-1, EEO-4, EEO-5 or related reports, this new law may or may not impact you significantly. It depends of course, upon how closely the new state requirements will mirror the federal process e.g., will the racial categories be the same?
Will job categories be used and, if so, will they be the same? Will the process of self-identification be voluntary and if an employee declines to self-identify will the employer be required to identify the individual's race through visual observation? Will the employer be given any type of immunity if the employer's visual observation and identification is wrong? Where and how should the records be kept?

Once the regulations are published there will a 30-day notice and comment period.
CHRA's GAC has already been in touch