The General Assembly is in full swing in Annapolis. Here is a summary of just some of the legislation impacting employers and employees.
HB 123 / SB 217 – Wage History and Wage Range would require employers to provide the wage range of the position for which an applicant has applied if requested by the applicant. The legislation also prohibits retaliation against applicants who do not provide wage history or seek the wage range for the role, and bans employers from relying on wage history except when such information is voluntarily provided, and then only for determining a fair/non-discriminatory wage. Employers, moreover, would be forbidden from seeking applicant wage history from prior employers.
HB 312 / SB 473 – Reasonable Accommodations for Applicants with Disabilities would expand the reasonable accommodation requirement under the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act to cover qualified applicants for employment. Potential reasonable accommodations include: allowing alternatives to an online application process; accepting a video resume or other alternative form of resume; allowing a direct support professional or other third party to provide assistance during an interview; or providing and accessible interview location for applicants. FEPA currently makes it unlawful to “fail or refuse to hire . . . or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to the individual’s compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of . . . disability . . . .” To the extent there is ambiguity in the current statute regarding reasonable accommodations for qualified applicants, the proposed legislation would eliminate it. The ADA, FEPA’s federal counterpart, covers applicants for employment — employers should already be engaging in the interactive process to identify reasonable accommodations for applicants.
HB 712 / SB 260 – Family [and Animal] Bereavement Act authorizes employees to use leave with pay for bereavement leave in the event of the death of an immediate family member or pet of the employee.
HB 417 / SB 400 – Wage History and Wage Range seeks to prohibit the state government from retaliating against applicants who refuse to provide wage history and from seeking or relying upon an applicant’s wage history in the application process — whether regarding the hiring decision or wage determination. Only after making an initial offer of employment with compensation, may a state government agency rely on voluntarily provided wage history (that cannot be requested) to increase the compensation offered.
SB 531 – Discrimination – Definition of Race – Hair Texture and Hairstyles seeks to amend the definition of “race” in the Fair Employment Practices Act. Under the legislation, “race” would include certain traits historically associated with race, including hair texture and certain hairstyles. A “protective hairstyle” would be defined as a hairstyle designed to protect the ends of the hair by decreasing tangling, shedding, and breakage, including braids, twists, and locks.
SB 666 – Time Off for Employee Voting. Maryland law currently requires employers to permit employees who claim to be registered to vote time off to vote on election day if the employee does not have two continuous hours of non-working time to vote while polls are open. The legislation would amend the election law to require all Maryland employers to permit employees time off to vote regardless of whether the employee claims to be a registered voter. Moreover, the bill would permit the time off to vote at any time (think absentee ballots and early voting) — not just on election day — if the employee does not have two continuous off duty hours while the polls are open. The legislation does not seek to change the provision requiring employers to pay employees for the two-hour absence.
HB 1143 – Employment Contracts – Employment After Contract Termination would prohibit employers from disqualifying individuals from future employment if the individual was unable to perform for the duration of an employment contract because of pregnancy, child birth or adoption, or serious illness of an immediate family member.
HB 466 – Employment Contracts – Intellectual Property seeks to make void as against public policy “[a]ny provision in an employment contract that requires an employee to assign to an employer the employee’s rights in a piece of intellectual property developed outside the scope of employment on the employee’s own time without using the employer’s equipment, supplies, facilities, or trade secret information.”